Polishing
I still planned on doing some type of work over the winter on the boat. All of the hardware I stripped off of the boat seemed like a good place to start! I purchased an Anodizing kit, some polishing compounds and various types of polishing wheels and went to work.
I started with the aluminum window frames. Attempting to clean all of the caulk off of the frames was a challenge to say the least. I used paint stripper, adhesive remover, scrapers, and a wire wheel brush mounted on my grinder but none of it seemed to make the job any easier. When I finally did get all of the caulk off I started the process of stripping off what was left of the old anodized coating using a professional grade anodizing stripper, sodium hydroxide (lye) heated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
After the frames where stripped and rinsed I started polishing them with a black polishing compound packed with abrasives and a sisal rope wheel. The sisal rope wheel is just what it sounds like, a very dense hard surface made from binder twine, cord & rope. It is an aggressive wheel for removing scratches. If I have extremely deep scratches I sometimes sand them out using 160 grit wet/dry sand paper and work up to 220 grit. After that I buff out the sandpaper scratches with the sisal rope wheel and black Tripoli compound.
The black compound takes off allot of the shallow scratches and softens up the deep ones. I use a cut motion working the frames against the direction of the wheel spin until I'm happy with the finish. The cut motion removes surface metal. I then used a color motion working the metal frames in the direction of the wheel spin. The color motion gives the metal a polished look. Apply only a small amount of compound at a time. While the wheel is spinning I firmly press the compound bar to the wheel for a brief moment, maybe a second, you will see the compound load up on the wheel. Apply often, every minute or so. I rake the wheel every 5 minutes with a wheel rake used to fluff up and clean the rope/cotton material on the wheel.
After I'm happy with the look of the metal I change buffing wheels to a spiral sewn cotton wheel. I write the word "brown" on the wheel with a laundry marker. You must keep your buffing wheels separated according to types of compounds, one wheel one compound. Label all of your wheels to identify them with the compound you use with that wheel. Cross contaminating wheels and compounds will lead to difficulty later on in removing the finer scratches on you metal. I also keep my buffing wheels in plastic baggies to keep the buffing dust off of them and prevent further contamination. You create an incredible amount of dust when your polishing, you will need to wear a dust respirator, goggles and keep a shop-vacuum nearby to clean up the cotton/rope dust that collects around your work area. With the brown compound I use the same motion cut and polish until I'm happy with the look I then switch to green compound using the same procedures as described above. When your finished, your Aluminum will have a mirror like finish. The only problem is keeping it that way in a saltwater environment. I plan on re-anodizing my frames using a type II anodization process. I might even dye them gold!
Frames with caulk still stuck to metal. Various compounds for polishing. Sisal rope wheel.
Various before and after of frames
September 9, 2005
I have been out of town for the last month working so work has been progressing slow.
New 3/4 HP polisher and Polished Wheel
Polished port light frames and wheel
While everything I said above works I still was not happy with the results and polishing for what seemed hours using my small 1/4 HP grinder. I started re reading through the polishing forums on the Caswell site http://www.caswellplating.com and decided if I really wanted good results I had to spend more money. My hole in the water keeps getting bigger.
I purchased a 3/4 HP professional polisher with 8 inch polishing wheels (see above). For polish aluminum I started out with an 8 inch diameter spiral sewn cotton wheels ganged together 4 at a time. The wider the wheel you have the less chance of your part slipping off the wheel and banging against the armature denting the polished piece. The unit spins up at around 7000 RPM at the wheel surface which is recommended for polishing aluminum
I started polishing with black compound, the port light frames polished up fast using the new polisher, I then changed sides on the polisher and finished the job with white compound which gave it a nice luster finish. After I Zoop Sealed everything www.zoopseal.com going by the manufactures instructions. I read about this product on the Caswell Plating forums and it was given high marks against rapid re-oxidization. According to the manufacture the seal last for up to two years.
I used the same procedure as above to polish my winch covers but I started out with GREEN compound (used with stainless steel) and a cotton wheel. I worked my way down to the non-abrasive white compound used for polishing. My stainless steel winches where in good shape so the green compound worked great for removing small scratches.
Winch covers where polished with green and then white compound.
Chrome Plating
Before and after chrome plating!
I had most of the deck hardware re-chromed. It was a toss up as far as price goes. I definitely saved on the winch covers but probably broke close to even on everything else. I really couldn't match most of the pieces in size with what is on the market today and didn't want to get into the trouble of trying to re-fit old pieces with new pieces. The plating company really did a nice job though, they triple plated all of the parts.