Shine Smooth Aluminum?

[DocDetonancour]

Was looking at ProTech and Sealtight brite fininsh tool boxes. The Pro was very marred and didn't have as good a sine as the Pro.

Anyone ever tried to polish this stuff? What did/do you use? Does it work well? Thanks, Doc

 

[nwjetboat]

Meguiars All Metal Polish. Can find it at most autobody supply shops. Although you can apply it by hand, a buffer with wool pads works best. The buffer needs to turn around 2000 rpm.

It leaves a thin coat of wax and smells like coconut oil.

 

[JThiessen]

Aluminum can be polished by hand or machine to a mirror/chrome finish. There are lots of products available, although I'm not familiar with the consumer products (I use a product at work that is only labeled by its chemical names). If using a polishing compound, you will will get a black "gunk" all over everything. Just wipe it off by hand, and you'll have a nice looking finish.



ANother look that I prefer is the sandblasted look. Not sure if anyone in your area does it, but it leaves a very nice smooth "satin" finish.

 

[Blakers]

Originally posted by nwjetboat

and smells like coconut oil.

A little off subject, but have you ever smelled coconut oil? The stuff will make your eyes water and cause you to gag yourself crazy. It's almost like maise. It will take the paint right off steel almost instantly too. Very corrosive.



We used to refine it here all the time, but now we mostly burn the stuff in our boilers.

 

[nwjetboat]

Here is a shot of a aluminum boat I polished. JThiessen is correct, everything gets black. The residue will come off painted surfaces with car wax. A post polish wipe of the metal with lacquer thinner will really show the shine.

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