I've got even MORE Aluminum questions ...... ok just one

[David Grason]

When I picked up my aluminum sheets, they were somewhat scratched. I picked throught a good percentage of the pile and every sheet had some kind of nick or ding or some small scratch on it. I didn't worry about it at the time because I figured: "Hey it's aluminum. We'll just polish it out."

I haven't started polishing it yet but I did go to a site that I found somewhere dealing with restoring an older Airstream. I cannot for the life of me, find that darn site. I should have bookmarked it but NOOOOOOOOO. Anywho, I definately remember it saying that unless the Airstream was an older model, like pre 1980 or something, it couldn't be polished because the aluminum was different. It went on to say that that the aluminum content in the siding used on the older Airstreams had the correct composition to be buffed and polished.

So my question is: "I've got brand new aluminum. Am I in trouble here? Will I be able to buff and polish this or am I stuck?"

Any help is very much appreciated.

[billythekid]

Hello: How about here http://www.spartantrailer.com/polishinfo.html
Billy the Kid AGF

[Denny Unfried]

You might have been looking for this one.

http://www.airstreamdreams.com/generic53.html

Denny

[David Grason]

Thanx guys for the responses.

Billy, I went to the Spartan site and it's got a lot of really good info. It says nothing about there being anything special about the aluminum, however, it also only talks in terms of restoring old trailers. It doesn't say anything about new aluminum. Thanx for the link.

Denny, even before you posted this link, I'd tried to click on this site several times earlier today and each time I got an error message. Now I've clicked on it once again and I got in. This is the website that I'd been looking for.

On the very first page of the PDF file, 4th paragraph, the question is asked: "Can I polish my trailer?"

That paragraph continues, and I quote:

"Only Alclad aluminum trailer skins can be polished. Alclad is an industry term for a type of aluminum alloy sheet with a very thin layer of very pure aluminum electrochemically bonded to both sides. The aluminum alloy underneath the cladding is strong and is what gives the trailer skin its strength. The aluminum cladding is soft and is what shines when polished."

So this is the paragraph that sent me into a paranoid tailspin and has caused me the intense mental anguish that I'm now wracked with!

So my question is still: "Can I polish my new mill finish aluminum that I've already glued to my teardrop?

[TonyCooper]

Try this link, it is the same area as mentioned above but points directly to the PDF file.
How to Polish a Vintage Airstream

[David Alston]

If you polish alclad well, and it's in reasonble condition, you can get it as shiny as a mirror. I think this is what they mean when they say it has to be clad to be polished. You can still polish mill finish, but it isn't going to acheive that mirror finish. FYI scratched alclad is even more of a disaster than scratched mill finish as sometimes the scratches go through the cladding and you really can't do much about that.

[doug hodder]

Dave, I can't remember when I asked the question, but if you go through some of the techniques archives you will find a ton of info. The question was asked by me and I got lots of replys, It's 6AM and I'm on my way to Home Depot, if you can't find it I'll try later. Doug Hodder