Guide How to brush Aluminum

brushing aluminum

When brushing larger pcs lets say a 4x4 sheet any tips on the guide setup ? thank you.

 

You mean larger square plates?
When brushing my larger plates, I did it in two steps. One half at a time. brushed from one side in to the middle and then moved the guide over to the other side and brushed in to the middle from that side.

/GNU

 

Aluminum Working

Your project is really nice. Could I ask how you were able to cut such nice holes and what you used to round the corners?

Thanks

 

I must say, this is a great How To.
I do it in a slightly different way, but its similar.
I attach the sandpaper to a table, which butts against a wall, and using the wall as a guide, i pull the alu across the paper.

 

GUYS!!! The last post before today was in 2006!

 

nothing wrong with reviving an old thread if there is still information to be had from it. slightly better than forming a new thread and asking the same questions all over again that may have been covered in the origional

 

i agree there is nothing wrong with reviving this thread im my opinion it should be stickied as there are constantly people wondering how to get teh brushed look on alu.

josh

 

Yeah, I'm one of them! I found this quite informative even if it was before I joined BT.
John

 

LOL I didn't even notice. Although I did find it quite useful...

 

Beautiful work Gnu!

I am doing a backsplash for our kitchen using 5052 Aluminum plate. It is a design from a company in Italy and since no one offers their products in the states I am doing it myself. See the floor/wall planks it at: http://www.metalborder.com/floor-wall.htm
I will be using the 2", 4" and 6" strips at 36" instead of their 40". These are stacked with alternating brushed and swirled pattern.

Had a question for you - - -
What type sandpaper did you use? wet/dry metal?
Having a hard time finding the clearcoat, lots out there but want to use something that has been proven to work- - you have a link to the one you use?

Thanks again and sorry to ask something totally unrelated to modding boxes....but...

 

Very nice guide

 

out in commercial industry we do a lot of "Grain matching" or "Brushing" When we fabricate units at my job we often have to match the grain to sheet metal.
we use a combination of
belt sander+straight edge
or nylon bristle disks on a angle grinder. identical to those used to strip paint http://www.toolspot.co.uk/product/bluespot-paint-and-rust-remover-wheel-for-drills
but wider.

if it's a big sheet say a 4'x8' We can use a panel sander which is essentially a really wide belt sander where the work piece moves instead of the tool.

Personally I've always used the paint stripping wheel above. very fast and easy.

 

Your guide made the CaseModBlog today!

I would have posted it sooner, but just recently heard about it. Congrats!

 

Its a great guide, even though its 2 years old!

 

Wow, I thought this guide was forgotten an havn't bothered looking at it. Thx to you all and its nice to see that you guys can still find it and find it usefull.

Thanks Skullz
Im sorry for the late reply and I asume you already got the answere to your questions. But I'll answer them anyway incase someone else got the same questions.

The sandpaper I used was normal dry sandpaper found among the paint shelfes in a hardware store. I don't know the real difference but I'm pretty shure it was meant for wood.
I starte with 80-120-180-and fineshed of with 240

Regarding the clear coat, I think i bought 3 different clear coats and tried out the one that woorked best. The one I chose was from designed for aluminium rims. But I think you should look for some clearcoat designed for automotives our outdoor ecuipment since they are probably the toughest.

Thx a lot. Nice to see the log on other sites apart from this.
Good luck with all your work

Take care

/GNU

 

Hey
You have any ideas about how to achieve the same finish on a whole aluminium coil and not just a sheet? or is cutting the coil into sheets and then doin this process the only solution?

 

Wire brushes + industrial roller? I saw it being done in a factory somewhere.

 

am wondering how would the sandpaper block move on the aluminium sheet if its clamped to those wood logs on the side? :S

 

Wirewool or you could use wet and dry paper

 

I've never thought of it in that large scale, don't even know if it is possible with this method. Maybe you could fix the sandingblock and then feed the roll of alu beneath it several times instead of mowing the sandingblock over the alu. Would probably need some type of fixture created for the roll since I don't think it is easily done by hand. What thicknes of alu are you thinking of?

That wood block on the side are not fixed. They are only clamped to the side of the sandpaperblock as a guide to help it maintain a straight line throughut the whole sanding process. The wood blocks are pressed agains the working bench while draging the sandpaper along the aluplate.