How to clean old aluminum rims?

[Pinktweetybird (Zach)]

I found a couple old posts including links on how to polish aluminum planes etc but all the images are missing by now.

Basically I just got back my old YYJ Jamboo and I want to give it the makeover it deserves.

Can aluminum be cleaned before polished? Sealed? If it’s tarnished am I too late?

Bonus points for anyone that knows how to spruce up the bamboo. I figure that’s a long shot though

[YoYoExpertGarrett]

Never-dull is what I use. Works fantastic. Just rip of a little piece, hold it in a piece of paper towel and rub around the rim. May want to wear gloves to keep your hands clean.

[jhb8426 (Resident Curmudgeon)]

@Pinktweetybird

I found a couple old posts including links on how to polish aluminum planes etc but all the images are missing by now.

Bonus points for anyone that knows how to spruce up the bamboo. I figure that’s a long shot though

There’s a pdf of the polishing article here with photos.

How To Polish Aluminum

This is an old article that is out of print as far as I can tell. It’s from from the September 2003 issue of Model Airplane News. I’m attaching a pdf file of it because the links I find seem to disappear. I’m also including a link I recently found. Here’s another article as well: Polishing an aluminum spinner - RC Groups (Note this is also an old article. The text is still there but the pics are gone.) polish_1.pdf (952 KB) polish_2.pdf (814 KB) Best bet is to download the PDF articles from…

Wash the jamboo, maybe wipe it down with zippo lighter fluid first. Rub it down with a very fine steel wool, like 000 or 0000 grade. Finish it off with a coat of polyurethane.

[Pinktweetybird (Zach)]

Thank you this is one of the posts I read that I didn’t understand or find helpful but I didn’t download the pdf’s as I was on my work computer. I appreciate your break down of it for me! I’ll post before and after pics of this unique grassy boi after following the steps in the pdf.

[jhb8426 (Resident Curmudgeon)]

Here’s more on the jamboo.

I had to finish off my JAMBOO

There’s been a lot of comments about the raw wood on the jamboo, some good, some bad. I’d say it’s in between. But this yoyo deserves a nice finish. Mine was relatively smooth to start off so no major complaints in that department, but YYJ just didn’t finish the job. So I did… Besides, raw wood yoyos get nasty looking from oil on your hands. I used 3 coats of Watco clear oil topped off w/2 coats of clear poly. Before and after ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image …

The imageshack pics are all dead so here’s a few of them on their own…
before pics

Here’s some after pics