30 replies to this topic

[geovermont]

I want to clean some corrosion from aluminum parts on a very old Tiltall photographic tripod (the Marchioni era) and thought I'd check on techniques. For very light corrosion on aluminum I tend to just lightly "wipe" with 0000 steel wool. Seems to work pretty well. For heavier corrosion I'm not so sure of the best technique--I certainly want  to avoid producing deep scratches or producing adverse chemical reactions. I seem to remember using Never-Dull wadding polish with good results before, but it's been a long time. I'm quite comfortable with cleaning wood, brass, iron, steel, chrome plate, but want to make sure I'm taking a safe approach on aluminum. I bet some of you have some great tricks for this....

[eye relief]

Use a rotary power tool with a cloth/ wool wheel on it and aluminum polish. Safty wise, perform in a well ventilated area as air borne aluminum dust is nasty on your lungs! Also, don't wear loose clothing.

[rachnoman]

I have all kinds of tricks for polishing aluminum however that's classified information, sorry.

 

Have tried Brillo pads, dish scrubbers, steel wool, brass pan scrubbers, paper towels, napkins, sandpaper, various polishing compounds, chrome polish, fabric, spit, etc.

 

You basically want to leave some texture on aluminum, like 220 grit sandpaper. Otherwise, you will leave fingerprints, stains, etc.

 

Hope this helps, if not too bad......just kiddin

[geovermont]

I get it that power buffing would do this, but I won't be getting out the big buffing wheel setup for this. For one thing, it's the middle of winter and the garage is way cold right now. And I don't do that sort of stuff in the house. Thanks though.

[starman876]

there is aluminum polish.   Never dull will work

Edited by starman876, 25 January 2025 - 11:45 AM.

[geovermont]

What about the wet aluminum foil trick that works so slick on chrome plate? I've never tried it on aluminum itself.

[starman876]

What about the wet aluminum foil trick that works so slick on chrome plate? I've never tried it on aluminum itself.

I would try it and see what happens

[Phil Perry]

Don't forget that freshly exposed Aluminum will rapidly oxidize again. You may need some sort of coating or wax to prevent that. If the corrosion is other than normal oxidation, a lack of coating may not be a problem.

[geovermont]

I would try it and see what happens

Heading down to the basement shortly....

[geovermont]

Don't forget that freshly exposed Aluminum will rapidly oxidize again. You may need some sort of coating or wax to prevent that. If the corrosion is other than normal oxidation, a lack of coating may not be a problem.

That's a good point. I have two of these tripods and they are both in excess of 70 years old at this point. They are almost entirely aluminum and I don't see any sign of a coating on them. If they look this good after such a long period, I'm not too concerned. I'm not worried about the usual oxidation of aluminum, just wanted to spiff it up a bit. There is slightly more corrosion on the cast aluminum hub and I do want to work that down some. After cleaning, I may wax the hub (probably a different alloy from the tubing of the legs).

 

And if I ever take one to the seashore I'll be sure to wipe it down well afterwards.

[starman876]

aluminum gets a coat of oxidation on it and that protects from further oxidation.  If you start polishing it you will always be polishing it.   

[deSitter]

I want to clean some corrosion from aluminum parts on a very old Tiltall photographic tripod (the Marchioni era) and thought I'd check on techniques. For very light corrosion on aluminum I tend to just lightly "wipe" with 0000 steel wool. Seems to work pretty well. For heavier corrosion I'm not so sure of the best technique--I certainly want  to avoid producing deep scratches or producing adverse chemical reactions. I seem to remember using Never-Dull wadding polish with good results before, but it's been a long time. I'm quite comfortable with cleaning wood, brass, iron, steel, chrome plate, but want to make sure I'm taking a safe approach on aluminum. I bet some of you have some great tricks for this....

I went through this with a Vixen-style aluminum tripod that was heavily oxidized. I scrubbed vigorously with fine steel wool, and it looks new now.

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 25 January 2025 - 01:33 PM.

[geovermont]

Well, I can report back: moistened aluminum foil appears to remove oxidation quite effectively but I was concerned that I was getting some visible scratching (but see below). A green ScotchBrite pad worked well, but again, seemed to be scratching. A copper dish scrubby did not give quick results so I abandoned it. NeverDull, as I hoped, worked swiftly and well. Going over the areas that I thought I had scratched it seemed to wipe those out quite easily. So, were those really scratches in the aluminum or just some sort of striations in the cleaning residues on the surface--not sure. Anyway, the NeverDull did what I wanted.

 

I did not use 0000 steel wool: I know it works well, but the residue of steel fibers is annoying. I've used that a lot for cleaning up aluminum surfaces after cutting and filing. Only drawback is the slight mess.

 

And I won't be polishing this tripod to see myself in the surfaces. Like all of my gear, it's just a working piece of equipment. Surfaces will indeed oxidize. Grease and oil will be applied as needed, I'll try to arrest major corrosion as needed (mostly by wiping it down right away if it gets heavily dewed or rained on), and otherwise I'll just using it for the rest of my time on earth (Tiltall tripods are so totally classic!).

Edited by geovermont, 25 January 2025 - 02:55 PM.

