Is it me or is it just impossible to find one of these that doesn't have some kind of dig, ding, dent or something done to it? I'm staring at one I bought and thinking i could straighten it out and vinyl wrap it with a brushed metal textured wrap. but then i would lose the lasering marks. I could stencil them on but i don't know how professional i could get it to look. Is there anyone that makes/sells fresh new panels? I would even consider a different material all together if it was executed well enough.

Regardless, there's gotta be a better solution than always having one that looks a little beat up.

 

bump, I'm still formulating a plan in my head for how I could fabricate something that looks just as good as the original. I'm almost there.

 

I'm thinking it could be polished, anything can be polished and it's just aluminum, start with something like 800 grit then go to 1500 in 200 grit increments, wet sand, see what happens. Do a little spot to start with to test how it's going to turn out.

I have a feeling that polishing to 1500 grit is going to be too shiny/reflective and light hitting it will be a little obnoxious. You will likely end up doing something like 400 or less (maybe as low as 100??? that might be too aggressive and you want to remove as little material as possible) to remove scratches and finishing with 800 or maybe 600.

You want to start with a higher grit though just to see how the surface reacts.

To get a nice linear brushed surface finish use a block and have something to guide the block along like a piece of wood.

I doubt you want a mirror finish so don't bother with a buffing wheel, usually interior metal components are intentionally NOT polished so you don't end up with sunlight blinding you from a reflection.

I also wouldn't try using any kind of protective finish, it's going to be softer than the aluminum and will scratch easier.

 

That trim plate has a brushed finish, correct? In the watch community certain red scotch-brite pads are known to give a brushed finish very close to original on stainless steel bracelets. That might be an option for you, although you would have to do some experimenting.