Alu polishing

[spike3]

How to do it please guess below

So starting with an old painted frame:

1. Strip using nitromoors
2. Sand any scratches with wet and dry
3. Use uber fine wet and dry along the tubes
4. Polish like crazy with autosol or something?
5. Add decals
6. Laquer

How does that process sound please? Thanks

 

[konacarl]

Not sure about the Lacquer. May just be best to give it a polish now and again.

 

[Tad]

DIY laquer inevitably looks crap very quickly.

Regular polishing and a wipe over with oil afterwards to stop it dulling too rapidly is your best best.

 

[Angyalpor]

Hi!

I plan to polish my Zaskar, I read a lot topic from it here.
I decide to use Autosol, without w/d paper, and steelwhool. It hasn't got scratches, just faded a bit.
I think I will miss the lacquer.

The questions are: how often I need to re-polish the frame?
And I should buy the Autosol metal polisher, or the Autosol aluminium polisher?

Thanks!

 

[xerxes]

Re:

The questions are: how often I need to re-polish the frame?

A lot probably depends on when and how much you use the bike and where you store it. I have polished cranks on one bike, I do maybe a few hundred miles a year mainly in the dry and it's stored in a warm dry house, rather than a cold damp garage, and the cranks stay nice and shiny with the occasional quick buffing up with some Brasso.

You could try a wax or silicon based car polish to help protect the aluminium after you've used a metal polish.

 

[Matt2014]

Re:

Try and avoid anything but autosol (any type) and some elbow grease.

The recommendation above using wax based polish is a good one. Autoglym have a particularly good one but is pricey however used sparingly it then becomes reasonable value.

 

[avalonian]

The last time I used nitromoors I might as well used cheese spread,useless stuff now.

 

[Angyalpor]

So, should I try with just Autosol?
Not scratched, just faded, like on the picture.
This will be my first polishing, I don't want to harm the frame.
And how You use the Autosol exactly? What type of clothes, etc.

 

[Woodyuk]

Re:

Have a Cannondale waiting to be polished ....taking a seat on this thread interested in how the frame turns out and what procedure is used

 

[Angyalpor]

Then I will make pictures, with all steps. Maybe it will be a useful thread, collect here all informations about polishing.