Wire wheel used - any way to salvage?

[GS ace]

For aluminum that has that much oxidation, glass beading is very effective as the first step.

[Hoosier Daddy]

... or poor mans soda blasting. I started with a siphon tip on my blow gun and the hose shoved into a box of Arm & Hammer baking soda.

[GateKeeper]

I am sending all my covers to Hoosier Daddy.......just to see if he can get mine as shiny as he did his......

What's that mailing address.....

[Guest]

Haha, good one Gatekeeper. Hoosier is even close to me. That's a bonus!

I forgot about that soda blaster trick. I gotta get that setup and try it out. Is it strong enough to remove paint or do you just use it for oxidation Hoosier Daddy? And how much baking soda does it go thru?

Sci85

[Geo]

Sorry if this is a silly question. After you polish the aluminum do you spray coat it with clear lacquer/enamel to protect the finish or is it left bare.
Thanks

[GateKeeper]

Some do some don't, some will put on some wax and keep an eye on it, others, depending on their location and weather it's probably easier to put on some more permanent protection

[GS ace]

A few folks that I have polished for asked about clear coating. I told them if that's what they want, they'll have to do it themselves because the odds are that something will go wrong with it sooner or later. Maintenance on polished aluminum is a piece of cake. All of my bikes don't have coating and all I do is to treat the metal as if it was being waxed, but with Mother's.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I don't think my version of a soda blaster would remove paint. I use stripper (or sand blasting on harder metals) for that. Do a Google search for DIY Soda Blaster and you will see most guys use a larger hose and cut a slit in it to put the air nozzle into the hose. Baking soda kind of clumps up and the larger diameter hose would definately keep it from plugging up at the pick-up as often as mine did.
I went through 3 small boxes to do my covers and carb bodies if I remember right.
...also I never clear coat them when done, too easy to chip, scratch and then once compromised the oxidation would start under the claer and you have a mess again.

[GS ace]

For 30 bucks, you can buy a 50 pound bag of soda specifically designed for blasting. It can be found at Harbor Freight and it's what I use.