Several people have commented on the polished aluminum spinners and landing gears that they see at the fly-ins. I have been doing this for some time now and it very easy to do. All you need are two cotton buffing wheels for your bench grinder and some polishing compound. I use 6" buffing wheels available at the local hardware store for about $3.50. The polishing compound is available from Sears. Their stock # is 96T2896 for $2.99.

The polishing compound comes in four bars of different colors showing grits. I use the black for the initial polishing and white for final buffing. I also use a separate buffing whee1 for each color. While the procedure is going to get you very dirty, it is a simple process and excellent results are easy to come by.

First, start up your bench grinder with a buffing wheel in place and charge the wheel with some black compound. Take it easy with the amount you try to rub into the wheel. A little dab'll do 'ya. Then start polishing the spinner or gear strut or whatever. BE SURE to polish from the center out to the edges. If you work from the edge in, the buffing wheel can (and probably will) grab the work out of your hands and can cause serious injury. And BE SURE you are wearing eye protection. This is a messy operation and the grinder will be throwing a lot of crud.

Each time the polishing rate slows, add just a little more compound. Continue with the black compound until you have a well polished surface all over. Now change wheels, charge with white compound and start buffing. This is where that mirror finish comes out. The whole operation will take about 20 minutes for a 4" aluminum spinner and is easy to do.

But the main thing is to BE CAREFUL! You are dealing with some fast rotating machinery here. If you allow the cotton wheel to grab the edge of the work, you can cause some major injury to your hands.