Re: [SilverStreak] Steel Wool??

[<waymark1@xxxxxxxx>]

Steel wool leaves microscopic fragments of steel embedded in any soft metal 
such as aluminum. These teeny bits of steel RUST. To see this, just leave an 
ordinary steel wool ("Brillo") pad wet.

All mechanical polishing operates by scratching. The fineness of the abrasive 
determines the size of the scratches. If the scratches are about the size of 
the natural surface grain of the metal the finish will be similar to the 
unpolished metal that has not been exposed to weather and abrasion.

Burnishing sort of mashes the surface grain of the metal over, making a smoother 
surface.

Using appropriate chemicals can be done to chemically polish an already smooth 
surface. Some polishes (such as Wenol) function by a combination of chemical and 
mechanical (abrasive) polishing. Brasso and silver polishes use an ultra-fine 
abrasive.

Al Grayson