|
First off depending on the size of piece you wish to work with, determine what size container
you wish to soak it in either the PVC tube or bucket. Mix 8 tablespoons of LYE to 8 cups of water and be very carefull not
to get it in your eys or on your skin, this stuff will burn you bad, if your careful you will be alright. Let the piece soak
in this solution for 15 to 20 minutes to remove the anodized coating. as shown in figure 2. Once you let this piece dry sand
it with 220 grit dry paper to remove any of the light brown to cream colour coating left behind from the soaking process,
You should see bare aluminum before moving to the next step. Once you have lightly sanded your piece making it a smooth as
possible, Wet sand the whole piece again with the 400 wet and then again with the 600 wet, it should feel smooth to the
touch. Once your sanding is completed put your medium polishing wheel on your bench grinder and add a little of the white
compound to the wheel while it is turning. Don't press too hard on the wheel, let the compound do the work for you. You will
begin to see a huge bright shine appear right away. Continue to polish your piece until it has all been done and all of it
shines. Next wipe your piece with a clean cloth and change your buffing wheel to a loose and do it all over again. Don't
be afraid to continue adding more polish every now and then, just don't put too much and use it sparingly. Every now and then
run something like a paint spreader across the polishing surface of the wheel while it is turning to remove any access polish.
Wipe your piece clean. Rule of thumb, If you sand with 220 for 1 hour you must sand with the 400 for 2 hours and the 4 hours
on the 600 wet and so on. I have found removing the protective piece that covers your wheel on the grinder should be
removed to avoid your loose wheel from rubbing and making a mess. If you have any question, I would feel honoured to help
out. As for the LYE if your unable to find it, I have access to it and sell bottles of it for $9.99 plus $4.00 handling. My
Galaxie requires 2 bottles to complete all the side moulding and other interior parts. You can use pay pal on my site if your
require some LYE. I am telling you I have tried to sand the anodized coating by hand without the LYE and it takes atleast
40 minutes or more of straight sanding just to break the coating, LYE takes 15 minutes and no hard sanding involved. Run your
mouse over the pictures to see what stage the piece was at.
Lenny
Lenny Storms
Ottawa Ontario, Canada
|
