Finishing Aluminium

I'm looking for intresting/different finish for a dash I'm building. I don't have a mill so that is out. Has anyone got any ideas? I was thinking maybe a wire wheel or something along those lines. I'm Listening.

 

motor turned finish from your drill press.

 

Enlighten me, what is a motor turned finish?

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128879&highlight=ENGINE+TURNING

 

This was done with a drill press and scotch brite pads on a dowel.

 

I've used a random orbital sander (DA) with 120 freecut paper and created a matte finish, which I then sprayed with clear lacquer. Try it on a piece of scrap and see what you think.

 

Thats a sweet look hiboy, how did you attach the scotchbrite pad to the dowell?

 

Gorilla glue.. trim off excess scotch bright.. Make up some in advance so you don't have to wait for the glue to dry

 

Diamond Plate baby!

Just kidding....

 

Bead blasted finish looks kind of cool. Plain and simple looking. Almost looks cast depending on the type of media used.

 

I used something similar. I found an old valve the right size for the swirls, then glued a leather scrap to the face and kept it coated with valve lapping compound. You can kind of sort of see the results in the background of this one:

 

Also demascening is another name as well. OLD practice! Been around for a long time and done lots of different ways and in many styles.