Making a polishing compound from Jewelers Rouge?

[lilbilly]

Anybody ever tried it? My mother in law found somewhat of a recipe for making this compound.

Jeweler's rouge, Mineral Spirits and a couple other items - I can't get a hold of her at the moment to get the exact recipe/process.

Apparently alot of truck drivers use it to polish their aluminum wheels and it gets the oxidization off and shines without a ton of elbow grease. She used it on her Virago and it worked okay.... I'll get more details and pics.

Anyone use it before?

[Steve]

I'm sure it's possible, but is it worth the effort?

With all the different polishes available, it's really just as easy as going to Auto Zone, Wal Mart or Lowe's to get a good polish with no gathering of ingredients and mixing them up. Look for Mother's, Simi-Chrome, Never-Dull or any of many other products.

Lowe's for polish? Yeah, that's what I am using right now. Over near the lumber area, where they have the diamond-plate truck boxes, they have a bottle of liquid polish. It's not real cheap, but does a real good job.

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[TheCafeKid]

I'm sure it's possible, but is it worth the effort?

With all the different polishes available, it's really just as easy as going to Auto Zone, Wal Mart or Lowe's to get a good polish with no gathering of ingredients and mixing them up. Look for Mother's, Simi-Chrome, Never-Dull or any of many other products.

Lowe's for polish? Yeah, that's what I am using right now. Over near the lumber area, where they have the diamond-plate truck boxes, they have a bottle of liquid polish. It's not real cheap, but does a real good job.

.

Agreed. The white alu oxide jewelers rouge are what alot of us use on the buffing wheels to get that nice chrome like shine. I could see a mix of mineral spirits and that making a paste working, but when you can get Mothers Alu polish for a few bucks, is it worth the time and effort?

Incidently, the past couple of seasons, I have been starting the season off buffing case covers and other alu bits on the buffing wheel, and then every time i wash the bike bringing up the shine with the Mothers.. Works great. But recently i found some small buffing wheels that fit nicely on a die grinder/angle grinder. Using those with the jewlers rouge means i dont have to take whatever covers off the bike, and still get that nice fresh 'begining of the season" shine when I want it!

[Zooks]

Rouge is just polish mixed with wax to make it hard. All you're doing is melting it with the spirits. Leave it for a while and the spirits will evaporate off and you'll have a blob of rouge again.

[lilbilly]

It's not simply just a polish I don't think. From what I understand it will take some of the oxidization off of the old aluminum, when Mothers or any other polish will just make the aluminum shine a little. I may be misunderstanding it a little, I'm not sure.

I'll do some experimenting and get the exact recipe as well as the process and report back.

[Zooks]

It's not simply just a polish I don't think. From what I understand it will take some of the oxidization off of the old aluminum, when Mothers or any other polish will just make the aluminum shine a little. I may be misunderstanding it a little, I'm not sure...........

Yeah I think you are. Polish is a mix of fine abrasives and various other chemicals that cut away microscopic parts of a surface to reveal a smoother surface underneath. Most of them will reverse the effects of oxidation.

Jewellers rouge is a mix of fine abrasives, chemicals and wax - basically, polish mixed with wax.