How to polish aluminium at home

[MrDohall1]

Green compound? I thought that was for plastics?

[Asylumescapee69]

I wonder how reflective you can get any particular metal by polishing it... Maybe you can start thinking about how to make a large parabolic dish out of aluminum and polishing it to concentrate sunlight and use it as a heat source for your kiln ;)

[butaangas]

@Asylumescapee69 That's a nice idea. Thanks! :)

[Asylumescapee69]

@butaangas Hey, thank you for the vids. Wish I knew some other able-bodied knowledgeable people in reality here. You know much about elemental physics?

[punishedexistence]

1 person botched their polishing job. Nice job!

[butaangas]

@punishedexistence Thanks! Actually it was me clicking the unlike button ^^. Just becouse I had nothing to do at that time.

[Peachezz131]

Thanks a lot for the video. This will help me someday polish some aluminium Detroit Diesel valve covers.

[chilidress]

its a mirror!!!!!



[Mickeydrews]

same method for very thin pieces of aluminum? also how do you keep it from rusting

[stevensj13]

@Mickeydrews Aluminum doesn't rust....

[scrapthrall]

@stevensj13

Not like iron or steel,no. But it does oxidize and develops a dull grey patina. Dishwashers can turn aluminum almost black over time.

[amazake]

awesome

now i can polish my aluminum-made cosplay katana nicely

[FLICKtheUSA]

Almost as shiny as my cock!

[CrazyMalone]

I have a 11foot (1950? 1960?) boat thats pretty cool looking. i want to polish it to mirror. I wander how i'd do it though.

[spikefish1989]

thank god i know where the mute button is.

[butaangas]

@MrBramDorper Same here. It was a little disappointing to find that out after the video was uploaded and someone notified me xD

[ClackTEAM]

Very nice! It looks like a mirror now !

[butaangas]

@ClackTEAM Thanks!

[megawhip1]

hey after yo do the 180 240nand 400 that wheel thing would it work the same with on of those ball things you put ant the and of an electric screw gun with aluminum polisher on it

[butaangas]

@megawhip1 I would say, go ahead and try it out on a piece of scrap aluminum.

[jv59140]

Where did you buy your felt disk ?

I'm french so if my English isn't perfect I'm sorry.

[butaangas]

@jv59140 At a local hardware store

[Dasmaster1]

Is the imperfections in it due to impurity in the metal or because of lacking in the polishing stage?

[butaangas]

@Dasmaster1 It's cast aluminum. You can never get a perfect finish on that. There are millions of tiny bubbles in it.

[Dasmaster1]

@butaangas Thats to bad.

[WhatTheFlyinFudge]

This is the dirtiest title of any video on YouTube.

[butaangas]

@WhatTheFlyinFudge If you look at it like that, then I agree xD

[thebicyclemasters]

Where can I buy the langsol paste?? I am trying to polish vintage bicycle parts. How long does the shine usually last?

[butaangas]

@thebicyclemasters I got it from a local dealer, it was kinda expensive though, but other than that, I have no idea where to get it. The shine will not last for long I have to say, Then you would need to blank anodize the parts in case you want it to last a long time. Or you need transparent spray paint to give it a protective surface. Aluminum tends to get matt when you put your hands on it much.

[thebicyclemasters]

@butaangas DO YOU KNOW OF ANY EXISTING METHOD THAT CAN MAKE IT LAST OTHER THAN ANODIZE IT TRANSPARENT? I KNOW THERE ARE SOME POLISHED BICYCLE PARTS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND 20 YEARS AND STILL LOOK FINE. DO YOU THINK PEOPLE RE POLISH THEM?

[butaangas]

@thebicyclemasters You ould also try transparent spray paint, but for bicycle parts I would not do that. I DO think people re-polish them to get the shine back. Aluminum is nice, but once you touch it quite a bit, it will get matt. You can see this like copper tubes. Once you polish them and touch them, they will get dark brown again over time.

[jenacbxx]

how it remains in that conditions before starting to change again color? lets say for motorcycles parts, that are exposed to rain and general humidity? 

[butaangas]

@jenacbxx I would advise to anodize it transparent. 

[jenacbxx]

@butaangas perfect, thanks you, i'll try it

[gummybearkiller1]

I think you did a halfdecent job.

You should have continued up to at least 1200 grid wet sandpaper.

There ara still some marks in the surface which should be removed.

