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Polishing..

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Turbo6Smackdown

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2005
Messages
6,110
Ok guys, anyone here polishes stuff for a living? Or does it on the side? I can't seem, for the life of me, to be able to get it right, and frankly, I don't have the patience these days, to learn either. (maybe one day)
I have a few small aluminum parts that I want to glow like chrome. Any suggestions?
 
keep rubbing. if you dont have the patients.. you will become one.. at northville state hospital:biggrin:.. er i think they closed that down years ago. but anyway you get my drift
 
layed out very basicly....

prep, prep, prep and then some more prep.

the quality of the polish is going to depend on some things, quality and speed of buffing wheels, compound, and smoothness of item before buffing.

for example, if your buffing an "AS CAST" valve cover - then it needs to be sanded until its nice and smooth to the touch, beginning with your 180 and finishing with 600.

from there you can start on your mild cutting compound with the reccomended wheel. (I like to use some tripoli on a sisal bound 8" wheel.)

from there, the idea is not to "shine" but to continue the smoothing action. this is the point when all of the little scratches, lowspots, porosity, etc etc... are going to begin to show and your last chance to go back with some 900-1500 sand paper and remove it. (at this point I move to a flannel flap with very little tripoli.)

once you have a semi shined, and ready to your specs of smoothness you can begin to color.

coloring is where the shine really comes out. This is where it gets tricky. Here is where you will use a loose buff and some white rouge, this removes very very little material, so if the surface isnt properly smoothed a mottled effect will show after coloring. ( I like to use a a generous dab of white rouge on a loose bound or string buff and apply medium pressure.) I always try to pre-clean the area to avoid contaminating the finish. Oils in your hands, around the garage will stain the perfectly polished surface... so always color wearing cotten gloves dipped in flour. and after buffing, a hot wash with gentle rags and mild soap removes compounds.

then from there I highly reccomend giving the item a light polish with ZOOPS Seal or a simular product to protect the raw aluminum.

A.j.
 
Thanks for the help, but I don't have the time, nor the skill to do this. Need someone that does it professionally. Anyone?
 
This thread is all most funny..........:biggrin:

Hey I want to polish some parts

Great just, work work work work.

F that!

It is a ton of work,especially if you are not set up for it... I do not have the patience for it.

and then you have to keepem clean or polished...
 
What do you want polished?

the cost depends on how much time it takes to get the polish you desire...

the more you pre-prep the cheaper it gets. if its a new casting thats clean and not oil soaked, the process is faster and cheaper. I polish to 3 levels.

3, 6, and 12 inch shines. 3 is just shiney, 6 you can see your outline at a distance, and 12 - almost mirror finish. a 17 is available, but pricey.

some parts cost more than others, examples are intakes any ferrous items, or items with lots of detail, nooks, crannys, or tight corners- as this requires more prep and uses more small consumables.

with a pre-prep of degreasing and bead blasting, I charge 150.00 to do a set of 84/87 valve covers. Takes me about 6 to 12 hours (depending on polish quality desired) for the average set.

if your interested in having something polished, I can do it... but I got a nasty back load of turbos, so as long as you dont want a ton of stuff over night it wouldnt be an issue. other than that, if you want lots of stuff polished.....well you can get on the list?

heres a set im currently working on, ones at about a 6 so far.

96e.jpg


A.j.
 
I have 2 sets of old Campagnolo, racing bike hubs, and 3 sets of campagnolo crank arms. These are for an old racing ten-speed. These are very easy, aluminum pieces. There are some small scratches that will need to be polished out, on the hubs, before their final polishing. But after they're polished out, all they need is a basic polish, and nothing more. The crank arms need to be polished to an almost mirror finish. The arms are coated with some sort of very very durable clear coat. For someone set up to do this, it shouldn't be hard at all. Here's an example of the parts.

http://www.velociti.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/bp/campag_high_flange.jpg
http://www.velomine.com/images/cellcrank1.jpg

If you can make my parts, look like these in the pictures, that would be perfect.
 
oh thats good aluminum..... way better than recycled soda can valve covers.

tell ya what, if you can wait a month until I get back from deployment then I will polish then up for you no problem. just pay for the ride on the parts and I should have them turned around in a weekend.

:biggrin:A.j.
 
hello people; If you want to shine alum. like chrome it's alot of work and it can be done. But with alum. it does'nt matter how much you rub your rag will always cum up dirty. I like a fine scotch bright pad for the brushed look and then hit it every now and then.
IBBY
why are campy parts so expensive?
 
This thread is all most funny..........:biggrin:

Hey I want to polish some parts

Great just, work work work work.

F that!

It is a ton of work,especially if you are not set up for it... I do not have the patience for it.

and then you have to keepem clean or polished...

lol
 
oh thats good aluminum..... way better than recycled soda can valve covers.

tell ya what, if you can wait a month until I get back from deployment then I will polish then up for you no problem. just pay for the ride on the parts and I should have them turned around in a weekend.

:biggrin:A.j.

Deployment? where are you? what do you do? I just got back from one myself :)
 
Aj works for DOD figuring out how to destroy IEDs before they hurt anyone. He gets deployed to the desert to simulate the heat of Iraq.
 
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