Questions about Aluminum Polishing

yeah i finished buffing with the white rouge. brightener works wonders on durabright alluminum because of the silicone coating. you dont see very many with it though...

 

just did this one today,hooked up an air grinder with a Mother's polishing ball to my air hose for inflating tires and used some Zephyr green liquid polish.came out pretty good AND i did not get covered in black dust like you WILL with the polishing bars and wheels used by the guys who machine polish with rouge. i did have to kick my idle up a little cause the air tool drained my air tanks quickly.since i polish my wheels about 4 times a year,this worked great for bringing the shine back with minimal effort.then i tackled the paint with an electric buffer-that WAS EFFORT! especially climbing up on the ledge below the windsheild to do some of the roof(century condo)! maybe next week i'll finish the right side of the truck!!

 

Polishing aluminum can be a challenge, and a rewarding one. Nothing says class like a clean, polished Big truck.

Bar compound polishes do come in colors, --- for a reason. Each one is formulated differently for different applications and materials.

The most common color used on aluminum in good condition is GREEN, and produces a mirror-like finish. Very bright with reasonable depth.

If the aluminum is less that stellar, Tripoli, -- the BROWN colored bar -- is more abrasive and finishes to a nice shine, but not as bright as with the GREEN bar. Follow brown with green yields good, bright results.
Brown Tripoli also works on ferris metals like steel.

The BLACK bar is Emory --- and quite abrasive. It works on aluminum to remove serious flaws. Followed by brown and green should produce bright aluminum. Black Emory can also be used on steel.

The WHITE bar is for stainless steel AND plexiglass and plastics. Not real bright when polishing aluminum by itself, but still a nice shine.

The RED bars are Jeweler's Rouge, and is one of the finest polishes. It produces the BEST shine on already clean aluminum, smooth and has good depth.
Not many polish with the RED, unless it's a show truck. The finish is that fine. Like a mirror.

I've used a BLUE compound bar before, but they're not as easy to find. The end result is a bright finish with slight coloration, and good depth. Not quite the mirror finish of a GREEN compound, but a very nice luster, and possibly more practical and longer shine than green. It all depends on what pleases YOUR eyes.

For those who like to mix their own, GREEN polish bars, or any color, can be shaved and heated with Mineral Oil mixed in for the carrier agent. The mix can be applied by hand or with a power buffer.

~~~~~~~~C A U T I O N~~~~~~~~~~

When using those powerful, high RPM buffers,..........
BE VERY CAREFUL!
It ain't all that hard to "burn" the aluminum. And those high-speed buffers CAN and DO kick-back like a Missouri Mule!

I've used a product called "OUATER" (I think that's how it's spelled) pronounced "water". It's kinda like Never-Dull, in that it's in a pre-soaked pad and goes on by hand. It is MUCH better than Never-Dull or similar products and the more you rub, the shinier the aluminum gets. When the pad gets black --- DON'T discard it! It keeps on working by using the aluminum oxide it removes as a fine polishing agent.

After spending hours polishing, it's nice to be able to enjoy your labors for weeks instead of days. Use a good quality sealer to achieve that. I've even seen mirror bright aluminum that was polished three weeks prior, and STILL looked as though it had been just polished. The driver told me he used Rain-X as a sealer. You might want to try that.

If your aluminum has never been "cut" before, it will require an acid application for the first time "cut". The acid actually softens the surface of the aluminum to a depth of less than one-thousandth of an inch, and allows a power buffer to more easily cut a smooth finish.

I find Mother's polishes to be of high quality, but not the best for polishing aluminum. For touch-ups though, it ain't bad.

I DO know one thing, .......... it feels dawg-gone good to cruise down the highways and byways in a spanking clean and polished Big truck. And I think it speaks volumes about the Big truck driver.

Like the Vernon Truck Wash says;

CLASS Is A CLEAN Truck.

However, when you polish aluminum, plan on getting dirty.
VERY dirty.
But your Big truck should look marvelous.

 

My pleasure, Anker.

BTW, if you want to "practice" on a Big truck, I think I know of one.

 

i member helping my gfs dad do his truck when i was 15 and 16...for a day we both rubbed and rubbed never dull (or duraglit as it was called when i was in the service)...after getting a motor cycle at around 28 i tried it...wasnt happy with the results...went got some mothers...was defenitly not happy with that either...friend was all awwed about the wicked polish lines...tried that...found it cleaned perty good...but not the shine i wanted..one day at the local kw place saw some called bush aluminum cleaner in a black bottle...15 bucks so i grabed it...my aluminum on my 2000 W900L had already been cut ...so with just a lil elbow greese i was amazed at the mirror shine it left...love the stuff...couldnt find it for a while...for the kw place is not like a town or 2 over...one day i saw that the pilot has started to carry it...far as a polish that isnt home made...15 bucks...is a great polish...hope if you try it...you like it as much as i do..and i think it uses the red/pink jewlers rouge...cause that is the color it is

 

I grew up polishig trucks. 379 petes with refer trailers that all needed polishing too. I believe we got $100 per truck/trailer combo. And my old man was picky. Good money back when you are 14yo. nothing less than a full machine polish with jewlers rouge was acceptable.

I'll do it for $500 now, bring em on!

 

The green Zephyr polish that Javelinjeff mentioned is pretty good stuff. Easy on easy off with a great shine. I recently tried some other stuff called Blue Magic. It comes in a small blue tub kinda like a butter container. Its cheap but it works awesome! It has a silicone sealer in it to help bead off and repel dirt water and road grime. It keeps my aluminum lookin right.

 

I read the post below on aluminum polishing and was wondering a few things, we ust had the rims polished on our truck and would like to know if i should put a coat of wax on them to protect the shine or is this just a waste of time. The post below also mentioned a few polishing clothes that worked well, one in particular was called "Quater" as being the best then Blue Magic and Nevr Dull, now where can i find Quater, would like to find some and see how it works for myself, any ideas and thanks.

 

Nice truck you have there.I read something about wax on aluminum and chrome a while back and it stated that if wax is put on these metals it would make the pores not breath and it would cause all kinds of problems.What i use for my wheels etc is NU FINISH POLISH and have great results from it.Enjoy your KW