Hi everyone

Hope this is the right forum for this question - apologies if not.

I've got some aluminium CX100s that need a bit of TLC - the original owner used them in a multiroom system and they were wall mounted which meant that during decorating they got some paint on them.  Before selling them, the owner kindly tried to remove some of the paint splashes but in the process scratched the surface.  They're not deep scratches but because of the localised rubbing, that part of the surface looks different to the rest.  They also have some scuffs and scratches elsewhere.  

I've read various posts about possible ways to polish up aluminium (here and here for example) but wanted to check some facts about the particular finish on the CX100s. 

1. Is it annodised or is it brushed aluminium?
2. Will sanding or rubbing down with any sort of abrasive (fine grit paper or rubbing compound) completely ruin / change the appearance?  
3. Has anyone done this?  If so, in your opinion, is the "changed" appearance without scratches be better than the original finish with the imperfections?  Sorry - I know this is subjective but would be interested in your experiences.
4. Would an electric sander help with the consistency of the finish do you think?  By definition I'm guessing an orbital sander will leave swirl marks rather than a brushed finish?

I,

Take a look here.

Hello,

On my Beogram the aluminium finish appeared ruined after some soap cleaning. It wasn't: apply a thin layer of flaxseed oil, then wipe out, be happy!

Thanks for the suggestions.  As some of the scratches are quite deep, I got varying grades of wet & dry sandpaper, some rubbing compound and some brasso!  I tried various combinations on the base of some badly marked CX50s I've got and I think that with with all of this in various combinations I should be able to come up with a finish that I'm happy with that will be a big improvement on what I've got at the moment.  As others have noted elsewhere, the key problem seems to be the finish ending up too shiny, so I'll experiment with some ways to matt it down again (if anyone has any bright ideas, let me know).

Many thanks  - some good advice obtained as always!

Cheers

I

Hi there,

I have a 90 ies beosystem 7000 which has a more 'polished' metal look it than the original finish of the CX's.

To answer your original questions :

1) all the CX are anodized, but the alu finished ones only seem to have some sort of dulling protective coating to them>

2) Off course sanding or whatever action you do to the finish will change their appearance. Use wet sanding only and preferabley 600+ gritt.

3) I have now 5 polished CX100's in use as a home theater and I have done some for a friend of mine who has a beocenter 9300 with  the chrome like panels on them ...... stunning combo ...

4) I used belt sanders to retain some direction to the sanding process and standard orbital polishers to full gloss appearance. 

However, if the damage is limited and mainly in the paint finish (mine were beyond a paint job ....) just try to paint remover to strip back to metal and repaint... much simpler