Polishing aluminium outriggers

[Totts]

Hi, I wonder if anyone has a tip for polishing aluminium outriggers or the aluminium on tuna towers come to that. They're dull and in some areas even chalky looking.

I've tried collinite metal polish/wax, an aluminium cleaner (don't have the name offhand) and even compound and all of them bring it up to some degree but nothing really gives it a shiny appearance. I'm not expecting it to come up like stainless steel but hoping to find something that can bring a bit of life to it...

 

[Totts]

I've done some more research on this and it appears it's not so straight forward... from what I can figure out, depending on whether the Aluminum (note, I've changed the spelling for the US side of the pond) has been anodized or not. For example, Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish state that it's not for anodized aluminum and I saw on an YouTube video that Flitz is the same. So my understanding is that if you use one of these metal polishes and you don't start seeing the black deposit then you've probably got anodised aluminum and it's not going to work, or work nearly as well as if it wasn't anodised anyway.

Having said that, most of the research I've done, people don't take this into account and they just forge ahead with the above polishes anyway and with varying results.

I note that it's not just outriggers that has this problem, a lot of Tuna towers or T-Tops (not sure of the terminology) have this sort of aluminum and quite often it's pretty oxidised too. This thread goes for them too.

If it isn't anodized, then fantastic results can be achieved. In fact, it appears if you do all the steps correctly, are committed and take your time, you can get an almost chrome like finish. This is when people have wet sanded with varying grades of paper, then spent time buffing and polishing.

I'm not looking for perfection for the outriggers, but I'd like to bring them up so they look good, rather than the way they look at the moment which is dull and chalky.

After watching one of Mikes video's, the Flitz approach looks like one of the better methods which is using Flitz prep spray, followed by their metal polish and their orange buffing ball. Having said that, I believe this could be the wrong approach if the outriggers are anodized. If they are anodized, is there a chance that you're going to damage it by using an acid or sodium hydroxide? As I said, this doesn't appear to be that straight forward, or am I making a big deal out of it!

If the aluminum is dull, chalky and pitted, has the anodized surface come off and therefore it's ok to use sodium hydroxide and sanding etc? Looking into this has opened up so many questions.

So in a nutshell, the tried and tested method to bring aluminum up is to us some sort of acid or pre-treatment spray, followed by buffing and polishing or wet sanding and polishing depending on what you're doing and the question is, is this the same method when you're dealing with anodized aluminum?

If anyone has experience with this then any info would be much appreciated. Or, if they can point me in the direction to someone I can speak to that would be great

Many thanks in advance

 

[Wildone]

When it comes to out riggers 99% of what has been on the market for the last 30 years is anodized. Rupp or Lee brands for sure if it is an older boat. Flitz will take the anodize off as it is to abrasive. Woody wax and or Alumagard will brighten and protect. If you need to get it back to life try Buff magic compound gently working it into a small section to test. When it comes to tuna towers there are two main types of aluminum used on them. One has a brushed finish to it the other is very slick and shinny. I prefer the look of the slick finish and find that it is much easier to maintain. All of the products I have mentioned below will work on both types. It really depends on how far gone the tuna tower is as to what approach you should take with it. If it is really hammered Flitz may be your last resort because you are not going to be able to re anodize the tower. However this will open a can of worms every spring before you launch you will need to clean and polish the entire tower to keep it protected because it will be in the raw and will pit faster in the salt air. Having the anodize on you would just need to do a wipe down. As far as the outriggers go you could always have then re anodized. Most places will have a tank big enough to do this if you break them down all the way.