On one particular window top-frame, there was so much oxidation build-up over the years that it seemed every time I thought I was done with the steel wool, there were uneven visuals on the surface - like they appeared a short time later: after over-night, an hour after the last time, 10 minutes after I thought it was done. Know what I mean Vern? I kept buffing with steel wool until there was no more roughness and the wool smoothly pushed and pulled over the surface.
I thought "there's gotta be a better way"!
I went searching. As one site said, "there are 100 ways to do anything". I think I tried 37 on this - so far.
I bought some buffing wheels and some polishing compound. Instruction for that stuff is all over the net, but here's what I've learned at this point.
- Spiral sewn cotton wheel for moderate material removal or stiffness on broad areas
- Loose cotton wheel for light material removal or around odd-shaped areas
- Brown compound for moderate
- White compound for light
- Use black compound and sisal wheel (rope) for heavy removal
- Use sandpaper in place of heavy removal tools in their absence
- Use hand-sanding instead of orbital on length sanding needs
- Cotton strings and fluff (black from aluminum) gets EVERYWHERE!
For that reason, do it outside if you can and set up the grinder/motor so you can work from it's back side. That allows you to work the top of the wheel instead of the bottom due to rotation. On my bench grinder mounted inside I got covered in the stuff and my gray hair turned much darker, as did much of my face. This is a time when you want to wear the respirator and safety googles and of course gloves. Be real careful that the wheel doesn't grab your project and throw it into your, or anybody else's, body! I have NO idea how easy it is to get blood out of warmed aluminum extrusion. You may have a permanent stain, and a lawsuit.
Here are the moderates/brown (spiral and loose) mounted up and spinning.
Here are the finish/whites (spiral and loose) set aside awaiting for their turn. That's the brown compound stick in the front.
I later labeled the wheels BR and WH so it will be easier to store for future.
Don't mix compounds on the same wheel. You want those contaminated wheels kept separate. Add compound to the wheel, not the project. Just touch the compound to the spinning wheel for half a second. Any more than that is just waste. Add compound frequently. You'll get the feel.
After I did the initial "metal-like" caulking removal and the dry, then wet, sanding I took the pieces over to the buffer and did the moderate and then the finish polishing. It really sped things up. But to be quite frank, the harder and more time consuming part of the process is the initial stuff anyway. The medium and finish parts are much faster even with just steel wool! But don't it look pretty!
Before and after.
Afters.
When all was said and done, the final polishing still left a bit of a black haze. The mirror-like finish was cool, but it did make scratches and other imperfections from 45+ years of life a bit more apparent.
I found doing a final hand-buffing with 0000 steel wool cleaned the haze from the piece, and gave a preferred "buffed aluminum" look to my eye.
I think over time, as the aluminum naturally oxidizes, the steel-wool buffed finish (maybe I'll call that burnishing) will be easier to maintain and looks more like aluminum should anyway, than would a mirror-like polished finish.
That burnishing also seems to even out the overall look, and the two finishes are extremely close to begin with.
Next time I'll discuss the new rubber seals.
