Aluminum Diamond Plate polishing

Hi guys, I had a question as i started to polish more aluminum diasmond plate. It takes me a long time and wanted to know if oyu guys had ant tips and tricks. I currently use a wool pad on the rotary and some megs or mothers aluminum polish, but some of my real problems start with trying to get it perfect, there is always black residue and oxidation that gets trapped right by the edges of the diamond patterns and it almost impossible get all of it off. If you have recomendations as to products or your process it would be extremely appreciated, oh can you use normal paint coumpound to polish the aluminum? thanks:shead:

 

Wow..3 hours and nobody's responded. Let me get the ball rolling. First, you describe polishing it with your wheel..I'm assuming it's a big area. Got any pics of it to see what we're dealing with? To answer your question about using compound, yes absolutely you can. I've used menzerna on chrome with great success before. Then it comes down to pad choice and size based on what area you're working on. Is it unsealed I'm also assuming? Duragloss makes an aluminum cleaner that is a spray on stuff like their wheel cleaner. I don't know how it works as I've never used it although I have some. There are other sprays out there too I'm sure. Someone else will chime in with other products you can consider.

 

Dude I have diamond plate on the front of my trailer, and lets just say it stays oxidized. That stuff is the BIGGEST PITA to clean. By hand takes too long, using a pad kinda works, but tears the pads up. And getting the polish out of the edges works best if you rewash the area and use a brush.

I tried a DG aluminum spray and it just turned it completely white. I need to re-polish it and my aluminum fenders and wheels.

 

Ill post some pics later, but this box is pretty oxidized I made 3 passes with the wool pad and it still needs soem work , but can start to see a reflection in it. once im done i want to protect it with something I was think of using Megs #21 2.0 sealant any thing you guys think will work on polished aluminum, will the sealant haze it again?

 

sealant should be fine... only something with an acid base will make it haze again

 

Maybe Blackfire all metal sealant would be a good choice for the diamond plate.

 

Blackfire also has some wool pads for metal polishing, never really looked into them or to see what makes them different but have seen them on the webpage.

 

Blackfire makes some good shit!

 

we have professional polisher come polish the aluminum on our semis and they use big rotary's with huge wool pads. they use jewelers rouge and california purple polish stuff but they use alot of GAS! It helps cut. they are different rouge bars like white green and brown i believe they all have apurpose. you can get them at big truck stops. The gas is used to help cut and get the black $hit off. But 2 guys can polish 14 wheels 2 tanks and 2 side steps in 8 hours. it looks like a new truck when finished. but they said a dirty pad cleans better because it has more grit to it which eats the oxidation etc. you will look like black when you are finished.