how to get that super clear mirror shine on polished aluminum wheels?
05-16-14, 10:31 AM
#1
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
how to get that super clear mirror shine on polished aluminum wheels?
Im trying to get the ultimate shoine from my aluminum lips on my wheels. I hit is 1000,2000,3000 grit paper, then black emergy, red, then white polish sticks (all on seperate cloth buffers on a drill) then machine polished with mothers mag and aluminum polish. its definitly shiny, but if you put a flashlight to it you still see allll the scratches and doesnt thave that depth and clarity.
how can I get them to be MIRROR polished?
Wondering if i should pick up some meguires metal finishing polish? I also heard to finish up with m105 and 205 even on aluminum?
The rim is super smooth, but like I said, shine the light correctly on it and you see a ton of hairline scratches.
how can I get them to be MIRROR polished?
Wondering if i should pick up some meguires metal finishing polish? I also heard to finish up with m105 and 205 even on aluminum?
The rim is super smooth, but like I said, shine the light correctly on it and you see a ton of hairline scratches.
05-16-14, 10:55 AM
#2
You have to think about each step logically.
The point of sanding with multiple grits and then compounding and then polishing is to continuously refine the surface.
For instance, you started with 1000 grit - this leaves tons of tiny 1000 grit scratches all over the surface. When you move up to 2000 grit, the goal of this step is to completely remove the scratches created during the 1000 grit process. When you move up to 3000 grit, you should be removing all of the scratches created during the 2000 grit process. When you proceed to each individual cutting and polishing step, the idea is the same. You want to remove all of the defects from the previous step until you are able to finish with a fine enough polish that it leaves no visible defects behind. This is what will produce that perfect mirror finish.
Since you are still seeing scratches, you are clearly not removing the defects properly before moving to the next step. I imagine the error is in your sanding process (unless the remaining scratches are very, very minor). Unfortunately you will most likely have to start over at either 2000 or 3000 grit and work your way back up from there again. If you are hand sanding, it is often a common practice to sand in one direction with each grit level. For instance, side to side with 1000, then front to back with 2000 and then side to side again with 3000. This way you can easily tell when the scratches from the previous step have been removed because they are in a completely different direction than your current step.
This concept of polishing metal is very similar to correcting paint....
In the following photo, you can see that the right side represents the original condition of the paint. The left side represents the paint after the initial cutting or compounding phase. Notice that all of the original scratches are gone, but now there are much finer scratches (aka micro marring) throughout the entire area that had been compounded.
These micro marring defects were then refined with a finer polish to produce a nearly flawless finish.
Does that make sense?
The point of sanding with multiple grits and then compounding and then polishing is to continuously refine the surface.
For instance, you started with 1000 grit - this leaves tons of tiny 1000 grit scratches all over the surface. When you move up to 2000 grit, the goal of this step is to completely remove the scratches created during the 1000 grit process. When you move up to 3000 grit, you should be removing all of the scratches created during the 2000 grit process. When you proceed to each individual cutting and polishing step, the idea is the same. You want to remove all of the defects from the previous step until you are able to finish with a fine enough polish that it leaves no visible defects behind. This is what will produce that perfect mirror finish.
Since you are still seeing scratches, you are clearly not removing the defects properly before moving to the next step. I imagine the error is in your sanding process (unless the remaining scratches are very, very minor). Unfortunately you will most likely have to start over at either 2000 or 3000 grit and work your way back up from there again. If you are hand sanding, it is often a common practice to sand in one direction with each grit level. For instance, side to side with 1000, then front to back with 2000 and then side to side again with 3000. This way you can easily tell when the scratches from the previous step have been removed because they are in a completely different direction than your current step.
This concept of polishing metal is very similar to correcting paint....
In the following photo, you can see that the right side represents the original condition of the paint. The left side represents the paint after the initial cutting or compounding phase. Notice that all of the original scratches are gone, but now there are much finer scratches (aka micro marring) throughout the entire area that had been compounded.
These micro marring defects were then refined with a finer polish to produce a nearly flawless finish.
Does that make sense?
Last edited by zmcgovern4; 05-16-14 at 10:59 AM.
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