making panels beautiful

[Byron G. Jacquot]

>I have been working on some faceplates and I was hoping that some of you
>could give me some advice.  The panels are 1/8" thick aluminum and they
>are pretty beat up from me working with them (drilling holes, measuring,
>scratching, etc).  Anyone know how I can make them nice and shiny and
>smooth?  Should I use a high-grit sand-paper?  Some sort of buffing
>chemical?  Anybody have any tips or tricks?  Your help is appreciated...

I've found that very fine sand/emory paper is good to start with, then move
into progressively finer steel wool.  You might also see if you can track
down some buffing compound (maybe in a motorcycle shop?) for the final
stages, if you want a mirror finish.  I usually just use the medium steel wool.

And you should also go with the grain of the aluminium.

Byron Jacquot