I am so tempted to follow up the rest of this title with “boots of leather”.

However, it’s about polishing aluminum, and is a protopost until I can get the video edited and post proper.

I’ve taken various approaches to polishing my cam-cover from my duratec, to various levels of success. Here’s a brief summary followed by some pictures for you to pleasure yourself over:

Device	Power Source	Result	Picture
Nylon Cup Brush	rechargable drill	Spread the much about a bit
Steel Cup Brush	rechargable drill	scratched it as well as cleaned it a bit
Acetone (solvent based approach)	elbow grease	negligable impact
cup brush again	air die-grinder with immediate cleaning afterwards	started to clear it up but needed lots of wiping
cup brush, die grinder	the part washer cabinet	die-grinding in the parts washer meant all the much was washed away instantly rather than being ground in. a reasonable result
grit blaster	air	stupid, stupid, stupid. It managed to get the surface cleaner, but all the grit stuck to the varnished underside. I’m going to have to blast it with a pressure washer. I’m also replacing my surfactant based solution in the parts washer for solvent which will hopefully get the varnish off and the grit with it.
wet and dry paper (300, 600, 1000)	elbow grease	did a decent job on one part of the surface (curvy bit). I also spent time on the flat raised bit and got a good result – getting to a mirror finish
quickclean rubbing compound	elbow grease, micropore cloths (lots of black oxide builds up and needs washing off immediately)	good and improving the surface after it’s been scrubbed in the parts washer. It couldn’t get a mirror finish but did include a sealing compound, so no oxide build up afterwards
gunson polishing and buffing kit	electric rechargable drill (again)	great – now have a proper mirror shine

It’s not all perfect though, when you get up close to the mirror like surface, it’s still pitted. I will either try and get wet and dry onto the orbital to get it smooth, or stop bothering.