I have some large pieces of 1/4" thick sheet aluminum that I will be using indoors as a walkway. from being handled by fork lifts and sitting in the storage the shiny surface has scratches on it. I would like to dull the surface in a uniform manner to hide the scratches and the future wear better. any ideas on the best way to do this? I thought media blasting with a clear coat might be best. what media, what clear coat?

any thoughts are appreciated...

Well,

You can sandblast it, bead blast it, sand it or scuff it with a scotchbrite pad. Aluminum by itself is kinda soft. There are some hardcoat anodizes out there but are prolly expensive.

Aluminum as a wear surface is gonna be difficult. Mebbe epoxy primers like they use on aircraft.

Heck, all the old the stone steps in Europe are dished in the middle. Feet/shoes are abrasive.

Ken

flapper wheel, clear power paint.

BTW - Comcast giveth, and they taketh away - the DVI HiDef connection quit working Friday, and it's not back yet. maybe someday ...

ken,

yeah there will be a wear issue, but it's just a walkway to the bedroom, so shouldn't be too bad. the aluminum seems to have some sort of coating on it now, it's shiny and smooth. I was hoping for some sort of clear coat.

rich,

I can't believe it! I never even got around to hooking up my DVI. actually, I was going to do it tonight..

BTW...what's a flapper wheel?

Clear hard anodize after palm sanding with an random orbital sander is the ticket. Plating shops will have $50-$75 mins on the anodizing though.

I'll look into the clear hard anodizing. these are big pieces, $75 minimum definitely won't be an issue.