Polishing glass beaded Aluminium???

[Wes Allen]

Any idea what is the best way to polish glass beaded aluminium? Just had a bellhousing welded,and it was glass beaded to cleanup. Now I'm wondering whether to anodize it or just polish the outside. It is fabricated from plate.
Thanks Wes

[Keith Carter]

I wonder if one of those Mother's power balls would work on that.

[DrJim]

Wes,
Slick it up and polish it, then anodize it to keep it from oxidizing.
Be somebody - anodize it gold.

[R. Pare]

I would assume that you know the alloy it was fabbed from - just make sure the anodizer is told what it is so that they use the correct process

I wouldn't bother trying to polish it. Just have them bright dip it as is - the bright dipping will brighten up the surface nicely (though it won't look "polished") and give it a satin looking finish, and continue to hide any flaws - scratches, etc. The only thing you can do nothing about is the welded area - it will show up as discolored, no matter what you do.

Also, make sure that you round off all edges and any highly stressed corners - anodizing reduces the fatigue stress level about 50%, so cracks will develop at stress levels 50% lower than an un-anodized part.