Polishing Aluminum

[Peanut]

Could anyone give me some input on what they used and/or did to polish aluminum to a mirror finish? I would appreciate any help.

Thanks. :o

[ToddP]

Hubert,

Last year at the Arlington airshow there was a guy demonstrating this polishing stuff called Flitz. I was pretty impressed with his demonstration and plopped down $15 for a tube of the stuff.

It was money well spent. This stuff is pretty amazing when it comes to polishing aluminum. All I do is take a very small dab with my finger, put it on the metal and rub it in with a paper towel (the cheaper the better - cheaper towels have a little more wood content and offer a little abrasion). Then wipe clean with a cotten cloth. You will be amazed. It will take a piece of dull oxidized aluminum and shine it up faster than anything I've seen.

I've shown it to several people and everyone has been pretty amazed.

There is product information here. I see they have a free sample pack you can order. You have to pay $5 for shipping

Flitz Sample (http://www.flitz.com/freeflitzsample.htm)

I bought the tube which is here.

Flitz (http://www.flitz.com/metalpolish.htm)

I also bought the polishing ball which works fantastic. I put it on my cordless drill and it makes pretty quick work of any project. The ball is super tough. You can grind it away on diamond plate and it won't hurt it.

Polishing Ball (http://www.flitz.com/polishing_ball.htm)

I should be the TV pitchman for this stuff, but I'm just a satisfied customer. ;D

Don't get carried away and buy the 2 lb. can. You won't need that much. I polished up probably half the aluminum parts on my gyro as I was putting it together plus all kinds of other little projects and still haven't used half the tube.

[Peanut]

Todd,

Thanks. I was trying to remember that name. I had purchased a tube of Flitz years ago and really liked it but couldn't remember the name. Already purchased the free trial.

Thanks again,
Hubert ;D

[Chuck Irby]

Todd,

Have you used this product to polish your blades?

Mine are water spotted pretty bad due to driving about 200 miles in the rain. My blade box got filled with water and the blades were in bubble pack.

How long do you think it would take to make the blades look new again?

[GyroRon]

Don't know about the polishing bit but I do know that if your okay with a slightly less than perfect shine on the blades, do this.... Once you got them polished up coat them like you would your tires with Armor all. Wipe it on and make sure it is coated smoothly then leave them alone.

The Armor All will make them less shiney just slightly but will keep them looking good for a long time. When you get bugs on them or dust etc... just spray more Armor All on a Sponge and wipe them down again. Makes cleaning a snap. Plus the polish finish won't slowly dull out like it normally does.

I suspect Armor All would work even better on Fiberglass blades.

[GyroRon]

Btw, I don't use Armor All brand Armor All. It is too watered down and has to be re applied too often. I use a product like it from Turtle Wax that comes in a green bottle and is Formula 2001 or Finish 2001 or something along those lines. It is WAY better lasting than Plain Armor All.

[Chuck Irby]

That sounds like a pretty good tip Ron. Thanx a lot.

[donshoebridge]

Hubert,

When I was with the Yankee Air Force, we use to polish our B-17 with Mothers Mag Wheel Polish using a cloth baby diaper. That plane was so bright, when we pushed it into the sun, you could hardly stand to look at it!

Here's some links of the "Fort", Yakee Lady.
http://www.yankeeairmuseum.org/YAFFly.html
http://community.webshots.com/photo/85392991/86365613AQJZvS
http://community.webshots.com/photo/85392991/86365634XxutuJ

Don

[GyroRon]

I used to use Mothers ALOT! and I found several others are much better. I got some stuff at the airport now that is much easier than mothers and just as cheap and common. It is by Blue Coral or Eagle one or something. I can find the name out if anyone want to know next time I am out flying.

[Mike Hook]

Please Ron get the name of the polish when you get the chance, I have been looking for something to clean and polish aluminum on the fire trucks in the station too. I have Flitz and the buffing wheel but it just does not do the job that I want. The public likes to see their tax dollars shine.

Thanks,

Mike Hook

[Mike Hook]

Thank you Steve
The oxides is a problem on diamond plate so will give it a try.

