polishing anodized aluminum?
 

I want to polish the aluminum landing gear on my decathalon but it appears to be clear anodized. When I tried to polish it with compound it didn't do anything. Does any one know what will remove the coating so it can be polished? Do I have to sand it off or is there an other way?[8D]

RE: polishing anodized aluminum?
 

I tried and it didn't work.

RE: polishing anodized aluminum?
 

Sorry about the silly message that it didn't work. I tried to reply and it wouldn't go thru. So I'll try again.
You need to learn if your LG is really anodized. It may be just highly polished and then overcoated. Don't try to sand it, if it is anodized, you will permanently damage the anodize. So, remove the overcoat with paint remover, clean with solvent and re-polish and overcoat.
To learn if it is anodized, after removing any overcoat, carefully measure for continuity with an ohmmeter. Use non-sharp, very smooth probes with light pressure. Anodize is very thin and can be penetrated to bare metal unless care is taken. If the ohmmeter readings are very high, over 100KOhms, it probably is anodized. If very low, 10 Ohms or less, it probably isn't anodized. If it is anodized, don't try to polish, it will just make a mess and ruin the anodize. So, if it is anodized just restore the overcoat.
Franktren

RE: polishing anodized aluminum?
 

How best to get a company to anodize my gear?

RE: polishing anodized aluminum?
 

Try http://www.hypercoloranodizing.com/ This guy posts a lot in the 1/2a forum. On his website is a picture of a landing gear that has been anodized, under "past projects" He also anodizes aluminum spinners. Sure beats the heck out of the plastic ones.

RE: polishing anodized aluminum?
 

Look in the phone book under 'metal platers' or 'plating'. these guys shoudl be able to do it, or know where to go. won't be cheap though!

RE: polishing anodized aluminum?
 

you dont want to remove the anodizing as it prevents the gear from corroding. Use the ohm meter method to determine if it is or not, if it is just shine it up, dont use an abrasive grit on it though, that will remove the anodizing. Anodizong is a VERY Thin layer.