polishing on extremely soft aluminum

[samtgallagher]

i'm working on a set of very expensive lightweight drag rims for a friend, that are made out of very soft aluminum. i'm having trouble buffing out all the light scratching. because of the design, i can't cross polish as much as i would like to.

they have been sanded 220-400-800-1000, emery sewn cotton, brown sewn cotton, white loose cotton

does anyone have any pointers, or tricks to help out on polishing out really soft aluminum?

[baz]

Originally Posted by samtgallagher

i'm working on a set of very expensive lightweight drag rims for a friend, that are made out of very soft aluminum. i'm having trouble buffing out all the light scratching. because of the design, i can't cross polish as much as i would like to.

they have been sanded 220-400-800-1000, emery sewn cotton, brown sewn cotton, white loose cotton

does anyone have any pointers, or tricks to help out on polishing out really soft aluminum?

pictures would be better but i would have skipped the emery part . i m sure there is some section that you can cross polish to find out wich step has left those those scratches

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by samtgallagher

i'm working on a set of very expensive lightweight drag rims for a friend, that are made out of very soft aluminum. i'm having trouble buffing out all the light scratching. because of the design, i can't cross polish as much as i would like to.

they have been sanded 220-400-800-1000, emery sewn cotton, brown sewn cotton, white loose cotton

does anyone have any pointers, or tricks to help out on polishing out really soft aluminum?

If you're just having trouble finishing up, try a clean flannel wheel with no compound on it. The soft stuff is hard to finish. If you have unacceptable scratches from previous steps then go back and try again.

I have had problems in the past with people thinking polished aluminum should look just like chrome - but chrome is hard enough to polish perfectly, whereas the softer aluminum will always show some marking from the polishing operations.

[samtgallagher]

thanks for the replies, i'll get pics up once i get one completely done. they're definitely not unreasonable work marks, but since these are so expensive i was trying to get them as clean looking as possible.

[Maicojames]

What type of rims? Sun, Akront, DID, Excel(Takasago)?
I recently polished two flanged akronts from a 67 Bultaco. I used the 180, then 240 greaseless, then sisal with sisal bar( very carefully), block sanded the edges with 320, then 400 wet. Next cut was emery on spiral, very tough to get in between with it being a shouldered rim with spoke dimples, the inside face was all with spiral/ emery. Finally I buffed with white on a smaller( 6") spiral wheel. The photos didn't come out, but the owner is showing them off. These were 40 yr old rims with rash and decay. If you have a new set of aluminum rims, I would try to just polish with emery/spiral-then white/spiral.

With what you describe, it sounds to me like the scratches i got with the loose wheel. The white on spiral cleaned them up-and that's how they were delivered. He is very happy with them. I would be interested how a smaller spiral cotton wheel( to reduce wheel speed) with white compound does for you now. Again, if they are new with no scratches, casting or machine marks-just polish skip the sanding and maybe even emery.
Personally, I have quit using the brown tripoli, on the suggestion of MP-and it has saved me much aggrevation. Baz and MP have helped me substanitally already-I try anything they reccomend first. Also, as they have stated-often you may have to try something peculiar in some situations.
MJ

[samtgallagher]

the rims are bogart's iirc, it's a lightweight drag rim. holds a 10" wide slick and the entire rim weighs less than 5 pounds. not 100% sure on the brand being bogart though, there are no brand markings anywhere on them.

i'll have to try not using the brown on some clutch levers tonight when i get home. i'm all about removing unecessary steps, and more than open to any pointers since i just started polishing a few months ago as a hobby.

[Maicojames]

Never heard of "bogarts", but that may be if they are one or two piece wheels, I was thinking of rims for spoke wheels, but know of none which would accomodate any 10" slick......for a second I thought you may have mistaken Italian made Borranis for Bogarts, but I seem to recall some Bogart brand wheels.

MJ