teisco 

Got the brake parts off my bike and would like to shine them up a bit. I have seen ads for aluminum cleaners that you just spray on and wash off and wondered what you guys use when restoring brakes and such.

martl

Polishing aluminium is not too hard. I've never tried the spray-on stuff and i'm a bit sceptic... so far i've used chrome polish and a lot of axle grease and got very satisfying results. Some folks use Nevrdull too.
Ray Dobbins, who can be considered to be an authority on that matter, has some tips on it on his website https://www.raydobbins.com/

rbn14

I know with bare aluminum motorcycle frames I really like S.O.S. pads (they have a cleaning/polishing compound in them) and water. They do a very good job without making them too shiny or polished.

KarmicPedals

Acid removes anodizing.. so make sure you're not unintentionally removing any anodizing you want to keep.. if you don't want to keep it - try an acid based product (in a long story made short: I once had a car dealership partially remove the anodizing from my anodized wheels while they were detailing the car with some acid something or another (they said it was "wheel cleaner), they thought I wouldn't notice, claimed the car wasn't ready and sent all four wheels out to be polished to a shine, I don't like shiny wheels, so I ended up with a new car out of it -- at extremely favorable terms to me).

robatsu

Blue magic works pretty good for me.

Sierra

Interesting, so does the other end of the PH scale.
I have used oven cleaner(caustic soda) and a Lye solution to remove anodizing from parts.

jsmithepa

If u wanto waste money... no metal is gonna shinne wo some elbow grease. Fortunately Alu is soft so ur hardly gonna break a sweat.

If it has a clear coat, remove cleacoat, polish, re-apply clearcoat.

ruppster

+

cs1

I've never had much luck with oven cleaner. Everyone else swears by it. Eastwood makes some kind of anodizing remover solution I'd like to try. I buy lots of distressed parts. Removing the finish and polishing usually makes them look better than new. Problem is it isn't cost effective if you're going to turn them. So any quick way to remove a finish would help.

Tim

karmat

I use Nev'r Dull on most parts. Works great on chrome or aluminum and unlike more abrasive methods (SOS pads, steel wool, etc) it won't de-shine chrome. You can make parts shine like a mirror with it. For slight pitting or surface discoloration I use 1000 grit sandpaper (NEVER on chrome) on aluminum and follow it up with Nev'r Dull. It gets some stunning results. Here are some simple Normandy hubs treated to this:



Nev'r Dull is $4 a can or so and 1000 grit sandpaper is also available from auto parts stores for $3-4.

Karl

The_Schwill

Karl,

Is Nev'r Dull a cleaner or just a polish? I need to clean up both chrome and aluminum and polish both.

Thanks,

Dan

*EDIT* - For $4, I'm going to pick it up and try it out tonight.

"NEVR-DULL is an extraordinary cleaning wonder that shines all metals with sparkling ease. Each can contains a generous supply of specially treated cotton wadding cloth. Simply remove a piece of wadding from the can and rub it thoroughly over the surface to be polished. NEVR-DULL works instantly, removing tarnish and dirt. Wipe with a clean, dry rag and metals are restored to their original luster."

Sierra

The newer "environmentally friendly" oven cleaner won't do the trick. You have to make sure you get the old, heavy duty, nasty smelling stuff that has caustic soda(lye) in it.

wrk101

+1 Never dull. I think you can find it at Walmart. I've been using it on my aluminum motorcycle wheels for years.

teisco 

You guys have some great input here. This is more and better input that I get on the car forums. I just might have to take up vintage road bikes as my main hobby.

bigbossman 

Axle grease? You mix axle grease with chrome polish?

KarmicPedals

At least that's what the guys at the dealership said caused the problem.. I was too busy trying to explain to them that I wasn't riding out with clear-coated polished rims when I rode in with anodized ones to get into great detail as to how they'd been so stupid and a little too irritated by the fact that they thought I wouldn't notice in the first place because I'm a woman.

Anyway, there are a number of methods of anodizing -- most of which use acids... so I suppose the wrong acid could have an adverse effect....

see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodization

Old Fat Guy

I'm thinking he meant 'elbow' grease.

Anyway, depending on the job, there are different strategies.

For a nasty SR crank, a couple of minutes on a sisal wheel with compound does a remarkable job. For a fine, glossy chrome-like finish on DA or SR Campy I would sand to 2000, then buff on a sewn cotton wheel.

You can make a common steel bolt shine if you want to put the effort into it. How much time do you have, and is it for you or to sell. It's more rewarding when it's for yourself

karmat

It's a "wadding compound" meaning it's cotton impregnated with various chemicals and fine polishing compound. If you're not sure if it can do more, just keep rubbing the same spot vigorously for about 5 (real) seconds. Then rub it off vigorously with a cloth rag. It really shines stuff up.

Karl

bbattle

What I wouldn't give for one of the industrial buffers and rouge they had at the Yale Security plant in Lenoir City. They polished up the brass and steel and aluminum door knobs and bars real nice.

wrk101

+1 Good point on the polishing wheels. I have one on my bench grinder. If you can get the part to the grinder, it does a great job.

KarmicPedals

Speaking of anodizing.. the girl in me seriously likes the purple anodizing:

https://orlando.craigslist.org/bik/753097896.html

how many purple shimanos are out there?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

p.s. wrk101 LOVE the photo of the house... I'll trade you two Raleighs and an orange glazed pork roast for that house ..... :-)

txvintage

Nice bike. A bit overpriced, but nice none the less.

martl

Oops, youre right of course.

JRT

Loctite makes: "Duro® Aluminum Jelly" which I haven't used.

My Weinmann rims are rather corroded to the point that I need something to remove the corrosion. I don't really want to polish -- at least not the sides -- them for rather obvious reasons. Actually, it probably wouldn't work that well since I have rims with textured sides.

IAC, has anyone used this stuff. I would have tried it by now except that the hardware store, the autosupply store, and Wal*Mart didn't have any. It is a standard brand!

banjo_mole 

Mother's polish.

Mother's polish and some #000 steel wool is a perfect combination, and inexpensive!
I'm not going to go into my cred here, beyond saying I cleaned every single piece of a Schwinn Le Tour tonight in 4 hours with the two... I know, trust me.