Polished aluminum to a chrome finish for my Media PC

I reposted this and cut in the new footage to give you a better look at the shine I gave it. I'm not sure why I didn't think about using the polishing material that came with the dremel set. It worked so much better than what I did before.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Media
• PC
• mediapc
• custom
• mods
• mirror
• shine
• chrome
• finish
• brushed
• aluminum
• cooler
• master
• coolermaster
• elite
• 341
• dremel
• work
• abrasive
• buff
• polishing
• wheel
• rubbing
• compound

[2MCHNV]

that is a sick job u didhand polished aluminum looks so much better then electro plated chrome

[honitsten]

@2MCHNV Thank you. This was the 1st time I did this during this video. I was learning as I go.

[locoloic]

Did you find that the plate subsequently went back to the matte look over the next couple of days? This is because aluminium oxidises in the presence of oxygen. The matte/grey look is the oxidisation, which actually protects the aluminium. To prevent it, you need to put a clear-coat of lacquer on the aluminium as soon as possible after you've polished it.

Cheers.

[honitsten]

@locoloic No I wanted a chrome like shine and it did go away some but it still looks better than how I bought it. Thank you for the tip. I will try it the next time I polish aluminum.

[jardidge]

Not bad, but I'd continue smoothing with the sand paper. start with 1000 grit and work four grades up. Start by going left to right. then up and down on the surface. Make sure to wipe down with rubbing alcohol between sandings.

Then just use the buffing wheel with no compound on. Trust me you will get a crazy luster.

I polished my katana using this method. It looks freaking amazing

ps: sorry for the long post :P

[honitsten]

@jardidge Use Alcohol between sandings, good idea.Thanks for the tip. I almost just lapped it till it was extremely flat. It would've taken forever to do.

[herbdell]

@honitsten do you know if the alcohol could damage some stickers that the aluminum can have? I have a motorcycle tank but it has stickers on it ...

[bondys123]

After polishing I would spray a clear lacquer to keep the shine and stop it tarnishing...all the same nice finish a top job :-)

[kauaiboy89]

i might use a similar process with the dremel on my aluminum rims, doing it by hand is just too much damn work.

[twistymcfistysback]

@honitsten Use a product called protectaclear and you can keep that finish with no dulling or oxidation.

[josh666675]

how did you do that with a dremel it scrathed the shit out of it.

[volemek]

turn the dremel on low and then put the compound on the felt pad while its running, it works much better.