Polishing That Belly Band

[steve J]

after painting the egg I thought about steel wool on the chrome belly band, it did an OK job then thought I would try the nylon sanding disk that was on my drill, now that works well, I have only done a small test area, as I am monkeying with new tinted lexan windows, man that's hard to get in, anyway after the band is polished up more I will post some pics.
Steve

[Doug Mager]

We've polished the band on our Trillium but with SOS, not just steel wool. The addeed soap makes for a nice(er?) shine. Thw wire wheel woulda been draggin into the glass body UNLESS you removed the band to polish?? Is that the way you went??

[james kent]

If you have rubbed it with steelwool, didn't that leave it with a lot of deep scratch marks? They can be taken out with a very fine sandpaper. [At least 400 grit, better with 1200]
Now after the nylon sanding disk, try a rub-down with an aluminum wheel disc polish. That really makes it shine. I used MOTHERS.

[Raya]

Steel wool note: It may not be an issue if you're not near a salt water environment, but on boats we use bronze wool. That's because with steel wool, tiny particles break off and lodge themselves in various nooks and crannies, and then rust. Ish.

Again, it's probably not an issue if you're inland, and/or if you rinse things off well afterward, but I just thought I'd mention it.

I'm fond of polishes such as Simichrome; 3M makes some good metal polishes too. Lots of other options, too, as previous posters have mentioned.

Only problem is, once you polish a small section and see how great it looks, you're in for the whole thing

[steve J]

We've polished the band on our Trillium but with SOS, not just steel wool. The addeed soap makes for a nice(er?) shine. Thw wire wheel woulda been draggin into the glass body UNLESS you removed the band to polish?? Is that the way you went??

I only did a sample area but the band was installed and set off from the F glass so did not make contact

[steve J]

If you have rubbed it with steelwool, didn't that leave it with a lot of deep scratch marks? They can be taken out with a very fine sandpaper. [At least 400 grit, better with 1200]
Now after the nylon sanding disk, try a rub-down with an aluminum wheel disc polish. That really makes it shine. I used MOTHERS.

yes that sounds like just the ticket for the finished shine. thanks

[Greg A]

I'm getting ready to do mine and appreciate the timing of this post and all the good info from all the experienced Belly Band Polishers....

[Sandra Lair]

I like to use Nevr-Dull wadding polish. It's easy to use, doesn't scratch the aluminum & does a great job. You just pull off as much as you need & rub the belly band with it. You can buy it at Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware, Tru-Value Hardware & places like that.

Sandra

[floyd]

any good aluminum polish will do a great job at least every one I've seen was aluminum , but will polish up almost like chrome

[Roger C H]

Bon Ami is a good polish. Doesn't have the gritty ingrediants.

I may try my Hope's Brass Polish. It works great on brass and has some kind of ingredient that preserves the shine, at least indoors.

Any good auto body polish would work well, I think. If it is really dull, try a little rubbing compound first, then the polish. The difference is in the size of the gritty particles with the polish being finer.

I would never use steel nor bronze wool because of the size of the scratches it would leave. Maybe only on a very badly corroded finish, and then only enough to remove the worst of it.

BTW, do you know you can actually measure the roughness of a surface?

http://store.flexbar.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Here is a picture of a crude surface roughness comparator:

[Raya]

I would never use steel nor bronze wool because of the size of the scratches it would leave. Maybe only on a very badly corroded finish, and then only enough to remove the worst of it.

Hi Roger,

I would probably choose a polish (I like Simichrome) over "wool" as well, but I just wanted to mention that steel or bronze wool does come in some very fine grades. It's not all the rough stuff that we typically see.

Grade 0000 can be used to smooth a lacquer finish or to clean glass

[Donna D.]

After you get a really nice shine on the aluminum band, it will be important to "seal" the aluminum with a good wax. Otherwise it will dull up rather quickly. Have you ever seen those shiny diamond plate tool boxes after time in the weather. Shine disappears.

I prefer Flitz to use on aluminum. Don't use anything that contains silicone... that will dull the shine.

Flitz Wax Protectant

YMMV

[Kevin K]

Steel Wool comes in 8 Grades
4,3,2,1,0,00,000,0000
See web page
http://www.briwaxwoodcare.com/stelwool.htm

[Weinel, Alan]

Man, I didn't want to say this... but I just CANNOT refrain from it....

"Polishing the Belly Band" sounds like a euphamism for... well for something you don't want your mom to catch you doing.

My apologies... but I **HAD** to say it.

[Chester Taje]

Man, I didn't want to say this... but I just CANNOT refrain from it....

"Polishing the Belly Band" sounds like a euphamism for... well for something you don't want your mom to catch you doing.

My apologies... but I **HAD** to say it.

[james kent]

Steel Wool comes in 8 Grades
4,3,2,1,0,00,000,0000
See web page
http://www.briwaxwoodcare.com/stelwool.htm

So where did the 00000 come frome that I have in the shop?
It's super fine and makes a great fire starter. All you need is a small piece and a spark from an old, empty, lighter.

[Colleeno]

So after cleaning and polishing, is there anything you can apply to the BB that keeps it from oxidizing again?

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Colleeno

So after cleaning and polishing, is there anything you can apply to the BB that keeps it from oxidizing again?

Wax just like you need to do to protect the Fiberglass shell

[Hidalga]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I prefer Flitz to use on aluminum…

Flitz Wax Protectant

YMMV

Yes! Flitz is a great metal polish, and it is also meant for fiberglass, so you can clean up the polish marks on the shell with it after doing the aluminum. If it is kept polished, there is no need for abrasive wool.

[Ian G.]

Wax and protectants can help but the amount of maintenance needed to keep polished aluminum bright and shiny depends on how the aluminum was polished.

Think of mill grade aluminum as a fine pile carpet which has a bunch of microscopic fibers, if you use a chemical polish it will remove the oxidation from around each fiber making it look "shiny" but the large surface area around each fiber will oxidize quickly again. Wax and protectants can slow down the oxidation process somewhat, but is will oxidize quicker than anyone would want.

If you polish the aluminum using polishing compounds on power buffing wheels the surface of the aluminum is actually cut and smoothed to a flat smooth surface (no microscopic fibers). The smooth surface has less surface area and actually resist oxidation, in this case the wax and polish will protect the surface for a long time. When polished this way maintenance is very simple and easy, the aluminum will remain shiny with simple waxing and/or a chemical polish protectant wipe.

Mechanical polishing is very labour intensive and messy but well worth the effort if you want the best looking polished aluminum.