Sanding your li-li...

[Mr. Smith]

Sanding your li-li... Updated.

Is the aluminium treated i.e. anodised? It looks like it is just brushed alu but I'm not sure.

I have scratches, one spot is quite bad, and I'll be needing to sand.

I read that some cases require quite a harsh grit say 300 to get the clear coat or anodise(?) off, followed by 1000, 1500, 2000.

Also, I saw a picture of one guy with a drill, the drill bit was some sort of polishing tool and he basically just went for it... No prep and the result was nice!

Cheers

 

[FragTek]

black lili's are brushed anodized and the silver lili's are just brushed untreated alu.

 

[Mr. Smith]

black lili's are brushed anodized and the silver lili's are just brushed untreated alu.

Cool, so if I sand the worst of the scratches out, then use the mystery drill bit (picture above) then I'm all good...

Anyone care to guess what that drill bit is, or do you think it is just a generic polishing wheel from a hardware store. Also, reckon I might use some polish too to get a nice finish...

 

[FragTek]

Errmmm yeah might work.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for you ruining your case.

 

[JN]

Speaking from experience on a brushed alu Silverstone case: sanding will not help you.

As soon as you start sanding that anodised surface, it will look patchy, the 'brushed' effect will start to disappear and you'll end up with a trash looking case.

If you want to make you li li look sexy again, consider totally rubbing down the case back to the bare aluminium and then getting some metal polish to bring it to a shine. A good few days work and you'll have a bling-bling chromed out lian li.

 

[Mr. Smith]

I thought we'd established li-li brushed alu isn't anodised... Is it?

Basically, the front is scratched, that is how I got it. I fancied buffing the case up to a morror shine. IF it is anodised I need to harshly sand it first.

I've seen many examples and techniques of how to acheive this finish and I'm confident about how to do it.

Just not sure about the anodised bit. As far as i'm concerned the case is ruined after I attacked it with a jig saw after a few afternoon beers. I'm on a recue mission as money is becoming tight. Booooo

 

[SuB]

he was just talking about the brushed effect looking patchy, which it will unless you do the whole panel, which you sound like you are doing. so sounds like all is ok?

easy way to double check if it's annodised if you have already cut it.. does the cut edge match the outside?

 

[JN]

I thought we'd established li-li brushed alu isn't anodised... Is it?

Basically, the front is scratched, that is how I got it. I fancied buffing the case up to a morror shine. IF it is anodised I need to harshly sand it first.

I've seen many examples and techniques of how to acheive this finish and I'm confident about how to do it.

Just not sure about the anodised bit. As far as i'm concerned the case is ruined after I attacked it with a jig saw after a few afternoon beers. I'm on a recue mission as money is becoming tight. Booooo

Silver or Black, all aluminium cases are anodized afaik. If ya don't anodise aluminium it'll start looking sh1te in no time.

^ Treated vs Untreated in Salt Water,

 

[Ham]

That bit looks like its just a dense wire brush attachment. I use one too scrub rust of stuff. I would have thought it would have been a bit too harsh for your purpose.

 

[Mr. Smith]

@ SuB - you got it, I'm doing the whole panel, well case now! Sorry if I wasn't clear!

@ Jim - I'm not planning on getting any salt water near my rig, hopefully it won't oxidise... Hmmm. Did a bit of research here, it shouldn't if I follow one technique I saw which will take me HOURS! Oh well...

@ Ham - I thought it might be wire but it looks a bit beige, leading me to beleive it is maybe tough nylon?

At least I know where I stand with the anodised thing - I need to strip it back. I plan to cut a window of some sort in the side so that will give me some alu to experiment on.

Thank you all for your input.

 

[Allsorts]

Looks more like a buffing attachment that he's using to polish the Alu. A steel wire brush attachment is pretty brutal and would probably scratch the softer aluminium badly. Can't wait to see some pics! Chrome LiLi ftw

 

[weihk]

i found out many moons ago all Lian Li case is just untreated alu(only applies to silver version)

untreated alu doesnt turn into a pile of sh!te after a few months, it'll only turn into a pile of poo if corrosive cr@p is being applied.

however, the brush effect will be gone if you try to sand it, your only option is to either polish the whole thing up, or paint it, otherwise you'll end up with a patchy silver case.

ah...the other option is.......buy a A10! hehehe, you know you want to!

 

[Mr. Smith]

Mixed results! I'm ordering/buying the wet and dry this weekend so I'll find out soon enough!

And yes, this case will be chromed out with... I'll keep that a secret for now

One thing is getting to me, this psu, it's blue anodized (hiper type-r) and the modular sleeving looks like you cant re sleeve it, easily, if at all (the patent pending hiper modular connector thing).

Ordinarily I'd buy a new PSU, I want a black/gunmetal grey one, but money is a bit tight atm... £100 on a psu seems too much. I may have to void my warranty and strip back the psu too!

 

[Mr. Smith]

I ordered the bits in and thought I'd have a 1st effort...

This is the type of damage.

Initial results indicate one thing... The case IS anodised! Random orbital sander ordered. Screwfix ftw.

 

[Rastalovich]

I`m sure some LL lovers are viewing this as torture atm.

(I`m banking on the end result mehself )

 

[MikeEnIke]

I'm scared for your case

 

[Mr. Smith]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Rast.

Shame on you Mike for doubting me! Seriously, the case is all kinds of scratched, it will be polished to a mirror finish.

Chrome-Li.

 

[FarFarAway]

I hope it turns out good mate, cause those pics almost make me cry

 

[JN]

Not sure if its of any help to you, but there's a chemical found in some sink unblockers that can strip anodising. I can try and find out what it is if ya like?

I sympathise with you tho....stripping anodising, even with automatic tools is a royal PITA

 

[Mr. Smith]

Well, a random orbital sander is 20 quid and I do have a full tower case to do, maybe it would be easier with the sander rather than the chemicals?

There are scratches not just the annodiseation to remove...

Dry your eyes Kemp, everything will turn out just fine.