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Cleaning buffing compounds off aluminum

I NEED TO KNOW A GOOD WAY TO CLEAN BUFFING COMPOUND OFF ALUMINUM [BILLET] WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE GETTING OUR PLATING TO HOLD ON THE CORNERS. WE ARE GETTING WHAT I CALL BLISTERS WHERE THE PLATING IS NOT STICKING ON THE CORNERS.

Mike Jenkins
finishing shop - Anthony, Kansas, USA
2004

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Dear Mike,

Yes...you can not plate without removing buffing compound. You can try a solvent, n-bromo propane, either dip or spray. But use proper goggles ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] / rubber gloves ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] etc. You can also try out with Henkel-Loctite range of products ( please contact local dealers)

Good Luck

Keshava Prasad M
- Bangalore
2004

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This is a rather general answer, Mike, but I think the best approach is probably to add ultrasonic cleaning to the process.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2004

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Ted is right, an US cleaner is perfect but... also expensive.

There are quite a lot of chemical cleaners that can do the job even without US. Most of them operate at high temp, like 60-80 °C and almost neutral pH. Ask your supplier for a buffing removing compound. I am sure he will come up with an adequate product.

Sara Michaeli
Tel-Aviv-Yafo, Israel
2004

Similar things happened here. After buffing the aluminum, there's residue of compound sticking there, but our company managed to clean with a product called Cosmoline. I believe that's available in many places already, but you can compound that by yourself, utilizing Xylene ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] / pce/ and butyl cellosolve.

Well good luck,

Daniel Herman S Suhendra,
dwi putri minchem int - Jakarta, Dki, Indonesia
2004