Thanks Mike

[Peanut]

Thanks to all for the replys.

Steven, the flour does the trick. Great idea! :o ;D

[Jonvee]

These guys know a thing or two about polishing.

http://www.vintageairstream.com/Myrtle/polish1.html

[Chuck Irby]

I too would like to thank you all for this post and all the support....

Hubert, thanks for starting this post. Todd, Ron, Don, Mike, Steven, Jonathan, thank you all for your support and input.

My blades still look pretty bad with the water spots. Maybe by the time I get around to cleaning and polishing them we will have come to a conclusion as to what will work the best with the least amount of effort.

Ron, when you get the opportunity I want the name of the stuff in your hanger also.

Thanx again to you all,

Chuck

[Al_Hammer]

Some googling around turned up these aluminum polishing pearls of wisdom. -Al Hammer
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The original Cessna Owners Manual suggested to polish with 2 quarts alcohol, 2 quarts water, and 1 pkg of Bon Ami.
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Check out "Rolite" and "Ap-300"
http://www.aircraftpolish.com/specrolite.html
Rolite, available from http://www.aircraftspruce.com
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I have tried a codzillion different things trying to polish the spinner on my Maule... I asked a lady who had a polished ercoupe how she kept the plane nice and well... the secret seems to be cornstarch,,, polish the plane or aluminum with a polish and then use cornstarch,, shake it on or apply with a very soft cloth and it remove any residue and moisture and makes the aluminum glow,, then I put a light coat of car wax that does NOT have polish and off you go!! Mark Belser (posted 1/14/2002)
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Anyway, after rubbing in the polish, until you get a black mess, what and old trucker taught me was to drop my rag into a bowl of flour, yes baking flour, and be generous with it and rub it on all areas that you polished...what that will do is take off all the black that my be left on the part, down to the finist trace of polish,and leave you a bright mirror finish...trust me it works...I currently use this same prosses on my most presious toy...my HARLEY...
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I've spent some time "shinging up" a polished Cessna 195. From my experience it doesn't matter much what polish you use, eg rolite, blue magic etc., the best way to make it shine is to find two cotton cloths (preferably old baby diapers). Use one as an application cloth and the other as a removal cloth. The best application cloths are completely black from the residue of the polish. With small amounts of polish rub in circles until the shine comes through almost completely. Use the clean cloth to remove the rest of the polish residue. Use rubbing alcohol to help remove the remaining residue, it works better than flour or corn starch becasue it won't built up around rivits and skin seams. Brant Douglass (posted 5/6/2002)
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If you really want a "miror surface", India ink has carbon in it and it is extremely fine. Use chamois and india ink (and rubber gloves) and keep rubbing it. When you can't get any further, dilute the ink in half and continue the same process until you can't go any further. Dilute in again one half and repeat the same process. You'll get a mirror unmatched. I suppose you could continue to dilute it and refine the mirror but you'll end up with no time to show off your work. If you pretty much keep your bike clean, then using the diluted ink every now and then will maintain that mirror for you. I got this from an oldtimer as a platinum polishing trick and it worked on bikes. John Gavin- Keene, NH, USA
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Don't believe that guy?- its true!
Check out this process developed at Goddard Space Center for polishing bare aluminum to OPTICAL QUALITY(using India Ink)
http://www.nasatech.com/Briefs/Feb01/GSC14147.html
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[Whirlydog]

This is something I have tried that seems to take off oxides from paint and metal. When the paint on my old Van would start oxidizing I would wash it with hot water and calcon (Dishwasher) soap. It would look brand new again and then I would go about waxing it.

Shawn

[GyroRon]

Blue Magic is the polish I got. works better than the mothers hands down.

[Chuck Irby]

Thanx Ron, you think it would take long to do the blades?

[GyroRon]

took me about a hour and three cigarettes!

[Chuck Irby]

That's not bad at all. Thanx a lot.

[Chuck Irby]

Al Hammer,

I want to thank you for your post as well. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I will be fore I get around to cleaning my blades.

Thanx again,

Chuck


PS, Are you staying warm?