Polishing alloy frame.

[raw6464]

Has anybody polished an aluminum alloy frame? How did it come out and are you happy with the results?

I've got a 6906 with some holster wear on the frame. It looks like you can polish it from the areas that are already polished from the holster wear.

Any resale value is not an issue as I'm going to keep this gun till the lights go out.

I've already polished the slide and I like the looks... not recommended if finger prints drive you crazy.

Appreciate your thoughts and recommendations.

 

[biglar]

Aluminum is anodized to make its surface harder. I think the correct way to loose the holster wear is to have it re-anodized.

Bluing on a steel gun is really controlled rusting. remove the bluing and you loose control of how the steel will rust. Anodizing has the same effect on aluminum. Remove the anodizing from the surface and you will have to polish it more often because now the aluminum can oxidize the way bare steel rust.

 

[KurtC]

Polishing of an aluminum frame is done before anodizing (or re-anodizing). If you want to see how nice a blue one looks, find a Beretta 92SB (or a picture of one). For a silver one, look for an early Italian made Beretta Inox 92 or 8000.

 

[SG-688]

I've polished two 469's and a commander. In the old days at least, Colt anodizing rapidly wore white on the grip frame anyway. Jeff Cooper endorsed polishing the frame.

Don't remove the anodizing from the rails or internal areas, where surface hardness matters. For the exterior surfaces, it's not an issue.

 

[raw6464]

Thanks for the advice and recommendation guys.

I don't think oxidation would be a problem if I took the anodize off... I keep my guns very clean and they never see bad environments and I'm not going to do the whole frame. Actually I was only going to polish the raised lands on each side of the frame right above the trigger housing (where the holster wear is) and keep the rest of the frame anodized as it's is good shape.

Thanks again.