I spent a good bit of time trying to decide which method of edge finishing works best for me. I started with a 1" deburring wheel (3M) chucked in my drill press. This did not work well for two reasons: 1) the deburring wheel was not "coarse" enough to remove the serrations along the edges of the ribs (where the factory had cut the material), and 2) the edges of the aluminum ribs would cut into the deburring wheel. I also tried using 300 and 500 grit wet sandpaper (no water, though). This worked well, but the 300 grit was not coarse enough. The method that worked best for me was using 3M ScotchBrite pads (the Maroon pad seems to work the best). I am planning to buy a bench grinder and a 6-inch diameter 3M pad. There was a great video on one of the tool sites that shows this arrangement being used to smooth exterior edges of aluminum. Great suggestions were obtained from the folks on the RANSCLAN forum.
After I finished finishing the edges, they were smooth to the touch (and definitely would not cut an unprotected finger). I finished all edges, including the edges of the lightening holes. The idea is to remove any rough areas where stress cracks could form.
