How to Grind & Polish Tread Plate Aluminum
If you have a truck with tread plate tool boxes, steps or flatting, and have had the aluminum for a few years, you may have noticed that oxidization, dirt and basic use have stripped away that mirror shine. To get that shine on any other type of aluminum, you can hand sand with a fine grit and polish with a grinder, them buff until the polishing is gone and only a mirror finish remains. But doing this on aluminum tread plate presents a few problems. To do it safely, you have to clean, polish lightly and then buff.
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Instructions
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1
Clean your aluminum with a mild solution of soap and water. Briskly scrub the tread plating until all the dirt is off. This prevents unnecessary sanding that you would have to do just to get the dirt off.
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2
Sand down any hard trouble spots very carefully with a hand sander until you feel the finish matches or at least blends into the rest of the aluminum.
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3
Grind the aluminum tread plate with a something similar to a mill treat buff or grinding wheel. The size and grit may be different for your type of aluminum, so choose carefully and consult someone at the hardware store. Grind between the plates in a diagonal motion, angling the grinder to hit the sides of the treads.
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4
Remove all the dust.
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5
Apply a brightener that has a medium abrasive formula for light dirt, and one with heavy abrasiveness for more damaged metal. Work the brightener into the tread plate using cross-hatching strokes, hitting the tread rises from both sides and going up and down the face of them.
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6
Buff the aluminum with a mildly abrasive buff pad and buffer. Angle the buffer.
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Tips & Warnings
Work carefully and quickly, but do not grind down the treads themselves. Just put the polish lines into the metal.
Do not grind flat on tread plate, as you will cut down the treads too quickly.
