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Ultimate Polish on aluminium on cabinets


lien_Zed

Question

Im sick and tired of polishing by hand so i had a brain wave while washing the dishes tonight with a scotchbrite.

 

I put some brasso on a scotch brite and then just stuck it straight to the bottom of my random orbital sander and attacked the aluminium

 

 

WOW!!!

 

I set it for the slowest speed and holy crap does the aluminium shine!!!

 

i thought i had a mirror finish before.. no way...

 

but i sure as hell do now!!!

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Bags washing up tomorrow...more power yeah!!

 

Thats great! How did you attach it to the sander? What aluminium parts were you polishing out of interest

 

 

How did i attach it...

 

i just shoved it straight on the botton of the polisher.

My polisher has a velcro base .I used no velcro on the scotchbrite, just shove it on and with the power/speed trigger there is a screw to wind in/out for more/less power, i set it to run at the minimum power and let the weight of the sander do the work and i moved it very slowly up and down the aluminium.

 

The parts i polished are the aluminium strips along the edges of the lowboy cabinet.there is two big ones at the rear of the cabinet,one on each side and there is 2 that hold the marquee on, one on top, one on bottom.

 

with the brasso i put 3 little "gloops" of it in the middle of the scotchbrite then shoed it to the sander.

 

I tried with the aluminium still attached to the cabinet first off,but very fast the scotchbrite went black from cleaning and then rapidly turned my red laminated cabinet black as well. so i removed the aluminium strips and cleaned the side of the cabinet with metholated spirits. all good now.

 

i have an el-cheapo $20 workbench from supacheap auto with wind in-out wooden vise like top on it. i used this to hold the aluminium stips and now my workbench gets grubby, big deal.

 

hope someone finds this usefull

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Yeah thanks..

Tempted to try it on a heavily scratched pinball lock down bar using some cutting compound. Hell of a lot cheaper than buying the polishing/buffer pads.. Might try it on a test piece first..Thanks again for the info Good Aussie initiative!

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I have also just finished polishing the cooking surface in some pots/pans i had with some stubborn stains.

Put a clean/new scotchbrite pad on base of orbital sander, set for slowest speed and use the normal dishwashing liquid.... and watch in amazemant as the surface gets a shine like never seen before.

 

Also in the shower, use a clean scothcbrite and some JIF liquid and squirt a bit round, again set the sander to lowest speed and even clean the taps/shower head itself and even when our bathroom was new it was not even this clean.i have lost count the amount of times either myself or my wife have scrubbed it with our hands, never again

 

Yeah thanks..

Tempted to try it on a heavily scratched pinball lock down bar using some cutting compound. Hell of a lot cheaper than buying the polishing/buffer pads.. Might try it on a test piece first..Thanks again for the info Good Aussie initiative!

 

if it is heavily scratched, remove the scratches with some sandpaper first.not too coarse with it.then neaten it up with 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and then get in to it with scotchbrite/brasso/orbital sander

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I was only thinking today all the practical things I have learned through restoring Pin's and Arcade machines that I can do around the house so much better now.

And cleaning is the major one!!

Also Novus is great on car plastic bumpers and trim too..Rubbed some novus2 into the Forrester roof racks and they don't go dull like car products do after a few days.

 

I did these pinball legs with some fine steel wool first, then used some cutting compound and polished with a heavy cloth buffing pad in the end of a drill.. then washed the leg to get rid of residue, and buffed again with heavy cloth, washed again, then buffed with light pad and softer compound.

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Clear Lacquer to finish it off with

 

I have been toying with polished motorcycles for the last 6 years, owned a few my self.

 

I found it difficult to find a product that would be a clear lacquer and remain clear.They usually turn yellow and crack and look like crud in a short time, like a few months.

 

Well, with me polishing the sides of my arcade cabinet i quite like the look of it and dont want to be married to it cleaning it all the time and i think i have found a solution that will do the trick

 

http://www.amiles.com.au/engraving/lacquer/lacquer.htm

 

I called them and spoke to them today. A litre of it is just under $25 and freight to townsville is just under $15

 

It definatley reads the goods.Im looking forward to using it. I asked them about what it would look like if applied with a brush and if it would leave brush marks and the answer was no! how cool!

 

im seriously thinking of getting a small hobby air brush like used to paint radio controlled toys with and using it as the applicator.

 

I will let you know how it goes when i get it on my metal!

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***Before Lacquer clean with paint thinner!!!

 

I have just discovered this.

After polishing the aluminium, clean the aluminum with paint thinners on a chux cloth and it removes a heap of crap as well, the rag will go black the aluminum will get an extra bright sheene to it...

 

now you can lacquer it!

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