I make a lot of catch cans and things like that. What type of finishes are you guys putting on there or is there a way to keep the aluminum really clean when putting it all together?
I don't have the patience for polishing nor do I sell them for a lot to justify an hour or two of just polishing. Need a rather quick finish that will look good.
I usually take them to work and sandblast them, but I'm not a huge fan of the finish.

 

i take scrotchbrite to it after to give it an even finish.

sandblasting i dont do, dont like the look of it

 

before you weld it, use a dual action air sander with 180 grit sandpaper on it to clean up the outside faces.

Alternatively... if your spending a lot of time mucking with finishes... spending more money on the material to buy it pre-finished might be worthwhile. usually having it pre finished isn't as much as you would think.

Cheers,
M

 

If you're looking to get an even finish, you dont want something that rotates like a DA sander. You need to either sand it by hand in the same direction with scotch brite or use an inline sander. DA sanders, scotchbrite/rolock disks etc, will put disheveled scratches in the surface and the finish will not be even at all (regardless of grit). They're nice for small non critical pieces, and for cleaning the edges of the material, but not for final surface finish if you're going for uniformity/ consistency.

 

D/A finish aluminum is pretty common.

AFI/Toxic/Full Race all use or have used D/A to finish aluminum.

most people are getting away from it now though, on tubing i bet they're using the same tubing sanders as stainless with a finer grit.

 

go on... your only half done.

 

What's the other half?
You never got back to me about the jig for the collector.

 

although sanding your material can look nice at times, to me its a sign that the material hasnt been handled correctly and is scratched. Take your time when fabricating it and when moving it around your weld table to get to other weld positions. Also both of my weld tables are covered with an aluminum top on its steel base, this can be expensive so if you cant do this just have a small sheet of AL to weld your parts on. No one likes some arc marks. Also instead of sanding, I agree with an above post about using a scotch brite pad and moving it in a single direction on the work peice, will look much nicer.

 

my machinist never got back to me... its a part time thing for him.
send me an email and I can send you napkin paper drawings to have your own made the same way that I did.

you can try my machinist... he is thinking about making more to sell on his own which I think is why he isn't giving me a price. his instagram is @walefab not sure of any other way to contact him publicly right now.

 

I use a DA for aluminum that is already unfinished or a little scratched up. It works great for cleaning up aluminum that isn't sheet. 80 grit will get the scratches out. 220 grit will smooth things out. Finally, a pad of scotch brite will put a consistent finish across the whole thing. Other than that, using laminated pre-finished sheet metal would be best.