[Kasmos]

I use Nevr-Dull (blue can version) and Blue Magic metal polish on stuff that's not too far gone. Once things get pitted and corroded you usually have to sand them with varying grades of sandpaper then polish. 3m pads and steel wool work well.

 

I don't know about the older ones but most of the modern tripods are silver or clear anodized, which is tough to bring back since it hardens the surface making it hard to sand off and re-polish.

[geovermont]

Based on appearance and how they respond to cleaning, I'm quite sure that these very old Tiltalls are plain aluminum. I can imagine that silver-colored anodizing would behave quite differently. If I really wanted to remove every last scratch I suspect that I would need to do a bit of sanding--not happening on this one though. I bet the 3M pads would work well for heavier cleaning/removal. I use them all the time for cleaning up vintage woodworking tools.

[RichA]

That's a good point. I have two of these tripods and they are both in excess of 70 years old at this point. They are almost entirely aluminum and I don't see any sign of a coating on them. If they look this good after such a long period, I'm not too concerned. I'm not worried about the usual oxidation of aluminum, just wanted to spiff it up a bit. There is slightly more corrosion on the cast aluminum hub and I do want to work that down some. After cleaning, I may wax the hub (probably a different alloy from the tubing of the legs).

 

And if I ever take one to the seashore I'll be sure to wipe it down well afterwards.

Just avoid the cheap Japanese knock-offs known as "Star-D" tripods.

[geovermont]

Yes, (veering off the original topic a bit) some of the later Tiltalls are not much. I only have personal experience with the original ones made by Manchioni. I got my first one in about 1975 when I was 16 and it was old then.  My first real camera tripod and still going 50 years (yikes) later. Holds a 35 mm camera with a long telephoto or a spotting scope like nobody's business. Actually, it's outlasted several good cameras!

[deSitter]

Well, I can report back: moistened aluminum foil appears to remove oxidation quite effectively but I was concerned that I was getting some visible scratching (but see below). A green ScotchBrite pad worked well, but again, seemed to be scratching. A copper dish scrubby did not give quick results so I abandoned it. NeverDull, as I hoped, worked swiftly and well. Going over the areas that I thought I had scratched it seemed to wipe those out quite easily. So, were those really scratches in the aluminum or just some sort of striations in the cleaning residues on the surface--not sure. Anyway, the NeverDull did what I wanted.

 

I did not use 0000 steel wool: I know it works well, but the residue of steel fibers is annoying. I've used that a lot for cleaning up aluminum surfaces after cutting and filing. Only drawback is the slight mess.

 

And I won't be polishing this tripod to see myself in the surfaces. Like all of my gear, it's just a working piece of equipment. Surfaces will indeed oxidize. Grease and oil will be applied as needed, I'll try to arrest major corrosion as needed (mostly by wiping it down right away if it gets heavily dewed or rained on), and otherwise I'll just using it for the rest of my time on earth (Tiltall tripods are so totally classic!).

You clean up with strong magnets.

 

-drl

[geovermont]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the magnet trick: and wrap the magnet in a bit of plastic so that you can clean it off by just pulling the plastic away while folding it up. Or set up an electromagnet.

[whereIsIt]

Aluminum has the property known a 'Sacrificial Corrosion' to protect itself. That's why Anodizing and Alodining done.

 

Even if painted, they will corrode without passivation treatment.

[deSitter]

Aluminum has the property known a 'Sacrificial Corrosion' to protect itself. That's why Anodizing and Alodining done.

 

Even if painted, they will corrode without passivation treatment.

Interesting!

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the magnet trick: and wrap the magnet in a bit of plastic so that you can clean it off by just pulling the plastic away while folding it up. Or set up an electromagnet.

Yes an electromagnet is best. Use a wire-wound bolt and 9v battery. You'll never get the "hair" off a fixed magnet.

 

-drl

[whereIsIt]

Interesting!

 

-drl

There's plenty of info about it - I quickly screenshot a 'human understandable' snippet, below

Attached Thumbnails

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[ccwemyss]

There was a Car Talk riddle where they had heard from someone who found their windshield frosted over. They didn't have an ice scraper, but they did have an aluminum drink can. Knowing that aluminum is softer than glass, they cut it open with a pocket knife and used the edge to scrape the frost away. They were then horrified to discover that the glass was covered in scratches. The riddle was, why?

 

Of course the answer was that aluminum oxide is harder than glass. 

Chip W. 

[geovermont]

That's fascinating. I was thinking about the white aluminum oxide grinding compound that we use for mirror making, which is quite hard and the aluminum oxide mineral corundum, which has a Moh's hardness of 9. Corundum has a trigonal crystal structure and I suspect the white abrasive does as well, but I know there are a couple of other possible phases out there. Not sure what form the dark oxide takes, assuming it is indeed crystalline rather than amorphous, but I gather that is quite hard. Given the speed with which that dark oxide forms, it's hard to imagine there is substantial crystal growth. I suspect it's more or less amorphous. Anyway, I would not be surprised to find it is of a similar hardness to corundum, and that would certainly scratch the dickens out of plain old aluminum metal or aluminum alloy (or glass).

 

And I miss Car Talk!