Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


-----

Polishing Formica and brushed aluminum

I am trying to restore an old 50's style kitchen table with a formica top, brushed aluminum skirting around the edges and chrome legs. The chrome is not a problem but cleaning and polishing both the aluminum and the formica have not produced the results that I am looking for, would like some help on how to clean and polish both types of material that will not only hide or eliminate most of scratches but produce a high shine on both. Any help would be greatly appreciated or if you can steer me in the right direction to get some answers.

Thanks

Phil Vavasseur
- Port Allen, Louisiana (USA)
 

---

I am now in the process of polishing some aluminium parts for a motorcycle, I have a "mirror" finish on my completed parts. Started out by wet-sanding my parts with 400 grit paper then 800/1500/2400 papers. After wet-sanding is completed, I use a cloth buffing wheel mounted on my bench grinder. Apply brown tripoli rouge (polishing/buffing compound) [affil links] to the cloth wheel and then polish the parts. The results will knock your socks off ! Brilliant......yeh ! Shiny......Yeh! Will it stay that way forever........No !

I am now looking into protecting all my hard work, by sealing the surface with a protective clearcoat. This is where it gets tricky......Some of the products available will work fine, but over time when exposed to the elements they will crack/peel/turn yellow/gray. Then you are faced with removing the clearcoat and re-polishing and then clearcoating again. However for the aluminium band around your table I don't think you should worry about the elements making the clearcoat crack or peel. As for the buffing/polishing you can buy a cloth wheel that fits on an electric drill and polish it that way.

Hope this helps you.......

Peter Mc Avoy
- Brampton, Ontario, Canada
 

---

Hello, Phil. letters 800, 1831, and 10917 go into substantial detail about aluminum polishing. Good luck!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 29, 2008