Polishing Lux Super J power nozzle cover

[lux1521]

I've been trying to polish the cover of the PN4 power nozzle that goes with my Super J. I have abrased most of the scratches and finnished sanding with 600 grit sandpaper. Then I polished it using various buffing compounds. The thing is, the fine scratches won't come out. Even my emery compound will not remove them. They are so fine that the metal feels perfectly smooth but the scratches never go away. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[crevicetool]

You say you are using compounds...

Do you also have a buffing system set up? You seem to be doing everything right IMO, I then proceed with a bench grinder set up with buffing wheels, one med. with a stronger "abrasive" then a soft, high polish wheel. After the wheels, then I hit the aluminum with either Flitz or Maas by hand. That tends to remove the buffing compound residue, then I wash it with a mild soap.

 

[petek]

As well have you tried OOO grade steel wool?

 

[lux1521]

Yes, I did exactly as you were instructing. I have a bench grinder set up with 3 different levels of compound (not mixed of course). I have liquid Flitz on hand and after the compound is removed it looks quite nice except for the scratches that never come out. Nothing seems to work except resanding the entire thing. Wet sanding with 600 grit, then rebuffing seems to make an improvement but requires a lot of work just to remove scratches I can't even feel. Sometimes even after the wet sanding, the same scratches are still there after buffing. This is not the first time I have done this type of thing and I have never had this problem before. It's very frustrating.

 

[lux1521]

I have not tried steel wool on it yet. The last time I used steel wool it had about the same effect as the 600 grit paper so I have not used it since. That might be what I do next though.

 

[crevicetool]

Are we sure they are scratches?

I had a question for the guy that does my rechroming. It was about polishing cast, as opposed to extruded aluminum. He said that he can polish extruded aluminum easier and with better results than cast, because you don't get those pesky casting errors. (As he said to me) "You know, those scratch lookin' lines that just won't polish out"

 

[lux1521]

Yeah, they are scratches. They go in the same direction as my original sanding (220 grit then a few finer grades). I now use a circular pattern when I'm sanding but I still can't sand or buff out the original scratches.