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How to use Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish

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rebelwarlock

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
as requsted by Ven0m, this post has been edited with pictures.

The instructions on the side of the can are very brief, and some parts of it may aren't quite correct (at least for heatsink lapping purposes). They say to rub until the black residue appears, and to buff off the residue with a clean towel. This isn't what you want to do here. If you want a real mirror finish (you know you want it), there's a better way.

First, a deadon before pic, complete with shameless MBM and ocforums plug
dscf00036ui.jpg


An extreme angle before pic
dscf00021bi.jpg


notice that while it is kind of shiny, it's not exactly topnotch. these before pics were taken after sanding up to 1200 grit and polishing with the instructions on the side of the can.

so let's do it right this time. first put a small amount of the polish on your terry cloth, and another shameless plug in your picture
dscf00054fe.jpg


start rubbing it in until you see black residue
dscf00087wa.jpg


when you see the black residue, buff it off with the same part of the cloth that you used to apply the polish. You'll notice that it doesn't come off as easily. However, you'll also notice that it's giving you a better finish. You may have to buff off the excess black residue with a clean part of the cloth when your cloth can no longer take off anymore of it.
dscf00116co.jpg


Also, there is something printed on the can that can be misleading.

Hard rubbing is not necessary

When they say 'hard rubbing', think waxing a car. You're going to have to put a little muscle into the polising, but not a whole lot. If you follow this guide, you wont have to use as high grit sand paper to get the mirror finish you want.

and now the moment you've all been waiting for, the results. i couldn't take an exact deadon shot anymore because all you would see is the reflection of the flash.
dscf00134ca.jpg


and here's that extreme angle shot again, now with super shiny action
http://img188.echo.cx/img188/7246/dscf00143af.jpg
note: i was one over the maximum picture limit, so you'll have to just click the link on this last one.

you're going to want to clean off the heatsink with alcohol after polishing, just to make sure you get any residue off. i'm guilty of focusing on only the center of the heatsink in these pictures, but i'm sure you get the idea.
 
Last edited:
very nice tips :D

some people prefer not to use Mother's because it contains chemical polishing agents which can leave a residue in some of the microscopic crevices that you want your TIM to fill-

with enough alchohol though, id say the residue would go away- but i've got no way to test it, so i personally use a paint polish instead of a mag polish. the paint polish can be found with the sandpaper at your autoparts store. it uses silica carbide, on the order of about 4000 to 10,000 grit - and apparently leaves less of a residue.
 
results: my load temp dropped three degrees so far since i repolished this way. my as5 hasn't broken in yet, so i expect it to drop more
 
Ven0m said:
step-by-step guide with pics please :)

i was about to say that i don't feel like dismounting my heatsink to do that, but i realized i have an old speeze (stop laughing) laying around. as soon as i get the gf's camera i'll get right on it
 
rebelwarlock said:
i was about to say that i don't feel like dismounting my heatsink to do that, but i realized i have an old speeze (stop laughing) laying around. as soon as i get the gf's camera i'll get right on it

cool :D
I owe you big hug :)
 
should i make the picture guide a separate thread? maybe this thread should be just for questions/requests and the other should be only for the guide.
 
rebelwarlock said:
should i make the picture guide a separate thread? maybe this thread should be just for questions/requests and the other should be only for the guide.

Maybe simply add new post with them or modify 1st post...
 
adamwinn said:
acetone = no no.

just stick with teh isopropyl. acetone has a tendancy to leave contaminants behind as it doesn't typically meet the same purity standards that ispropyl does.

^_^ ... nail polish remover is different than industrial acetone. The former is
usually made from recycled materials and contains contaminates (waxes, oils etc ...)

IMhO, using polishing compound on the heatsink surface is a bad idea as they
are made to leave a wax or oil behind as a surface protectent. That has to be
removed before use.
If done correctly, you should be able to get the same quality surface by
lapping.
 
now that i think about it... you're totally right- industry grade acetone is wonderful, and I actually prefer it to alchohol when working in contaminent sensitive environments.
its also nice for cleaning vases that you can't get your hand in =P
 
if you do a good job lapping you can turn a hs base into a mirror w/o polish:D
i "lapped" my pro plat. putter to a mirror finish and it is purrty :)
You can basically lap any dull metal to a mirror finish if you have the proper grit.
I have "lapped" knives to razor edges and mirror finishes with japanese waterstones too.
I also wanted to learn how to sharpen a katana though.
anyways nice post!
-kkat
 
A+ Pictures.

I'm :bang head becaues I didn't take any pictures of my xp-90 when I lapped it. I spent an entire afternoon going from 350grit up to 2000 then a silica carbide polish =O And I had my digital camera sitting right there the whole time...
 
wow, i didn't realize this would be so well received. i need to do more guides in the future. i've been thinking of clear acrylic ducting on the cheap...
 
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