Thread: Sealer for Aluminium

Hi, just joined up, and need some advice with Aluminium.

I have just built a 2.5m long island bar for our new kitchen, it comprises 3x 800mm wide banks of pot drawers joined together, and it has been mounted on 6x 125mm castors so we can move it if we ever need to.

I will be cladding the 2 ends and the back of the cabinet with Colorbond Mini Orb, and then i will rivet or screw 40x25x3.0 aluminium angle to the 4 corners of the cabinet to give it an industrial look.

I bought a 2.4m x 1.2m x 3.0mm thick sheet of Aluminium (mill finish) which i will be cutting into pieces to form the 12 drawer fronts, which i will screw onto the front of each drawer using small tech screws which are color matched to the Mini Orb color (Jasper)

Before i fit the 4 external angles and the drawer fronts i will be sanding the surface of the shiny Aluminium using 120grit glass paper in a circular motion which gives it a dull etched industrial look, and usually i would leave it like that on any other project i have done before, but on this project i would like to apply some kind of sealer or whatever that may protect the Aluminium so it is easy to clean (greasy finger marks etc) an also to prevent the aluminium from possible oxidation, or discoloring or going really dull in appearance.

Is there a product out there that i can buy to wipe onto the aluminium, or should i just leave the aluminium as it is after sanding it.

Naturally all cut edges will be filed and sanded with fine glass paper so they are curved and smoothed off, and all corners will be slightly rounded as well so nobody injures themselves while using the drawers.

The 2.5m x 900mm benchtop arrives next week, so i will post up a photo of the finished job in a few weeks time if anyone is interested.

Just a final note, i am a retired builder/joiner and i generally hate working with metal/steel, but i discovered Aluminium 2 years ago after i made a rocking horse for family friend, and i got hooked, and find myself now looking for any excuse to make things from this amazing metal, and i am going to introduce a lot more aluminium (and Mini Orb cladding) into our new townhouse in the next few months, just to give it a bit of an industrial feel.

Cheers

Hi Glen,

There are clear spray on, rattle cans, of an acrylic varnish that can be used for that job, though more often used on wood or paint.

There are a wide range of different acrylic clear seal coats available. Some are harder than others so will resist scratching, others are slightly more flexible so will give rather crack when dinged, others will yellow or craze in time. I've never used them but the clear coats used for mag wheels are supposed to be pretty good.

Aldi had a product on their periodic specials which might be suitable. It is called Deco Style Transparent Protection Spray, in a 384g rattle can. It promises "perfect protection for metal, wood and plastic". Sorry I have not yet used the can I bought, so I can't comment on a result.

Chas.

If you are going to clear coat it, an auto body shop should be able to spray the pieces with more durable finishes (and bake them) than you can get out of a rattle can. If you have the spray equipment you can do it too.

An alternative is to have it hard anodized clear (or any shade or colour you like) if the service is available near you. The anodizing will make the surface much tougher to scratch and you won't get the black hands from handling it. It doesn't lend itself to doing it yourself at home except for small parts. Wax with paste or automotive wax it to make it easier to clean.

Pete

If you want a really tough finish you could have it anodised in natural which is basically a clear finish

Thanks for the replies, sorry i am not after any type of spray on finish for the aluminium plate, as i don't want a paint or clear coat that is similar to anything you might spray on wood.

I did some more googling again today and i found this Everbrite product that would seem to be exactly what i need, not sure if it is available in Australia.

https://www.finishing.com/chemicals/everbrite.shtml

Oddly, i rang our local Aluminium supplier and asked them about coating the aluminium after i have sanded it with the 120 grit glass paper, and they told me to just wipe the surfaces with a dampened piece of toweling or microfiber cloth, and just let it dry, and only apply that Everbrite product if the aluminium starts to look chalky or has faded or discolored, as it is a restoration product rather than a protective coating.

The whole idea of sanding the surface of the "milled" aluminium plate (which is usually very shiny) is to give it a brushed, industrial look, and to keep it as natural as possible.

Cheers.

Anodizing is not a spray surface coating. It is a metal conversion process using electricity to make the surface corrosion resistant. Pure aluminium converts naturally in the presence of oxygen to form a protective layer that is only a few molecules deep much like lead and copper do. You don't find pure aluminium because it is soft and weak. It is alloyed with other metals to improve the strength or workability. 7075 for example is alloyed with zinc. 6061 is a magnesium and silicone alloy. 2024 is with copper. When the aluminium is alloyed it looses it's natural corrosion resistance because the alloys want out so they anodize it to prevent the corrosion. The discolouration, fading or chalky surface is the corrosion but anodizing prevents that. Anodizing can be done clear or with colours added for looks. Reds, blues, black gold, greens and more are all done for looks. You have seen tons of clear anodized stuff everywhere you go. Pickup truck (utes) roof racks and running boards, mitre gauge extruded fences, lawn chairs, ladders, track saw tracks, window frames, flagpoles, boat masts and booms, checker plate, et cetera. It is the most used industrial finish for aluminium there is. Even your scuffing and grungy surface treatment can be anodized and still have the texturing remain. The first stage of anodizing is an acid etch and that would be the only deterrent to you in that it evens out the reflective properties of the metal a little, so less contrasts. The biggest problem for you is finding someone that does it on your island unless you want to send it to the mainland.

