aluminum brackets

[BigJim]

I'm polishing some aluminum windshield brackets on my motorcycle and have a couple questions. Not sure what type of aluminum they are.

First, I am using black compound to get a fairly decent shine and then I switch to brown to finish them. I am not getting a mirror finish like I'm wanting. Do I possibly need to use white to get them to shine or is it maybe just the metal and I'm getting the best finish possible ? I am using a 3/4 hp 3450 rpm bench mounted motor. The wheels are an 8" sisal with the black compound and an 8" sewn wheel with the brown.

Second, when I'm finished polishing them and I try to use a polish (Mother's - Blue Magic) I get a bunch of little scratches. They are easy to see, although they are not real deep. Even just wiping them with a clean rag makes small scratches. Do I need to use some sort of cleaner first ? I have tried kerosene first, but that seems to make no difference.

Any help with these problems would be greatly appreciated. These are my first attempt at polishing and I'm sure it's just something that I'm doing wrong !

[mcaswell]

It's likely your technique that's preventing the finish being what you want. Do you understand the CUT and COLOR motions? See http://www.caswellplating.com/buffman.htm

Regarding the scratches: There MUST be something that is scratching the metal. It's possibly residual buffing compound (don't use too much at once) or small particles of metal or possibly the polish that you're using.

It could also be that the scratches are occuring during the final buffing compound stage, then becoming visible when you wipe with a rag. If that's the case, you need to clean your wheels more often and make sure NOT to use too much buffing compound.

Quickly the compound to the spinning wheel, polish for a while, then re-apply. Small applications, often.