POLISHING ALUMINUM by Billie King

When Doris & Bob were here in August for our West Coast Chapter meet, Doris asked me to do a write up,

with pictures, of my polishing technique & tips. I think she just thought it fun that an old lady enjoyed buffing

aluminum! It IS instant gratification. Messy & time consuming but fun none the less.

I have heard from some that you cannot put a mirror finish on aluminum that has scratches and dents and

that Griswold does not polish up well. Not true. For that reason I chose to use a Griswold triple sauce pan set for this

write up. I have included pictures of before, during and after the polishing process. I have to say that I had never

buffed anything before this past summer, except by hand, and I was becoming pretty frustrated by the time and work

required for acceptable success. I told Frank we had to get a buffer so he began the process of figuring out what

would work best. He felt the buffers we found were too high of a speed so we ended up with a double arbor buffing

unit with a 3 step pulley & drive belt system along with a ½ horse electric motor purchased from Grizzly Industrial,

an equipment stand from Harbor Freight, & various buffing pads and compounds, also from Grizzly. Generally I use

1725 rpm.

BEFORE

I started with several scoops that were in really bad shape & of limited value as they were. I figured if I

ruined them not too much was lost. It is truly a case of trial & error! I found using Tripoli or even the black

compound did not have enough cutting abrasive to remove scratches or shallow dents which meant sand, sand, sand.

I don’t try to eliminate all of the dents or deep scratches. These are not new items & they should retain their

character. After all, they have been around a long time. After some time I decided I did not have the right wheels or

compound to do the job. Back to the Grizzly catalog… another order for yet another 2 wheels, a German buffing

compound developed for use on aluminum & stainless steel and a wheel rake to clean out the hardened wax from the

wheel (my little flat tool did not work too well!) What a difference! I can now go from a heavily oxidized/scratched

surface to a near mirror finish without any sanding and not that much time.

I have learned a few things along the way…

1.) Plan on working on several pieces at a time to minimize wheel changing.

2.) A pair of gloves with rubber palms is a must. The gloves give you better control and protect you from

the wheel grabbing the item and throwing it to the floor. I lost a small tea kettle and ended up with a very bruised toe

before I learned that! A cheap leather welder’s apron saves your clothes; a good rubber pad on the floor helps

leg/foot fatigue.

2.) Use only 1 type of compound per wheel. Mark what compound you are using on the wheel with

permanent marker. Each time you put the wheel on to use, reverse it & use the rake on it. Rake the wheel before

removing and keep the wheels in plastic bags between uses to keep them “clean??”

3.) If the items you are polishing are too cold or you have too much compound on the wheel the wax in the

compound hardens too fast & leaves a great deal of heavy wax streaks on the surface.

4.) Wipe all excess wax off the item between switching grades of compound. IF you cannot wipe off the

excess put the item in the sink, spray with Simple Green and let it set for a time but NOT dry out. Brush with a semi-

stiff brush and hot water, dry. All excess should come off. This is especially important when using the sisal wheel

with German compound as the wax will have metal from the cutting process and you do not want to transfer that to a

finishing wheel.

5.) Cover your wheels with plastic bags between uses… saves your shirts when you bump them!

The process I use is as follows:

1.) Always wash the item in hot soapy water first! If the item is really a mess I spray it with Simple Green,

leave it for a few minutes then scrub with a semi-stiff brush. Rinse well and dry. If it is a pot, I try to clean the inside

before proceeding. Cream of tartar does not work all that well so generally a good scrub with SOS does the trick

2.) The second step is to use a laminated sisal buffing wheel with the German aluminum buffing

compound. Do NOT use too much compound (a couple of good jabs should do it), use light pressure on the wheel

and keep the piece moving!!! Let the wheel & the compound do the work. I use the 6” laminated sisal wheel on one

side of the buffer, a 3” hard spiral sewn wheel on the other with the German compound, made specifically for

aluminum and stainless steel, on both. The hard spiral sewn wheel is less aggressive than the sisal and will remove

some of the buffing marks. The sisal wheels are very aggressive so you do not want to hold your piece in one spot.

AND HOLD ON TO THE ITEM!!!! Clean you wheel several times with your rake, re-apply compound.

3.) When you have worked the aluminum down to the point you want, wipe the item down to remove the

wax residue or wash with Simple Green, rinse thoroughly and dry. Old towels work great for wiping down.

PARTIAL INITIAL POLISHING WITH SISAL WHEEL

4.) Switch your wheels to a hard spiral sewn with Tripoli and a soft sewn spiral with red rouge. You should

be able to remove any scratch from the sisal wheels with Tripoli compound. Wipe down before using red rouge. Red

rouge is the final polish.

5.) If I end up with black wax build up next to handles, tight curves, etc. I wash it with hot soap and water

then dry well. The final step is to wax with a good car wax which should keep the item from oxidizing again so

quickly. I have to admit that I have not yet waxed any of the items but maybe this winter!

THE GLEAMING TRANSFORMATION

Billie at the Wheel, working on a different aluminum polishing project—always busy!

Contact me at fbking@clearwire.net if you want further information about items from Grizzly Industrial.

They have an online catalog at www.grissly.com.