[sdiy] polishing aluminum panels

[Danjel van Tijn]

I posted about this a while ago but since then I have tried various
methods without success:

I have aluminum panels that were laser cut and came with a lot of deep
surface scratches.
The very fine scratches can be worked out with 1000-1500 grit
sandpaper. Everything else is too deep and various abrasive methods
(coarser sandpaper, nylon brush on drill) ended up covering the
aluminum with nothing but scratches (at least it looks consistent).
Any kind of soft buffing and polish compounds had no effect.
The only thing that has worked well so far was a little metal spinning
brush on my dremel (like a metal bristle wheel on a bench grinder).
The dremel tool is too tiny but I think this is a bit I can buy for a
normal drill. It seemed like this would take out the deep scratches
and polish the metal to a shiny finish. After that I can even things
out with 1500 snadpaper and then polish the metal with a compound like
Jewelers Rouge. Does that sound about right? Any other methods/tools
to try?
Should I just take these to a metal shop?

Also I tried David's suggestion of using the Diamond Clear finish but
every time I spray it on I find that it is leaving speckles and does
not coat the aluminum evenly, even if I try an initially super light
coat.


cheers,
Danjel