[Retired Starman]

For a team that's really organized, does good, honest design before starting construction, and can stick with the construction schedule, finishing metal is just another step in the process. It lets the judges know you are on top of things.

Either that or. . . Your robot looks like it was built by adults off in a shop somewhere else and wasn't really "kid-built". I saw one robot this year which was done by a veteran team. It had a beautiful anodized finish on parts that had been CNC fabricated. The robot looked great, until you saw the piece of unfinished 1 by 8 wood, held on with some rather ugly right-angle brackets, that was being used as the minibot deployment unit. It was painfully obvious which parts of the robot the kids had built and which had been done by mentors/sponsors.

There are other alternatives which are easy and good looking without having to send the parts out to the pros. One technique I use in my home shop is to bead blast (like sandblasting but with glass beads rather than sand). This removes mill marks, dirt, printing, etc. from the aluminum and leaves a satin finish. Since the satin finish on bare aluminum oxidizes quickly, I immediately spray the piece with a clear paint, either Krylon or Rustolium clear. This seals the surface, keeping the parts looking nice. They still have the aluminum metal look,

Students can easily finish aluminum like this. You might also want to experiment with paint or tinted clear lacquers after bead blasting. This can all be done by students, which is the real goal.

Dr. Bob