The Steel Guitar Forum

I was talking with a steel guitar buddy about obtaining a high shine in the alluminum surface of a PSG. Does anyone out there have a good idea for us???

Wayne Baker

Not all aluminums are the same, of course. If you start with a casting that is an alloy created to take a high shine you can get one. Emmons castings are like that. But if you start with something like billet stock like extruded 6061 T6 or 2024 you will not get the same shine.

Keep rubbing.

Nuvite and elbow-grease. Very porous aluminium (castings) will only shine so far. Nuvite is used for polishing aircraft aluminium surfaces.

+1 for elbow grease.
It is easier to keep a guitar shiny than catch up from 30 years lack of..

Buffing wheel worked well on my Emmons that i just purchased.I don't think it had been cleaned since it was new in 95.

Not to step on anyone's toes (though it's probably gonna be unavoidable), but there are some Sho~Buds I've seen that seem as though they were cast from whatever metals could be tossed into the smelter and heated to liquid.

I had a mid-70's Pro-III one time that hadn't been polished since leaving the factory, and the oxidation was such that you could buff that thing until the metal was GONE and you wouldn't get a shine out of it.

Like Chris said, some metals take to a shine easier than others.

Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish.

Mother's is good, I think Simichrome polish is still the best! IMHO..Avoid Eagle One Nevr Dull with the cotton packing ...It leaves noticeable scratches..JS

Mothers alum. polish & if it has a rough finish some 1000 grit sand paper then follow up with 2000 grit, then the Mothers,lotta rubbing but it will shine like a new penny.

Mothers is non-abrasive. Simichrome/MAAS/Harley Davidson Polish are slightly abrasive.

I tried to get some Simichrome at a Harley dealer recently and they quit carrying it in favor of the Harley Davidson branded polish. It is identical to Simichrome and probably just Simichrome in a package with the Harley name on it.

When I buff out aluminum, I use several grades of buffing compound and buffing wheels. The finishing shine is done with Mothers.

Mothers, Simichrome etc is used to bring up the shine on a piece that has already been shined. What about in the manufacturing end of it? I am always after that elusive shine; the one that looks almost wet.

My usual procedure is to sand the parts with 220, 300, 400, 600 sand paper(aluminum oxide works great)
Then I buff on the buffing wheels with the stick compounds: Black, brown and white. More often than not, I acheive a good shine. Sometimes it looks as if the aluminum has a mind of its own and never quite gets up to the usual shine and/or gets a cloudy appearance. I always seem to get a great shine in certain spots like rounded corners.What can be done differently? Any advice from the builders among us?
Does anyone know the comparable sandpaper grits on the different compounds that I use?

I would go with finer sandpaper before the buffing compound.
When I finish a guitar, I'm using 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and finally 2000 wet/dry sandpaper.

Herb Steiner wrote:Not to step on anyone's toes (though it's probably gonna be unavoidable), but there are some Sho~Buds I've seen that seem as though they were cast from whatever metals could be tossed into the smelter and heated to liquid.

I had a mid-70's Pro-III one time that hadn't been polished since leaving the factory, and the oxidation was such that you could buff that thing until the metal was GONE and you wouldn't get a shine out of it.

Like Chris said, some metals take to a shine easier than others.

I think i had that same guitar Herb...no matter how much I polished that old Pro lll you were never going to see your face in it...my Mullen, more like a mirror.

The secret to polishing "hard-to-polish" aluminum is heat! You need a buffer with good torque and high speed. Some aluminums will hand polish okay, but crappy stuff needs to get hot! Obviously, you can't do this with the parts on the guitar on the guitar; the parts must be removed and handled with gloves, and what you're trying to do is to get the surface hot enough to "smear" the aluminum. This will fill up the crevices and pores, and give even bad metals a surface that can be polished.

Polishers and buffers made for auto paint and waxes are generally too slow and not powerful enough for grinding and polishing metals. The "under $100" imported junk is a waste of time. You need a good high-speed body grinder or heavy-duty pedestal buffer to do it right and make the job easier.

Or you could just paint it...................BLACK!!!!!

.....watch yer toes again.........
Doug Moss from Bud's Polishing here in Nashville does NOT recommend sanding aluminum cast surfaces with either emory cloth or sandpaper, regardless of the grade. He has a wide abraisive belt on a motor which he uses to flatten out wavy parts but he dislikes using even that, and he's more of a pro in this field than most any of us will ever be(50 years). If you doubt his words, just look at any Emmons guitar that Ive restored along with Show-Pro's, JCH, Fessenden and Rittenberry guitars. Id love to take credit for the sheen on the metal surfaces on any of the guitars Ive restored, but I cant. My advice: if you cant easily get a satisfactory shine on your parts with Mothers Polish, send them out to a professional.

Doug Moss: 615-513-9238.

MC

Never dull comes in a steel can and it will take off oxidation really well and make aluminum shine

Have the parts ever been polished before? If not, use a wheel. I take endplates and pedal racks to a pro shop, buffing and plating place. They have a big wheel, and apply a lot of pressure=heat. First time I sanded up to wet and dry 1600. When I took them to the polisher, he said, "You wasted a lot of time and energy." 600 was more than good enough for him.

Now,,, if these are old parts that have been buffed long ago, and are just gray,and oxidized,,, and you don't need to remove any scratches,, don't waste your time and effort with Mother's, Mequiare's, SimiChrome, Nevr Dull. Yeah,,, Apply, rub your brain out until the cloth turns black, and repeat innumerable times! What a waste! I've used all those in the past 40 years. Hook is mostly right! California Custom Purple Polish. But,,, Get their Deoxidizer. You put it on first, then put the Purple Polish on top of it. Let it dry, and wipe it off. No polishing. No rubbing. Just wipe it off with a soft cloth. You're done!

http://www.californiacustom.com/aluminu ... dizer.html

http://www.californiacustom.com/purple_ ... olish.html

Orderd mine today!!!!

On certain types of aluminum (especially greasy castings) where you just cannot get it to shine beyond a certain point, just regular old wet Brillo soap pads will do as good as anything. You are going to leave fine scratches, but that may even be desirable to what you have with cheap, dull aluminum. I am now cleaning up a Fender/Sho-Bud student model and Brillo worked better than compound.

Clyde, I'm sorry but you are factually wrong with using a Brillo pad. You will actually damage the aluminum surface by doing that. Read Mike Cass's post above. There is NO subsitute for step polishing with professional equipment. Also, anything beyond 600 grit sand paper is unecessary for a pro polishing shop. This coming from someone who has stood and watched professional aluminum polishing by a pro polisher. You can not get that kind of quality without specialized polishing equipment. REPOLISHING is a different story. Raw castings have to go through a step process.

Kevin, I tried to be clear that I was speaking about old greasy cheap castings (add pitted) that no amount of step polishing will improve. I always try the standard method first. Some of the old Sho Bud castings are simply immune to compounds.