As for finishing, just grab some aluminum and experiment. If I surface plane aluminum with an end mill, I usually use 150 grit, then 400 grit. After that 001 steel wool give a nice finish. Or, you can proceed to 800 and then 1000 wet sanding. Soak your wet sanding paper for a couple of hours and have a bowl of water with a little dish detergent handy. Keep wetting your sand paper and sand in one direction. Then, when you switch grits, sand perpedicular. You will ultimately achieve a shiny finish. You can always buff it after that on a buffing wheel or using a Dremel buffer. For the edges, I just sand with 150 so there are no sharp areas and the focus on the flat surfaces. Especially at .125" thick you won’t notice the edges when the surfaces are shiny. If you go to onlinemetals.com, there is a nice primer on aluminum types - some polish up better than others. Also, consider brass - it is as easy to mill and can be made very shiny. With these key fobs I just did 150, 400 and steel wool: Brass Key Fob for Oregon Resort
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