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Preserving polished aluminum



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 30th 17, 10:00 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
John B.[_3_]
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Posts: 5,697
Default Preserving polished aluminum


I've got quite a few aluminum bits and pieces from older bikes that
are pretty shoddy looking with nicks and dents and corrosion. I can
clean them up with a "flap" wheel and then polish then with the
usually buffing wheels and decreasing compound grits until they have a
high polish but once back on a bicycle again they seem to corrode
rather rapidly and in a few months end up looking sort of "splotched"
and dull, which of course is exactly what bare aluminum does in
contact with air.

I've tried a number of schemes to preserve the polish such as heavy
paste wax and even a coat of clear lacquer or in one case thinned
epoxy resin. This wasn't exactly successful as the wax disappears
quickly and the lacquer tends to chip and even the thinned epoxy tends
to flaked off in places.

Shimano seems to coat much of their aluminum bits with some sort of
"silver paint" which obviously isn't just that as it seems to last for
years.

I would prefer the look of highly polished aluminum (without the
corrosion) but that obviously will take considerable and continued
labour the way I am doing it at present.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how, or with what, to coat highly
polished aluminum to, at least, reduce the corrosion to a reasonable
level? Say a once a year polish?
--
Cheers,

John B.

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  #2  
Old July 30th 17, 02:25 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
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Default Preserving polished aluminum

who looks?


http://www.bing.com/search?q=auto%20...CCBD291E9FDF7E

I have one. magic taped Reynolds over the van's rear cargo door windows reflect sun as then is parked on a w-e grid.....a whitish water born dried flow is on glass
  #3  
Old July 30th 17, 03:07 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
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Posts: 3,345
Default Preserving polished aluminum

On Sunday, July 30, 2017 at 2:00:23 AM UTC-7, John B. wrote:
I've got quite a few aluminum bits and pieces from older bikes that
are pretty shoddy looking with nicks and dents and corrosion. I can
clean them up with a "flap" wheel and then polish then with the
usually buffing wheels and decreasing compound grits until they have a
high polish but once back on a bicycle again they seem to corrode
rather rapidly and in a few months end up looking sort of "splotched"
and dull, which of course is exactly what bare aluminum does in
contact with air.

I've tried a number of schemes to preserve the polish such as heavy
paste wax and even a coat of clear lacquer or in one case thinned
epoxy resin. This wasn't exactly successful as the wax disappears
quickly and the lacquer tends to chip and even the thinned epoxy tends
to flaked off in places.

Shimano seems to coat much of their aluminum bits with some sort of
"silver paint" which obviously isn't just that as it seems to last for
years.

I would prefer the look of highly polished aluminum (without the
corrosion) but that obviously will take considerable and continued
labour the way I am doing it at present.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how, or with what, to coat highly
polished aluminum to, at least, reduce the corrosion to a reasonable
level? Say a once a year polish?


http://www.wikihow.com/Anodize-Aluminum

Long term polished aluminum usually has a finished layer of some wear resistant material such as two part urethane clear coat.
  #4  
Old July 30th 17, 04:14 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
AMuzi
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Posts: 13,447
Default Preserving polished aluminum

On 7/30/2017 4:00 AM, John B. wrote:

I've got quite a few aluminum bits and pieces from older bikes that
are pretty shoddy looking with nicks and dents and corrosion. I can
clean them up with a "flap" wheel and then polish then with the
usually buffing wheels and decreasing compound grits until they have a
high polish but once back on a bicycle again they seem to corrode
rather rapidly and in a few months end up looking sort of "splotched"
and dull, which of course is exactly what bare aluminum does in
contact with air.

I've tried a number of schemes to preserve the polish such as heavy
paste wax and even a coat of clear lacquer or in one case thinned
epoxy resin. This wasn't exactly successful as the wax disappears
quickly and the lacquer tends to chip and even the thinned epoxy tends
to flaked off in places.

Shimano seems to coat much of their aluminum bits with some sort of
"silver paint" which obviously isn't just that as it seems to last for
years.