[butaangas]

@gummybearkiller1 Totally agree with you there. But its cast aluminum wich always has minor bubbles in it that's impossible to remove. I should made this video with a regular aluminum plate instead. Ah well... :)

[1990suzuki]

Instead of using 180 240 and 400 couldnt you just go to 400 right away and if not could you start from 240 then 400 and just skip out on 180?

[butaangas]

@1990suzuki If you have a fine file to finish it off, you could skipp the 180. Otherwise it will take only more time to get the desired finish.

[thisisadi]

awsome! :)

[paddyDuaidzOpfer]

wow good mann ;)

[butaangas]

@paddyDuaidzOpfer Thank you very much! =)

[Pluntyplunty]

will this shine last?????????

[butaangas]

@Pluntyplunty Actually no... this will get dull pretty fast :(

[TheBerkeleyGang]

Might want to use bronze wool instead of steel wool. Steel imbeds in the aluminum, and then you start galvanic corrosion.

[The91efcivic]

haha i prefer making it wet too



[butaangas]

@extremehunter1996 Sure you could do that, but I think tinfoil makes alot of dross to skim off. I have never done that before, but you could always try it out.

[markuscoollife]

nice video man! thumb up

[busyhands94]

i am working on an aluminum mushroom key chain right now, however i am not sure how to polish it since it is round. the sanding would definitely be a pain in the ass, do you have any tips on how i can polish the curvature of the keychain? thanks!

[butaangas]

@busyhands94 Do you have a blueprint of the design? As far I thought (the way you described), you could put the keychain in a drill chuck, and clamp the drill in a vice. That way you will have a improvised lathe. Once you have that, it's very easy to polish it up. Just let the drill spin, and push the sandpaper against the keychain. Once you are done with the sandpaper, you have to polish it up manually and not in the drill press. i've tried it before, but it's impossible. Hope this helps :)

[busyhands94]

i am planning to make it about 3 inches long and have a secret compartment for 2 allergy pills, i will turn out pretty nice if it is high polish i think! it is hard to describe what i should look like, i may post a video when i am done. also do you have any idea how to cut threads into aluminum? i do not have any special bits that make threads but i am thinking that i can do it with a bolt and nut.

[HollowForm222]

0000 Fine steel wool is great for polishing!! Can also be used on firearms when used with a lubricant or gun cleaning solvent. We use it quite often to take off the surface rust and it never hurts the finish.

[butaangas]

@HollowForm222 Right on =)

[MadBadVoodo]

COOL!!

Thumbs Up my Friend!

[butaangas]

@MadBadVoodo Thanks mate =)

[busyhands94]

thank you so much for making a tutorial on how to do this! i have been wanting to do that to one of my knuckledusters for quite while now!

[butaangas]

@busyhands94 That's what I hoped for =)

I am trying to get more people into this. Hope this get's the forum back alive.

[busyhands94]

it will be brought back to life, it just needs the help of people, and attention. we need to attract people's attention to the forum basically

[butaangas]

@busyhands94 Totally right ;)

[XDHardstylerXD]

Bedankt nu weet ik hoe je het doet :)

[butaangas]

@XDHardstylerXD Graag gedaan :)

[WeaponCollector]

Great Work, came out great,

mike.

[butaangas]

@WeaponCollector Thank you very much, king of the knuckledusters! Really means alot for me from you :)

[techwizzy]

Good tutorial, I don't polish stuff but the video was easy to understand :)

[butaangas]

@techwizzy Thanks!

[bigbubba5037]

Very cool video man!

[butaangas]

@bigbubba5037 Thank you :)

[80spodcastchannel]

two things..in english the amount of sanding paper's coarseness is made known by "GRIT" not 'grid' the smaller the grit,the higher the number,I have used in excess of 5000 Grit and man does it mirror polish something.

the other thing is protect that finish with some car wax and then it wont oxidize and turn dull too soon.

Cool Vid Butaangas,thanks

Seeya

Dude

[butaangas]

@80spodcastchannel Thanks for the tips. Oh yea.. now I see it... grit. Anyway, thanks for mentioning.

[TamrynRimfire]

Excellent workmanship you really buffed that up to a Mirror finish weldone 5*

[butaangas]

@TamrynRimfire Really apprechiate it =)

[krazy45cat]

Nice !

[butaangas]

@krazy45cat Thanks mate :)