Fabrication

3M Scotch-Brite^TM Hand Pads

Number	Color	Abrasive	Grit Equiv.	Steel Wool Equiv.	Description
7445 Light Duty Cleansing	White	Flint, super fine grade	1200-1500		Excellent for fine finishes, light cleaning. One of the least aggressive hand pads.	Less Aggressive Finer Finish More Aggressive Coarser Finish
7448 Ultra Fine	Light Gray	Silicon Carbide, ultra fine grade	800-1000	#0000	Finest silicon carbide hand pad available. Excellent for final finishing and light cleaning.
6448 Light Duty	Dark Gray	Silicon Carbide, ultra fine grade			Designed to clean, finish and buff.
7447 General Purpose	Maroon	Aluminum Oxide, very fine grade	360-400	#00 - #000	Excellent starting point to clean, finish, grain, denib or defuzz.
8447 Production	Maroon	Aluminum Oxide, very fine grade	360-400	#00 - #000	Provides most uniform finish. Excellent for use to clean, finish, grain, denib and defuzz.
6444 Extra Duty	Brown	Aluminum Oxide, fine grade			Excellent for conformability in cleaning, finishing and graining. Also may be used to denib or defuzz.
7446 Blending	Gray	Silicon Carbide, medium grade	120-150	#1 - #2	Excellent to grain, clean, denib, defuzz and finish. Resistant to loading.
7440 Heavy Duty	Tan	Aluminum Oxide, medium grade			The most aggressive and durable web. Excellent for heavy cleaning, deburring, and finishing.
5440 Ultra Heavy Duty	Brown	Aluminum Oxide, coarse grade			Resistant to loading. Does not contaminate. Excellent for cleaning scale or corrosion.

Brushed (or Grained) Aluminum Finish

Using a belt sander with a 320 or a 160 grit belt, sand the aluminum part in one direction only (preferably with the tool marks) using light, even pressure. The graining may be softened with a hand pad. Handle the brushed parts very carefully until they are anodized as they mark easily.

Notes

1 micro-inch  =  0.000001 inch

Other Resources

• Anodizing Aluminum at Home
• Anodising Aluminum
• FAQ at finishing.com (electroplating, patinas, etc.)
• Finishing Articles at NOMMA (paints, patinas, polishs, etc.)
• How to Apply Statuary and Patina Finishes to Copper and Bronze
• Download the tables as:
  • An Abode PDF file
  • A zipped Microsoft Word document

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