Cleaning Aluminum Diamond Plate

I

integraoligist

New member
Is there a way to take off light scratches and oxadation and, i think it's tar spots..... of Aluminum Diamond Plate?



i first used a cleaner wax... didnt do anything, then used Turtle Wax rubbing compound... created more scratches then it took off... used a small buffer wheel you put on your drill and the turtule wax compound again... nothing.





ideas?
 
Try Mothers aluminum polish for the oxidation. I have had great results with it on oxidized aluminum as long as it isn't really bad. For the scratches I don't know how to fix them.
 
yeah, i've also tried the Mother Aluminum/Mag polish as well, by hand and on the Drill buffer wheel. didnt do anything.:(



sorry i forgot to mention that.:p
 
Have you tried one of the buffing balls from Flitz or Mother's Powerball? Never used them so I'm just throwing out ideas. What I know will work that I've used for years requires a rotary buffer and a couple of 10" cotton loose (unstiched) buffing wheels and some aluminum polish rogue (don't like liquid stuff because it splatters). Stack a 2 or 3 wheels together and apply rogue to the edge of the pad and polish away. The loose cotton pads will get into every nook and crany, unlike the stiched pads which work better on aluminum but wont' get around the diamond plate nubs. Google buffing wheels and you'll find plenty of places to get them.
 
i seen that Flitz thing on TV many... MANY times and was thinking about picking it up for $20. not sue if it would get the scratches out though.



maybe i'll try that Flitz and if it dosent do anything then the buffing wheels with the Mothers again.. i got the Paste Mothers BTW.
 
mother makes something called power metal polish thats in a red bottle and its liquid. It worked well for me on the power ball with stained polished wheels.
 
hmm, looks quite good with the powerballer in those pic's... but even in the "before" shots i dont see any fine scratchs or anything. i wonder if it's strong enough for the scratchs as well?
 
Give English Custom Polishes a try. They make several polishes, the strongest is the metal restorer. It cuts through all types of oxidation. Follow the MR with one of their finishing polishes, they contain waxes for protection.
 
Integraolotist - Mother's aluminum and mag polish + powerball will solve your problems on diamond plate. It is the ONLY thing that even touched the major oxidation and water spotting I had on my box. Really brought it back to life. Still takes a lot of time to do, but that is the ONLY tool that worked for me.
 
Keep in mind he used PowerMetal Polish, not Mag and Aluminium Polish, although, that'll work as well according to Forrest.
 
i should note that this Diamond plate is the kind that is use on running boards of work-trucks, semi's... and things like this. it withstands heavy foot traffic.



if this makes a diffrence :)



i'm going to have to find that "powerball" you are all talking about... i'll be ordering a mass amount of materials next week, i'll just add that to the list.
 
I have used English Custom Polishes before and they are great products.



I would recommend the metal restorer, but thats it ...unless you are going to get the diamond plate totally scratch free. When I first placed my order with them, I called and talked to the owner for an hour or so....TALK ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!



He told me NOT to but some of the higher polishes they sell because of the waxes, etc. that they contain will just magnify the scratches you didnt get out.



I must recommend their Hot Enviroment polish though.....I use it one my semi's 8" open pipes and the stuff is awesome!!!



Some other good polishes (can usually get at a truck stop, etc.) are White Diamond metal polish, Busch Polish, and my favorite Hollywood Polish (www.hollywoods1.com) They only sell online or in the northwest at afew locations, so its easiest to get it online from them....but you wont be dissappointed!!



I wouldnt recommend the buffing wheels/ rotary and rouges unless you have the time to put into it. To get an even shine you have to learn the right process....know what color and cut passes are...how often to laod your wheel with rouge, keeping the wheel clean, using the right speed, going with the grain of the metal, etc. On diamond plate it isnt as hard to get the shine even, but when doing 120 gallon fuel tanks, etc...you would get what I am saying. On the diamond plate though....make sure you polish it on a parallel line with the diamonds ....which means you have to polish in 2 directions as the diamonds have 2 opposing angles. And remember.....the oxidation will be the hardest thing to get off/cut through...as it is aluminum oxide...one of the hardest substances known. Before I do a big buffing job (tanks, wheels, etc) I usually take the truck to a truck wash and have them use "brightener" on the aluminum. It is basically an acid that instantly takes off the layer of oxidation, so you can start right on the bare aluminum instead of first having to get thru the oxidation layer....but used too much or left on too long, it will turn your aluminum white.



I am a FREAK about my aluminum...so this all might have sounded crazy if you are just trying to get alittle shine back. But...no matter what way you go...take your time and you will get some great results.



MIKE
 
I've also used the Mothers Aluminum polish on my bike's... it never really did anything for me though. I've also used the Mothers Plastic Polish to remove the fine scratches in the interior of the car... didnt do anything either. I'm not having very good luck with the Mothers brand for some reason lol





hmm, chaotik... you talk about an acid bath to clean it... just for s's and g's, i'm going to take some acid that i got (can't remember the technical term for this perticular one) and rub it onto a piece of the diamond plate (left over of course) to see if it does anything.



themightytimmah, if i used that on the PC, the sharp diamonds would'nt rip it to shreads? the edging of these perticular diamonds are more, lets say "sharp", then all of the other diamond plates i've seen. The sharper diamonds probebly help the traction in industrial sites, i assume.
 
People who polish metal for a living use rogue, anything else is just more work. It what I used on my cheap chromeless Harley Sportster and polished aluminum wheels -



buffin2.jpg
 
Polishing aluminum can be done by hand. Buffers help but I have had very good success with wetsanding followed by Mothers Billet Polish. This product beats everything else I have tried.



Below is a set of front forks for my bike. The top shows the results of wetsanding, all the way up to 2000 grit. The bottom is wetsanding, then just Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish. The Billet Polish gives a higher shine and, to me, is worth the extra cost.



1453250sidebyside2.JPG




If a metal polish like Mothers, Flitz, Wenol or Whitediamond will not polish up the diamond plate, the scratches are too deep. Wetsanding is probably the only way to bring back the shine.



I use a bench top buffer and have all the sticks - they work great and take away some of the work. However, aluminum is soft enough to be polished out by hand if you can level the surface.



For these forks, I used 220-320-600-800-1000-1500-2000 wet sandpaper.



Boz



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