recomendations?

[davie318is]

Hi all,just joined the site and wondering if anyone can point me in the direction for best kind off kit for polishing the casings on car amplifiers,most are made from a kind of alloy,so wanting to give it a go myself,oh and forgot to say i'm from glasgow scotland

[mpierich]

Check out the free online manual for starters, then come back here and we'll try to help you fill in the blanks. Try to find out what metal they are...does a magnet stick to them (I imagine not...)?

[davie318is]

no a magnet dont stick to them,think there a kinda light alloy,guy that usually does these things for me used a black bar to take the black painted coating off the covers,then a kinda grey one,then finished with a white bar,must say i was like when i saw the finished item spent almost 6 hours on this site last night lol,didnt think some of the things i read were possible,totally great site,looking forward to getting some stuff provided carswell post to uk and getting loads of tips from you guys

[sswee]

Most the amp cases I seen have been extruded aluminum. If that helps.

[pickleboy]

most amps i have been around have aluminum cases. if they are anodised color then that will have to be removed as will paint. the best start if it is paint is caswell paint stripper. it contains methyelene chloride and that is the best stuff i have ever used. i have been in the car and truck repair biz most all my life and used lots of stuff and it works best. as for ano. they have a stripper for that also or you can look on the anodising forum and get advise on removing ano coating. at that point if sanding is needed sand to at least 600 grit wet. then you can go higher or start on the buff wheels using spiral sewn w/ emory (the gray bar) then to spiral / tripoli (brown bar) then move to loose cotton / w white bar. if the sanding is good enough and the buff machine is strong enough you might be able to move from gray straight to loose / white. some of us on this site that works good for. if you want to do this then be sure to work the part w the emory till you get the shine level you want first. that way when you go to the white it will glow at you.
caswell does sell in the uk if you check their site it has info for uk customers
welcome to the forum, be sure to post pics of your work so we can see and best of luck.
cliff

[davie318is]

thanks guys if its any help the amp covers are mostly made by alpine,kicker and kenwood and just wondering how you tell which kind off alloy these are made from,as most have a kind of black painted coating on them,would it also be possible to just buff this paint off using the black bar,brown then white to finish?

had a look on the website for the uk dealers 0f caswell products and was kind of shocked at the difference in prices,uk prices are more than double would take it thats because of import duties and tax and things,jeez i hate the uk,so expensive lol,wish i lived in usa,soooo much cheaper than here

[davie318is]

meant to also say,the bench grinder i have is 3000rpm,is this ok to start off with or would i need a faster one?

[pickleboy]

as for the alloy most likely it is 2024 aluminum. for the buffing the paint (if that is what it is) off, you can do that but it will waste a lot of material( bars and buffs). if you can strip it off, the alum. is possibly ready for the wheels at that point. the buffing off of the paint is also going to add to the mess (which is great anyway). if you can find a local supply for a paint stripper that has methylene chloride as the main ingredient it should work very well. the benefit of caswells is the aerosol. i use another brand in a gel form but it is messier and harder to control where it goes. as for your buffer/grinder the speed is good if the horse power is high enough. it should be at least 1/2 to 3/4 hp for ideal use. at the speed you list you should be able to run 8" and 10" wheels at the right speed range for alum. i would start with 8" and see if the machine can handle the pressure needed to get the shine. if so move to 10 for more speed. the surface feet per minute of these two sizes will give you 6000 and 7500 respectively. one last thing the online buffing manual says to start off with sisal wheels, in my opinion that is not right for this application as the sisal is going to be to aggressive. stick to spiral sewn and you should do fine. best of luck bro and keep us posted.

[rides20]

The anodizing stripper that he mentioned from Caswell is Sodium Hydroxide ...be careful with that stuff though, it's SUPER nasty stuff

[davie318is]

thank you so much for your help guys