What's a good set up for polishing aluminum? I bought some cloth disks and compound but would a drill spin fast enough or do I need a angle grinder set up? Also can or should I use something like mothers aluminum polish on the disks instead of the hard compound blocks?

 

As you probably know, aluminum is soft. You don't need high-speed to polish it. You do need power. If your drill motor has plenty of power, it will do the job well. A grinder is better because of the power, but for the same reason, it is easy to cause more defects. If you use the grinder, start with very light pressure until you get the feel. It won't feel like it, but it will be removing material.

The other question depends on the condition you are starting with. If the surface is raw metal, casting or just rough with defects like scratches and swirl marks, you'll want to use the compound blocks to get it into shape for a follow-on with the Mothers. The Mothers stuff is very very good, but by itself, it won't take away the deeper porosity or scratches.

 

I have a 3/8 dewalt but it's corded and slow. My cordless is an impact so I don't think it will spin fast enough under pressure. What's max rpm I'll check out some angle grinders today. I bought a 90 degree air drill to drill my triple tree and it lacked the power to polish it just bogged down

The aluminum is neglected the bike wasn't maintained before I bought it. I will probably have some new stuff to polish but at first just existing parts

 

Yeah, the grinder is better for the task. I just didn't want to default to spending your money. Dremel makes some powerful tools if you don't mind doing small areas. Might be cheaper.

By the way, if you are basically cleaning up "ugly" surfaces that are basically smooth and free of deep defects. The Mothers will do justice. Anything more abrasive will remove more metal and can create some language issues that your children shouldn't hear.

 

i use a variable speed polisher and buffing wheel. white rough will get you where you need to be. what all are you polishing? i have done a ton



i actually just did the lips of my wheels to do a stripe, did this with an air tool, and white rouge




this is after they where cleared and then the black was shot




here is also a set of wheels we 2 toned and cleared

 

My wheels look like hell as does the triple trees. Figured the wheels are going to take some work. Not sure what else. I do have some flaking chrome to be repaired not sure if I can polish whatever is under there to blend in better. Basically got a great deal on the bike but it's not without defects

 

to be honest if your chrome is flaking, i would not polish it, it will cause the chrome to chip and just imbed itself into your bonnet scratching the **** out of what you just worked on.

 

I prefer the ole' hand & elbow grease method.

If it's rough or very tarnished/discolored I use Mother's mag & aluminum polish with a Scotch Brite pad.
When I decided to polish my fork lowers, I used a Scotch Brite pad and Acetone to strip the clear, then switched to Mother's with a Scotch Brite pad to begin polishing, then eventually switched to microfiber once it was beginning to smooth out.

Once smoother and starting to shine up, I switch to microfiber cloth & Blue Magic metal polish. I use the Blue Magic to maintain also. Works very well.

This process can be done much faster with power tools, but doing the final polishing by hand leaves a more uniform finish. This has been my experience anyway. Just takes a lot of patience and elbow grease. I finish the process off with a good Caranuba wax to seal it.

IMO, nothing looks better than polished aluminum, including chrome. The only issue is maintaining the finish...takes a lot more effort than chrome, but if you maintain it regularly it's not much of an issue really. I've had good luck maintaining my fork lowers with minimal effort.

 

Fork lowers. Those definitely need to be done as well. The bike was neglected by its last owner, but won't be any more. Appreciate the feedback and suggestions.

 

Tried harbor freight. Their angle grinders are cheap but 11,000 RPMs and not variable speed so I think I'll give the drill with mothers a try. What's the recommended process to polish the fork tubes to a mirror finish.