I would prefer the look of highly polished aluminum (without the
corrosion) but that obviously will take considerable and continued
labour the way I am doing it at present.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how, or with what, to coat highly
polished aluminum to, at least, reduce the corrosion to a reasonable
level? Say a once a year polish?



Classic French equipment in bare aluminum looks fantastic
with Simichrome or any similar metal polish on a cotton
cloth. Trouble is, as we both found, regular cleaning and
polishing is required to maintain that finish.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/mikipv9.jpg

Campagnolo classic cranks had a deep clear anodize which is
more durable but an absolute pain once nicked through.
Filing out the damage followed up with wet sand and then
rouge on a cotton wheel leaves a 'hole' in the finish and so
you're back to the prior paragraph.

If you can accept painted rather than metal aesthetically,
consult your local auto paint supplier - the guy who sells
to body shops. Metal etch and two-part primer for aluminum
are standard items, after which a silver[1] metallic
catalyzed paint could roughly duplicate the modern Alivio
type finish.

[1] or pink, whatever.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971


  #5  
Old July 30th 17, 05:22 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Jeff Liebermann
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Posts: 4,018
Default Preserving polished aluminum

On Sun, 30 Jul 2017 16:00:18 +0700, John B.
wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how, or with what, to coat highly
polished aluminum to, at least, reduce the corrosion to a reasonable
level? Say a once a year polish?


If you spray or dip on a relatively soft coating, further polishing
will remove the coating. One of the locals demonstrated the principle
by polishing his fairly new clear coated vehicle with "light" abrasive
wax, which successfully made the paint look great, until the coating
flaked off. It now looks like a terminal case of automotive leprosy.

You didn't mention if you were planning to do this at home, or send
the parts out to a plating shop. If you want to do it thyself, try
Alodine 1200, Iridite, or various mutations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromate_conversion_coating
All our aluminum marine radio parts and panels were dip treated with
1200, whether painted or exposed. Same with some painted aircraft
parts:
http://www.skygeek.com/henkel-alodine-1201-gallon.html
http://www.skygeek.com/henkel-alodine-1001-gallon.html
You might want to start with a patch kit:
http://www.skygeek.com/henkel-592726-brush-alodine-120-kit.html
Depending on concentration, it will produce a gold to brown color.
Also available in clear, yellow and green.

Alodine vs Anodize:
https://www.finishing.com/448/95.shtml

Oddly, I've never tried Alodyne 1200 on a polished surface. Therefore,
I don't know which concoction to recommend for polished parts. I
think you can get a better answer by asking on:
https://www.finishing.com

You might look into nickel plating on aluminum. It sounds expensive,
but would look really cool:
http://techmetals.com/aluminumelectroless-nickel%E2%80%A2%E2%80%A2%E2%80%A2-a-choice-finish/
https://www.finishing.com/80/41.shtml

A thin coating of some kind of clear coat paint should work, at least
until it wears off. Since it's rather messy trying to clean up such a
worn coating, I suspect a hard auto wax might be a better choice.

A friend asked me how to protect his shiney new aluminum automobile
wheels. It turned out that the wheels are clear coated with some kind
of

In the astronomical circles, there are silicon monoxide (SiO)
protected aluminum coated mirrors:
https://www.edmundoptics.com/resources/application-notes/optics/metallic-mirror-coatings/
I know absolutely nothing about such protected coatings. You're on
your own here.

Also, check on what aircraft owners use on their shiney aluminum
aircraft:
https://www.brightworkpolish.com
I would guess(tm) that it's some form of wax or polymer sealer, but
I'm too lazy to check. Airstream trailers also have a shiny aluminum
polish:
http://vintageairstream.com/polishing/
See the comments on aluminum metalurgy and "maintaining the shine".

Better cycling through chemistry.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
  #6  
Old July 30th 17, 06:14 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
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Posts: 10,538
Default Preserving polished aluminum

On 7/30/2017 10:07 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, July 30, 2017 at 2:00:23 AM UTC-7, John B. wrote:


Does anyone have any suggestions on how, or with what, to coat highly
polished aluminum to, at least, reduce the corrosion to a reasonable
level? Say a once a year polish?


http://www.wikihow.com/Anodize-Aluminum

Long term polished aluminum usually has a finished layer of some wear resistant material such as two part urethane clear coat.


