Repairing gouges & dings on aluminum faceplate

[technicsbest]

I'm wondering if anyone can share techniques for improving the appearance of small or large blemishes.

[rickr15]

The last amp I had with bad gouges on the upper and lower edges I took a mill and put a slight bevel on both edges. Looks factory and the gouges are gone.

[technicsbest]

I was thinking of improving the appearance for a couple of edge abrasions but I don't have the tools. I could probably use a polishing stone to apply a bevel and get decent results. I'm also wondering if anyone has tried some type of metallic filler.

[similost]

I was thinking of improving the appearance for a couple of edge abrasions but I don't have the tools. I could probably use a polishing stone to apply a bevel and get decent results. I'm also wondering if anyone has tried some type of metallic filler.

No filler that I know of that would even look close.. but you could also take it some where they can weld aluminim and have them fill in the gouge, then grind and polish it back out.. but that would be a lot of work dressing it back...

[technicsbest]

No filler that I know of that would even look close.. but you could also take it some where they can weld aluminim and have them fill in the gouge, then grind and polish it back out.. but that would be a lot of work dressing it back...

Fill with weld, grind & polish could be done by a very talented individual, I'm sure.

[Michael Powers]

I've had some luck using an ink eraser on light scratches.

[similost]

Fill with weld, grind & polish could be done by a very talented individual, I'm sure.

The grind and polish is the easy part, time is the biggest expense there.. the welding can be tricky with alum.. but the biggest part of that equasion is having the equipment to do it.. I'm sure for a couple bucks, they would be happy to fill in a couple dings at a welding shop.

No idea how big of knicks you are talking about, but if they are an eye sore, I would think it would be worth the time.

[Raphael]

Welding means a giant heatsink--means a HOT faceplate--means permanent discoloration of the metal and also possible bubbling/damage to any silk-screened lettering.

My thoughts are that edge milling would be most effective for those rough ones and if you are going to damage the silk-screening in an attempt to fill in flat surface gouging anyway--why not simply plane the whole front face down and give it the brushed look then add your silkscreening of choice?

[avionic]

Fill with weld, grind & polish could be done by a very talented individual, I'm sure.Have to be very talented.Aluminum is so easy to total destroy with welding.

[Brad Muller]

I had a small gouge/scratch on a Sansui G-9000 faceplate. I showed it to an older guy who has spent around 25 years restoring old brass, aluminum, and stainless steel parts for antique cars. Many of the parts for these cars are unobtainable. He told me it was best to leave it alone and live with it. The finish on the faceplate of the Sansui would be very hard to duplicate. Some others may be easier to fix, depending on make and model. Just my .02 worth though. Brad

[westend]

Most faceplates have been anodized and that is on the surface. Any welding, sanding, abrading, etc. will leave a different hue of aluminum on the faceplate.
It's better to make up a story like, "Oh yeah, that amp is really banged up but I'd never sell it. That big gouge is from the time Kieth Richards was over, got too wasted, and knocked a cymbal into it."

[technicsbest]

The gouges don't look so bad with the story association method! :thmbsp:
I guess it's best to live with them and fix the edge defects.

Most faceplates have been anodized and that is on the surface. Any welding, sanding, abrading, etc. will leave a different hue of aluminum on the faceplate.
It's better to make up a story like, "Oh yeah, that amp is really banged up but I'd never sell it. That big gouge is from the time Kieth Richards was over, got too wasted, and knocked a cymbal into it."

[imready]

Some gouges are too large to bevel. I used to design and build control panels for fire trucks , sometimes out of anodized aluminum. I was never able to make blemishes look like the original finish. I have a Pioneer TX-9500II tuner that sounds great but had a huge gouge in the top middle of the faceplate. I have successfully used aluminum epoxy (the stuff that looks like a jelly roll) to fill the hole. next is the tricky part of grinding it flush and leaving a similiar texture to the anodized . Then I will blend paint to match the anodized color and hopefully have it looking acceptable when I'm done.

[technicsbest]

This sounds like something I'd be willing to try, at least for a small gouge on an otherwise perfect faceplate. Do you recall the epoxy brand name?
Thanks.

Some gouges are too large to bevel. I used to design and build control panels for fire trucks , sometimes out of anodized aluminum. I was never able to make blemishes look like the original finish. I have a Pioneer TX-9500II tuner that sounds great but had a huge gouge in the top middle of the faceplate. I have successfully used aluminum epoxy (the stuff that looks like a jelly roll) to fill the hole. next is the tricky part of grinding it flush and leaving a similiar texture to the anodized . Then I will blend paint to match the anodized color and hopefully have it looking acceptable when I'm done.

[technicsbest]

This sounds like something I'd be willing to try, at least for a small gouge on an otherwise perfect faceplate. Do you recall the epoxy brand name?
Thanks.


Some gouges are too large to bevel. I used to design and build control panels for fire trucks , sometimes out of anodized aluminum. I was never able to make blemishes look like the original finish. I have a Pioneer TX-9500II tuner that sounds great but had a huge gouge in the top middle of the faceplate. I have successfully used aluminum epoxy (the stuff that looks like a jelly roll) to fill the hole. next is the tricky part of grinding it flush and leaving a similiar texture to the anodized . Then I will blend paint to match the anodized color and hopefully have it looking acceptable when I'm done.

[day67]

I think it depends on whether the face panel or part is anodized or if it is solid aluminum. I messed around with a damaged Pioneer dial indicator board from an sx 950 that had the glass broken on it. The shards vibrated around on top of the board during shipping causing tiny nics and divots. I tried light surface touch up with steel wool to blend it in to regain that brushed look but the anodized surface is so thin that it quickly burnt through. I suppose if the face panel were solid and had that surface ground finish you maybe could blend it in but it's quite a gamble, I'ld leave it .
If you do try something that works please let us know!