How to do Brushed Aluminum Finish? Al Cans & Bars

[DuciD03]

I have an older set of mat finished (raw) aluminum handlebars and a couple of spots on the one side if stock aluminum cans that I'de like to to touch up.  Whats the best method to do a brushed mat finish on aluminum?   

My first thought would be to use 600 grit with water; or maybe a scotch-bright pad.  Any experiance or better home finishing methods appreciated (ie I;m not going to take it somewhere to get the bars sandblasted) .

Cheers Duci-d [moto]

[SP3]

Scotchbrite and water. Or GOJO with pumice. I used to do this on the aluminum water and oil pipes on racecars.

[mstevens]

Somebody just today scratched one of my cans. It's not deep, just shiny. I'm afraid I'll just make it worse if I try to fix it.

[teddy037.2]

+1 on the scotch-brite. the red kind, if you can find it 

[He Man]

You have to make sure your grit, is the same grit they originally used, otherwise your marks will either look cleaner and sharper, or more coarse and jagged. I just spent the last 3 days, 4 hours a night polishing a speedy moto clutch cover. Its not finished, but i cannot bear anymore polishing. Most of it was spent stripping the anodized metal.

[DuciD03]

Somebody just today scratched one of my cans. It's not deep, just shiny. I'm afraid I'll just make it worse if I try to fix it.

Right; I'm with ya; so big Q is what grit to use!  as pointed out; so any experianced Al can refinishers out there?

[dlearl476]

+1 on the scotch-brite. the red kind, if you can find it 

If you're a lazy sod like me, try these:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002STR90

Try to stay on the edge, or you'll make a swirl pattern.

[scoprire]

Dremel makes what amounts to a scotch-brite pad attached to a shank.  They work really well for small areas.   They disintegrate, so it'd probably cost you a fortune to do a whole exhaust. 

I found that using sandpaper like a file, only moving in one direction helps; if you sand like you normally would, you tend to get a curving path that shows up in the finish.

The good news is that you can try the 600 grit someplace it won't show and if that is too coarse, you can buff it again w/ a finer grit.

If you really want to do testing, go to the hardware store and get a small piece of AL and test different grits.  It won't be exact, but should give you an close idea what the end result will be.