Refinishing Aluminum.

Polishing Aluminum has always been rewarding for me. Its the one thing you really see a big turn around on and I just like working with it. Over time I have acquired the tools and products to make the process faster.


Below is a wheel I polished to use on one of our semis as a steer. This isn't really a full guide on how to refinish a wheel, there are many different practices out there, however one thing many will agree on is that there is no magical one step product that can replace simple compounding (and sanding if needed). YMMV but don't be too afraid to attack your aluminum to bring out that shine.


Here is how the wheel started out. It was an outside dual so this side of the wheel suffered a lot of abuse and would not have been taken care of. It also has a machine finish as there is no point in having a mirror polish in between the duals.





Here is the wheel after a bath in a diluted Hydroflouric & Sulfuric acid mixture. Remember to use proper safety equipment and handling procedures when using this stuff if you try this on your own. I do use a scour pad to agitate it just a little bit, but the Acid does most of the work on its own. Let it sit on there for about 5 minutes then wash off.





Make sure you mask any areas you do not want the Acid to effect. Here is what it will do to a polished wheel.





The corrosion on the face of the wheel was very bad and very deep. I tried numerous steps until I settled on my most agressive approach. 40 grit sandpaper on my DeWalt Rotary polisher. I'm sure a few cringed at that, but don't worry, I'm working with Aluminum that is an inch thick, not microscopic clear coat. 40 grit on the 3M DA sander just wasn't fast enough. I'm lazy but at the same time I am not, I am very picky about using the best products and technique, but don't like to work any harder than I have to. After sanding away with the 40 grit for awhile I was able to knock down most of the pitting on the face. I left the deeper stuff that will be hidden by the nuts.











I then went over the face with the DA and 40 grit to make sure everything was smoothed out from the polisher.





Then I went to 80 grit on the rotary





Then 80 grit on the DA. I will be skipping pictures on some of the steps from now on as the camera really doesn't show drastic changes.


Then I went over the entire wheel with 180 grit. Then 240 grit.


Then began sanding with 320, then 400 and finished with 600. Here is the wheel after the last stage of sanding.





Then it was time to move onto the compounds (Rouge to some)


Starting with a Blue Air Way wheel and emery compound. Here is a picture of the wheel after this stage. It may look shiny, but it still has a long way to go.





Then I went on to using Tripoli with a Yellow Air Way, then I skipped the green chrome rouge and used white chrome on a spiral sisal wheel. I then followed that up with the Max Red platinum compound and a very soft cotton wheel. For the final step I used Pro 40 polish to seal the finished product.


Its far from perfect and you can still see plenty of deep defects, but it looks good from 10'. Honestly, unless you have a fleet of trucks to do, after the investment in time and equipment, its just cheaper to pay someone to put it on their machine the cut the wheel down. Heck you could even buy a new polished rim.

To remove excess residue use baking flour on a soft MF Towel.






Also please do not forget PPE if you do this on your own. I see plenty of videos out there of people polishing away with no protection. Aluminum Oxide is not good for you, wear a respirator and goggles. My choice is a nice full face respirator. I just got this one to use instead of my half mask. Its a 3M Ultimate FX. Very nice, the sheild stays very clear. In this case I was only doing one wheel and I was out of suits, but I like to wear disposable coveralls with hoodies. Even if not for safety it makes cleanup easier because you will get dirty. You will also want ear plugs and gloves.





You will get dirty, no I am not wearing a long sleeve shirt, the picture does not show my neck which looks like my arm. This is just after one wheel, you will be black from head to toe if you work all day on an entire truck.

 

This one took a couple hours with all the sanding. If it wouldn't have needed so much sanding it would've been much quicker. Theres plenty of other people that do it all day that are much quicker than myself.

Forgot to put the tools.

DA sander and discs.



Buffer. compounds and wheels.

 

The sander and polisher add up to around $400 on their own, but can be used for numerous things. I use a couple different Flex polishers for paint though, they are nicer to use and I can avoid the risk of having metal particles contaminating any paint polishing.

The sanding discs when purchased in large quantities are expensive, however individually the ones you will use for most metal polishing are around $1 each or less.

The buffing wheels are between $8-20 each. The compound bars are around $10 each and last a long time, the platinum bars are about double that price though.

No thanks, I don't think I'd do it for hire. I don't really have enough spare time for the minimal profit it presents.

I'm perfectly content doing all of our stuff around here, it's a hobby, when it becomes a job then it isn't as much fun. In addition to doing our semis, I'm hoping to get our cattle trailers both done this year too, but my main focus this summer is our new belt trailer. Looking at that much virgin aluminum is like an alcoholic outside a liquor store, tough to resist, but once I start I'll have to finish it. It'll take awhile but will be nice when done.