Guide How to brush Aluminum

I'm glad this was resurrected as I haven't seen this. Very good, simple technique to achieve this.

 

Just saw this thread off google. I was wondering if you lose conductivity once you spray the clear coat.

 

I assume you mean the thermal conductivity? I guess you will lose some of it depending of how thick you make the clear coat. Don't think you'll lose all of it though.

If you meant the electrical conductivity im pretty shure the clearcoat will remove all of it.

 

That is a slick solution to an age old problem! I will have to try that. thanks for the tip.

 

Please do.. would love to see some results from you or someone else that have tried tis method, feel free to post any result pics

 

Thanks for the great tutorial am working on my second scratch case build and am currently working on the motherboard tray when ready I will use this method to brush it will post a log up and mention this guide I want to get some more done before I post the log as it will be a slow build due to limited funds but should not be to much longer before I post some progress cheers.

 

wondering did you sand the aluminium to a uniform finish before starting the brush sanding? I have scratches on the aluminium and wondering if I should polish these out before doing the linear sanding cheers.

 

Epic thread revival! 2 years give or take a day

 

Im more than happy that you find it usefull. The project of yours sound really promising and Im looking forward to see some results and feedback on the method.

I picked the part of the alu with the least scratches when I did this. I guess it depends on how deep yours scratches are and how much patience you have. I didn't do any pree-sanding, I just kept going linear until I was happy with the overall surface. If there was one part of the plate that was more scratched than the rest, I tried to focus the sanding on this part by pressing harder at that spot(still sanding linear). But if the scrathes are deep I guess it will be better to try polish those out, but don't use to roug paper or you'll probably spend more time cleaning up those scratches instead.

Yea I have to say I was kind of surprised to see my thread back alive after two years. I very rarely hang out in the modding section an I thought I would just drop by to see what Im missing out.




Hm.. btw, maybe I should try to update the brushing guide with some of the new parts I've made from my other project. Might be interesting to see that this method works well on other shapes and sizes than just plates.

 

I am not very good with a spray can and after doing some research have found out people use bee's wax. Anyone tried this? Sounds good and after a few coats should be able to buff to a nice shine.May give it a go and see how it works out.
Edit:wax on brushed aluminium is not good it fills the brush effect and you end up with a satin finish so tomorrow strip the wax Couple of pics http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae237/blucmal/dmx lighting overkill/IMG_0644.jpg
http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae237/blucmal/dmx lighting overkill/IMG_0643-1.jpg
Rather than just trying to remove the wax I used the sandpaper again and ended up with a nice buffed/brushed effect excuse my crappy photography skills.

 

Thank you. I will sure use this metod when i'm gonna brush my case. Hope it will look good later when it's anodized.

 

Nice, would love to see some results. Another small tip that i have noticed after writing this guide is to use wetsanding. There are special sandpapers dedicated for wetsanding that you should use and make shure to use plenty of water. This prevents heat from building up and stops small sanding particles from "burning" into the surface and creates a much better result. If you dry sand it there is a risk that you see these burnmarks as dull color deviations that will also be visible during anodization.

Good luck

 

I can't believe I forgot to get back to you on what I use for brushing Aluminum
These are what I choose for AL or Stainless.

 

Holy dark matter!! 9 years I've been waiting. FINALLY I can die in peace.

Glad to still see you around

 

9 year reply.

 

Wow! It's maybe an old thread but this tip looks like so cool!! Thx for sharing!