I remember when the pre-Rodale _Bicycling!_ magazine had an article by
Fred DeLong on how to anodize bike parts at home. IIRC, he used a 12V
car battery as a power source. Not that I ever did it.

Those were the days a person could frequently learn something from a
bike magazine. Now it's mostly which bike you MUST buy this month, or
which shorts make your legs look sexiest.


--
- Frank Krygowski
  #7  
Old July 30th 17, 06:44 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Ian Field
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Posts: 250
Default Preserving polished aluminum



"John B." wrote in message
...

I've got quite a few aluminum bits and pieces from older bikes that
are pretty shoddy looking with nicks and dents and corrosion. I can
clean them up with a "flap" wheel and then polish then with the
usually buffing wheels and decreasing compound grits until they have a
high polish but once back on a bicycle again they seem to corrode
rather rapidly and in a few months end up looking sort of "splotched"
and dull, which of course is exactly what bare aluminum does in
contact with air.

I've tried a number of schemes to preserve the polish such as heavy
paste wax and even a coat of clear lacquer or in one case thinned
epoxy resin. This wasn't exactly successful as the wax disappears
quickly and the lacquer tends to chip and even the thinned epoxy tends
to flaked off in places.

Shimano seems to coat much of their aluminum bits with some sort of
"silver paint" which obviously isn't just that as it seems to last for
years.

I would prefer the look of highly polished aluminum (without the
corrosion) but that obviously will take considerable and continued
labour the way I am doing it at present.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how, or with what, to coat highly
polished aluminum to, at least, reduce the corrosion to a reasonable
level? Say a once a year polish?


Polished aluminium forms an oxide layer instantly, you need a polish that
leaves a film in place of what it takes off.

Plating is good if you can find a process that doesn't etch the aluminium
away.

A lot of manufactured items have a durable laquer - but I've never found its
equal in any shops.

If you're really serious about it - go for anodizing.

  #8  
Old July 30th 17, 08:17 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Jeff Liebermann
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Posts: 4,018
Default Preserving polished aluminum

On Sun, 30 Jul 2017 13:14:42 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

I remember when the pre-Rodale _Bicycling!_ magazine had an article by
Fred DeLong on how to anodize bike parts at home. IIRC, he used a 12V
car battery as a power source. Not that I ever did it.


"Anodizing Aluminum Bicycle Components"
http://www.nonlintec.com/anodizing/
There are some additional interesting links near the bottom of the
page. Mo
http://www.bryanpryor.com/anodizing/
http://astro.neutral.org/anodise.shtml

"Tutorial: Polishing Bicycle Parts"
http://theradavist.com/2009/10/tutorial-polishing-bicycle-parts/

Those were the days a person could frequently learn something from a
bike magazine. Now it's mostly which bike you MUST buy this month, or
which shorts make your legs look sexiest.


Hmmm... I should read some of that. After a triple bypass operation,
where the surgeons borrowed a vein from my leg, I could use some
advice on sexy leg fashions and camouflage. Riding with one leg in
shorts, and the other in full length pants, doesn't seem to attract
the ladies.

Drivel: The same thing happened with Home Power Magazine:
https://www.homepower.com
Originally (1987), it was full of do-it-thyself articles. However, as
grid tied solar became more popular, it's now mostly product reviews,
code compliance, and politics. I still subscribe, but I sometimes
wonder why I bother. The price of success is pollution.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
  #9  
Old July 31st 17, 01:52 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
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Posts: 6,374
Default Preserving polished aluminum

A KNOCKOUT

https://media.defense.gov/2007/Oct/2...-1234S-008.JPG
  #10  
Old July 31st 17, 01:55 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
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Posts: 6,374
Default Preserving polished aluminum

http://www.collingsfoundation.org/ai...f-51d-mustang/
 




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