I was working on a bike I just got, the fork is chrome but was very rusty and after several attempts to clean the rust off unsuccessfully I decided to take it off. I pulled out a wire brush bit and went to work on it. I discovered it would not take the chrome off though it did an amazing job removing the rust and now the fork looks fairly nice.

With this new discovery fresh in mind I got my rotary tool out and took a smaller wire brush bit to some aluminum cranks I hoped to polish. Not nearly the same effect. Previously I had used a general purpose polishing cream and a felt brush but this did nothing to really help.

Is there a way to clean and polish aluminum cranks to their original shine?

i think there is special aluminum polish..?

Grinder?

A search yielded this really cool thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hatfull+polish

probably more here as well.

I'm a long time user of Mother's aluminum polish - available at any good auto supply store or department. Works very well, and gives a nice shine.

For the OP: with aluminum parts, you need to smooth them out progressively. Work out the worst nicks with 600-grit wet sandpaper, then red rubbing compound, then white polishing compound, then finish with Mother's Mag polish. They'll look amazing.

For chrome-plated parts that aren't pitted to the base metal, I use Quick-Glo chrome polish: https://www.quick-glo.com/ . It removes rust and corrosion without any chemicals and very little effort. If the parts are pitted to the point where the plating is flaking off, re-plating is possible, but can be expensive. Replacement is often cheaper.

ask this guy https://www.ebay.com/itm/170952648673...84.m1562.l2649 I made that picture my background

The first question should be whether the cranks are anodized or not. If they're anodized you'll be spinning your (polishing) wheels for nothing.