Need to Polish or Brighten some Aluminum

Lot of guys swear by an automotive product, Mother's Mag Wheel & Aluminum Polish.

GWE

Theres a polish called MAAS and works real good to polish different metals ,I have polished aluminum with it and it works great and it even works on other metals as well including tarnished brass ,I have polished a brass kick pad on a door that was black and after I got done it shined like a mirror ,you can find it in automotive sores and in the cleaner section in walmarts around tarnex ,you can use paper towels to use it but I find white cotton rags works best ,you just keep rubbing it in til it turns black and keep going till it completely disappears . good luck

The buffing wheels, speed, and technique are more important than the compound used. Mothers polish reminds me of Brasso, and I never had good luck with it because it loads the wheels and leaves black residue. I usually cut aluminum with tripoli and finish with white rouge. Unless you're going to do a lot of this type of work or just want to learn, let a pro do it for you.

I wouldn't have envisioned the OP would use a buffing wheel on a 1½x2' plate. Sure, that would turn a buffing wheel black. Mother's is not a product to be used with a buffing wheel at all, rather it, like Brasso (which works just great, I use it every 3-4 weeks on my brass belt buckles) is designed to be used with a rag and your Armstrong polishing machine.

GWE

Mother's works great, a lot of aviation guys swear by flitz

Another candidate in the aviation world is Nuvite. Folks with polished Swifts & such seem to put much stock in it.

Me, I like paint...

HB