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Brightening aluminum and copper parts

Q. We have some aluminum & copper formed parts, we would like to clean, degrease, brighten them. Need something simple that we can do in the shop & non-hazardous.

Thank you,

Tony Santos
- East Hanover, New Jersey

A. Both aluminum and copper are usually bright dipped with mixtures that include a lot of nitric acid, obviously not non-hazardous. Copper can be bright dipped in a proper (usually proprietary) mixtures of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide; perhaps less toxic, but not non-hazardous. Sorry, but I know of no way to bright dip aluminum that doesn't involve nasty stuff.

Mechanically polishing & buffing can produce bright parts without chemical hazard, but I don't know if that is practical without some pictures, dimensions, production rates, etc. Even simple cleaning & degreasing isn't easy on mixed metal parts. More info please.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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