All that being said for what you want a quick coat of paste wax or bees wax would be the easiest to care for finish.

Pete

Originally Posted by glenpinn

Thanks for the replies, sorry i am not after any type of spray on finish for the aluminium plate, as i don't want a paint or clear coat that is similar to anything you might spray on wood.

I did some more googling again today and i found this Everbrite product that would seem to be exactly what i need, not sure if it is available in Australia.

Yes it is, but be prepared to pay.
https://everbritecoatings.com.au/pro...ing_110_ml_can

The US Evebrite website has a touch of hype about it that does not convince me that is that different to other quality protective finishes.
It could just be they way many US sites advertise their wares but I am always wary of these sites.

My thoughts for what they are worth are that 120 Grit is way too coarse and will bite too hard leading to difficulties cleaning the surface in the future. My other thought is that I wouldn't be touching any product such as Everbrite that doesn't have an MSDS available on its website.
Clear Anodised sheet would get my vote as it looks industrial and is readily available, as is Clear Anodised aluminium angle.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

My thoughts for what they are worth are that 120 Grit is way too coarse and will bite too hard leading to difficulties cleaning the surface in the future. My other thought is that I wouldn't be touching any product such as Everbrite that doesn't have an MSDS available on its website.
Clear Anodised sheet would get my vote as it looks industrial and is readily available, as is Clear Anodised aluminium angle.

Everbrite does a have an MSDS and seems pretty safe

You can buy premade ali/composite sheeting purposely made for kitchen environments and it comes in a mill finish or polished or anodised a myriad of colours(look up the laminex site).

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

My thoughts for what they are worth are that 120 Grit is way too coarse and will bite too hard leading to difficulties cleaning the surface in the future. My other thought is that I wouldn't be touching any product such as Everbrite that doesn't have an MSDS available on its website.
Clear Anodised sheet would get my vote as it looks industrial and is readily available, as is Clear Anodised aluminium angle.

Clear anodized angle or plate is horrible, and is far from looking industrial, and industrial in my view should be a matt or worn finish and not something that is polished or shiny, and if anodized aluminium gets scratches on it, you can't do anything about it, where sanded mill plate can be sanded as many times as you like if it gets scratched, so i am not going to use anodized, i want the surface to be natural and not have any kind of spray or coating applied to it.

I use the 120 grit white carpenters glass paper which i think is perfectly fine, but some time ago i used to use 100 grit which i prefer more, but it is no longer available, so i just use the 120.

Thanks for the heads up on Everbrite, i know it has been around for a very long time, but i didn't know very much about it, but BobL seems to be saying that it does have MSDS so here we have different opinions on this product, so i think i will just sand the mill plate and wipe it off and leave it.

I have been told that wiping it over with a toweling cloth lightly dampened with turps will clean the surface after sanding, i tried this on a bit of sanded plate today and it just cleaned off the blackness that is left after it was sanded.

Originally Posted by QC Inspector

Anodizing ................. The biggest problem for you is finding someone that does it on your island unless you want to send it to the mainland.

All that being said for what you want a quick coat of paste wax or bees wax would be the easiest to care for finish.

Pete

Thanks Pete, yes i understand how Anodizing is done, and we do have several places here in Tasmania (2 or 3 in Hobart) who does this, as well as powdercoating, which was another option i was looking at, but it is very expensive to do 12 drawer fronts 800mm x 200mm average in size, plus 4 external angles (40x25) and because i have now fixed the dark brown (Jasper) Colorbond MiniOrb (corrugated) sheets to the 2 ends and the back of the island bar, i don't want the drawer fronts and the 4 external angles in a colored finish, the sanded aluminium i think will look a lot nicer and more industrial, with maybe the handles can be a similar color to the MiniOrb sheeting.

I will google Bees Wax and Paste Wax and see what i can find.

Should have the Aluminium Drawer fronts cut and fitted by mid next week, will post some pics as soon as it is done.

i would like to apply some kind of sealer or whatever that may protect the Aluminium so it is easy to clean (greasy finger marks etc) an also to prevent the aluminium from possible oxidation, or discoloring or going really dull in appearance.

i want the surface to be natural and not have any kind of spray or coating applied to it.?

Originally Posted by China

i would like to apply some kind of sealer or whatever that may protect the Aluminium so it is easy to clean (greasy finger marks etc) an also to prevent the aluminium from possible oxidation, or discoloring or going really dull in appearance.

i want the surface to be natural and not have any kind of spray or coating applied to it.?

Originally Posted by glenpinn

Is there a product out there that i can buy to wipe onto the aluminium, or should i just leave the aluminium as it is after sanding it.

I think the above quote from my first post might answer your question, as i am after something that i can Wipe on with a cloth as opposed to anything such as clear lacquer, paint, powdercoat or anodizing.

Looks like i will just leave it completely natural without anything wiped onto the surface.