Greetings, All, I recently received, from Exeter_yak, our good friend and skill artisan, a pair of new heater reflector bowl legs, which he crafted to match the one original leg I have on hand. He did his usual FANTASTIC job in making these, and I am really looking forward to getting them up and running!! He noted, and took into account, a canted angle on the one leg I had sent, and then surmised that the other leg had to have a mirror-image of that cant, which he built into it!! So, in effect, there is a proper "right" and "left" leg on this stove/heater (Primus 110), and they are NOT interchangeable!! Way to go, Doug!!! In any case, I have a bit of work to do on the heater reflector "bowl". One set of holes is drilled improperly, and the bowl needs a good polishing in order to properly reflect the heat created by the stove. The reflector bowl is made of alumin(i)um , and I am seeking proper ways to polish out the numerous scratches, and shine this puppy up as best as can be done. Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments will be greatly appreciate! Once, many long years ago, a long haul trucker told me he used wet cornmeal as a polishing agent when shining up the chrome and aluminum on his rig. Never tried it. Lance, have you ever heard of that? In any case, thanks, in advance, for your suggestions on this, Friends! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Hi doc What i will do doc is start with a coarse steel wool and work throgh the grades till you reach the finest grade and then use a buffing wheel with a polishing compound suitable for aluminium there may be several grades of that allso and then finish with metal polish.If the scratches are realy deep you may need to start with wet and dry paper but have a practise on a scratched scrap of alli first good luck doc i know you will acheive a outstanding job
Hello, Mr. Optimus, Thanks, Brian, very much! I'll certainly give your method a try. Right now, all I have on hand is 0000 steel wool, but when I'm down the mountain on Monday, I'll pick up some more coarse grades. Thanks, again, and I'll post "before and after" photos, just for grins! Cheers, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Hi Doc I use Autosol to clean and polish aluminium and seal with Mer car polish to prevent oxidation. It has always worked for me on car bits. I think Mer can take the heat.
your very welcome Doc thats what i rember doing in metal work at school on some of the tools made of cast alli in fact a hacksaw handle and alli screw driver handle but we started of with emery paper first and then went on too the wool but it will depend on the depth of the sratches and how dull it is
Hi Doc Brian I was always told at school not use steel wool on non ferrous metals. Can't remember exactly why. Bronze wool maybe? I was also told not to use power tools on aluminium as it would over heat. I'm not sure how true this is (could have been a school teacher keeping errant school boys away from the polishing machines). But this was the same teacher who showed me how to use emery cloth to polish stuff in a lathe, which resulted in me being pulled into said lathe and suffering very painful injuries. I didn't complain though and my mother didn't sue the school.
Hi Doc I used Nev-R-Dull and Simichrome on this one. (And, lots of elbow grease.) Internal Link Your mileage may vary. And good luck! Best, Gary
Mark in the CG we use Mothers polish. It is also what i used on the truck. Expensive but worth every bit. Mind you there are hundreds of products out there but this is what most of the truckers use. lance
Evening, Lads, Many thanks to one and all who have offered suggestions on this task! MUCH appreciated! Gary, that Radius of your is simply beautiful!! I was going to bid on one like that, not long ago, but decided not to jump, at the last second. Yours is truly lovely, and looks to work well, too. I would imagine that something like your Radius, or my Primus, would be for "up close and personal" heating, right? Fun, nonetheless! Thanks, again, Guys! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Don't use steel on aluminum. Dissimilar metals, anode and cathode, electrolysis. I've seen folks polish BMW motorbike engine cases with steel wool. A year later the alloy cases were covered with white pimples.
IMHO never use any grade of steel wool on brass, copper or aluminium. It leaves surfaces with very fine scratches which are hard to polish out successfuly.
Evening, Lads, Once again, many thanks for all the advice and suggestions. Now that you mention it, I never do use steel wool on my brass stoves, reserving such things for the steel parts. So, it makes sense not to use it on aluminum. In any case, I'll suss out some of the different polishes that have been suggested, and see how things turn out. CCS is the very best, and you guys ARE CCS!! Thanks, again, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Mark, try toothpaste for shining aluminium. It has just the right amount of abrasive qualities, that is very little.
Morning, Keith, Good to hear from you, my Friend! That's a good suggestions, actually. I used to use toothpaste to polish up a gold ring, back in the day, and it worked very well, indeed! Come to think of it, that old ring has never had a cavity, either!! I'll give it a go, Keith, as I have plenty of that already on hand! Thanks, very much, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Mark
