Polishing Billet Aluminum

[rdfisch]

Can someone share a technique for Polishing Billet Aluminum?

I bought a Cribbage Board that was CNC machined out of a solid piece of T6-6061 Billet Aluminum. I figured I could get it looking better and decided to polish it last night - the piece was just machined and has never been polished before. I used NXT All Metal Polysh and clean White Terry Cloth Towels (trying to acheive a mirror-like finish.) When I was done it looked pretty good, but there were very fine scratches in the surface (I didn't notice them until this morning - I assume the towels were leaving the scratches??)

Is it possible to get these small scratches out? Is there another product I should be using (or should I use something else to apply/remove the NXT?) Would it help to use my Dremel with a polishing pad? If I keep polishing - will my towels ever stop turning black? Is there anything I could use to help prevent future scratches from use, etc???

Any help would be appreciated. This is a Christmas gift - so I only have a few days left to work on it....

Thanks

[Hitman]

On very fine polished metals I use a foam app to apply the metal polish. No scratches here.

[sneek]

i dont know if the dremel is such a good idea but i think if use a foam pad and or a M/F to apply the polish it will remove the scratches. also i think that your towels and pads will always come out black because it does not contain iron...just a guess based on when you rub pure gold on your cheek it will turn black if you have an iron deficency and also if you use a chrome polish on steel wheels it shouldn't turn black because iron is present

[mikkl]

I do not expect your towels to ever stop turning black. This happens as you remove the aluminum from the surface and it reacts with the polish. It is a clear sign that you are removing metal--which is what you need to do if you are removing scratches.

You may want to consider having the board anodized at a local shop. They can do a thin, clear anodizing that will provide good environmental resistance and help prevent long term issues with things like fingerprints and the like.

mikkl