If you want to polish the sink will depend on how high and the separation of the fins. Not all sinks would be a good choice for this. The Sedona would not be too bad to do.
You first need to remove the paint. Once the paint is gone you will need a stand mount style buffer with a large diameter- thin buff wheel
http://www.swmetal.com/cart/buffs?request=show&size=10"
(something like this)
Or you could rig a motor for a hand held if it were not too heavy and mount the heatsink to a solid foundation. (this would be better because if you catch a leading edge with a buffer wheel it can snatch it out of your hand like a rocket so this method would be safer for someone inexperience with polishing).
After you get your pad mounted you will need a graduated selection of compounds (from brown to white). With this setup you could have the thing look like a mirror in a hour.
Unfortunately the thing will start to look dull in a few years due to oxidation and will require some minor work to keep it shiny (light wax helps).
A very good choice after its polished is to have it chromed (or anodized). (this like anodizing is dependant on how it looks before the plating process).
Good luck and post pics of the results whatever you do!
You first need to remove the paint. Once the paint is gone you will need a stand mount style buffer with a large diameter- thin buff wheel
http://www.swmetal.com/cart/buffs?request=show&size=10"
(something like this)
Or you could rig a motor for a hand held if it were not too heavy and mount the heatsink to a solid foundation. (this would be better because if you catch a leading edge with a buffer wheel it can snatch it out of your hand like a rocket so this method would be safer for someone inexperience with polishing).
After you get your pad mounted you will need a graduated selection of compounds (from brown to white). With this setup you could have the thing look like a mirror in a hour.
Unfortunately the thing will start to look dull in a few years due to oxidation and will require some minor work to keep it shiny (light wax helps).
A very good choice after its polished is to have it chromed (or anodized). (this like anodizing is dependant on how it looks before the plating process).
Good luck and post pics of the results whatever you do!
Hotnuts, that reminds me of my Smokey and the Bandit car!😎 I once did the head cover on a quad4, I painted it with color then used a DA locked with a worn 320 paper on it. Ran it really fast over the fins moving slowly to polish. Then cleared it. That is the thing to do with bare aluminum have a place clear it with urethane auto clear while they do a car, just like most aluminum wheels are done now. It can hold some heat in though, but looks great and stays that way. I can't say for other clears if they can take it.
If you want plain flat looking black, the thing to use is the bumper paint in spray cans, walmart has it even. It is for the black strip on older car plastic bumpers. Stuff dries fast, looks great, you can polish some shine into it if you want, is easy to spray. It looks like linear power amps pretty much. Put a light coat or two to get covered mostly, then a medium coat that is little wet to smooth it out. Put a light dry coat over that if you want it more flat or another medium coat if you want it thicker. It is for plastic so it is more durable and flexible than plain flat black. It is actually a semi gloss of sorts. I use that stuff on all kinds of things. It really stinks but dries fast for less dirt in it, I bet it is lacquer. Have painted outside trim, emblems, interior parts on cars plus stuff in the shop. Very easy to touch up later, does not even show. Clean it well before you paint anything, use naptha or alcohol, even acetone. Practice on something if you don't spray paint much, do smooth strokes.
If you want plain flat looking black, the thing to use is the bumper paint in spray cans, walmart has it even. It is for the black strip on older car plastic bumpers. Stuff dries fast, looks great, you can polish some shine into it if you want, is easy to spray. It looks like linear power amps pretty much. Put a light coat or two to get covered mostly, then a medium coat that is little wet to smooth it out. Put a light dry coat over that if you want it more flat or another medium coat if you want it thicker. It is for plastic so it is more durable and flexible than plain flat black. It is actually a semi gloss of sorts. I use that stuff on all kinds of things. It really stinks but dries fast for less dirt in it, I bet it is lacquer. Have painted outside trim, emblems, interior parts on cars plus stuff in the shop. Very easy to touch up later, does not even show. Clean it well before you paint anything, use naptha or alcohol, even acetone. Practice on something if you don't spray paint much, do smooth strokes.
I don't use solvents to clean before painting; I use dish detergent. It works wonders and leaves no residue.
hotnuts you make it sound so easy... I will see if i can do that because i would prefer anodization mainly because it will look really good and stay that way.
True, long as there is no silicone/wax/tar/maybe grease on the item. I prefer naptha, it is much like mineral spirits with limited smell and nearly harmless to most things you paint. You can also control where solvents go much better, for example if you don't want water inside an object you are painting. I also use powerful glass cleaner for a lot of things but don't like to take chances when I paint. Anodize would be great, no doubt about that.theAnonymous1 said:
MEK. Methyl Ethyl Ketone. Super light, super clean, ZERO remnants. Take great care and wear the correct gloves, that stuff will eat through any paint coating. It evaporates super fast and is SUPER flammable. You can buy it at Lowe's and maybe Home Depot.
I think the painting industry has gotten bit by the Cal-laws.
You can still get MEK, benzene and Naptha but there are other quick flashing solvents for pre-prep that work well and are less toxic….I still use alcohol and rosin cloths.
If you want to do something really cool if you are going to have it anodized you can get a logo or design made in reverse cut vinyl at any sign shop. After the sink is polished apply the logo to an area where you want the logo and have it sand blasted. Remove the vinyl and have it anodized. The logo will be the color of the anodizing but will look frosted.
You could also etch the logo or have something ball milled……
Oh, if I only had more time what I would do to heatsinks!!!!
You can still get MEK, benzene and Naptha but there are other quick flashing solvents for pre-prep that work well and are less toxic….I still use alcohol and rosin cloths.
If you want to do something really cool if you are going to have it anodized you can get a logo or design made in reverse cut vinyl at any sign shop. After the sink is polished apply the logo to an area where you want the logo and have it sand blasted. Remove the vinyl and have it anodized. The logo will be the color of the anodizing but will look frosted.
You could also etch the logo or have something ball milled……
Oh, if I only had more time what I would do to heatsinks!!!!
Naptha is slow enough I can wipe it off before it dries. I had problems with quick solvents; if you don't wipe it off and it dries...the contaminates are still on the surface. I have used alcohol on bare steel, it worked well but that was not a previously used surface. I did not take chances and did my best to paint them once only, so I never really wanted to try something else that might not work as well. Yes I imagine they will outlaw all the solvents/solvent based paints at some point.
I'm sure it would depend to a degree on the amp and how it would be used, as to whether it would cause overheating issues, but thick coats of paint on the actual heat sink area could cause problems dissipating heat.
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