Blood Sweat Tears and Grease > HELP! 1-800-CAFE-HELP
POLISHING 101
crazypj:
I spent a few weeks in a polishing shop during school holidays (many,many years ago)
You really don't need to go over 600 grit if you have an 8" buffer running at 3,000 rpm.
Use stitched cotton wheels and black compound (emery compound) after you get everything smooth with wetordry and the lower grit papers.
The 'professional' way to do it would be use emery powder glued to sisal wheels for roughing and cotton wheels for fine finishing
Start with 80 grit and use brown compo to reduce cutting action, switch to 120, 240, 360/400 with compo then polish with stitched wheel and black compound, followed by loose wheel with brown compo.
If you want a true satin finish, you have to mirror polish then run fine scotchbrite pads over surface (they make special 'polishing' wheels for it, for at least 35 yrs)
ChopperMechanic:
You are right crazypj, but I was working with titanium erosion stips on tailrotor paddles off a helicopter. On harder metals ie: titanium, steel, stainless, etc the longer you spend sanding and the higher grit, the better the finished product will be. I will see if i can find some pics, but used tailrotors looked like you could stick your finger right thru it when we got done.
joeyputt:
Sand, sand, sand, sand, by the way did I mention sand!? Hehehehe! Brother Midnightcafe this is a great thread for helping others with polishing and your parts look very nice!
One of the biggest mistakes I see do it your self polishers make is sanding in different directions. For a show quality finish you want to make sure to sand in one direction, or for a round piece like the hoops on a rim sand around the rim just as it is shaped.
I polish professionally almost daily and the single most important thing in my opinion is patience, when you have a part sanded down enough for a mirror finish you do not even need a wheel, over 90% of the polishing I do is fully sanded and polished by hand. www.dwmsracing.com
This photo was taken in the shade and this rim was originally a heavy cast finish...
...this rim was originally a machined finish...
...cb550four cylinder head...
diesel450:
Great thread! THe best part is that personal taste in finish is so important. There are a lot of right answers when it comes to polishing. I like it to look like pewter.
midnightcafe:
It's also important to know how to handle parts while using a buffing wheel. It's very easy for a part to get sucked out of your hands into the buffing motor or have it fly across your garage floor. I've had a part fly out of my hands while buffing white rouge, the final step. I picked it up to discover a deep gash in the finish and had to start all over :'( . Stand like you are embracing a heavy wind, feet shoulder width apart, back straight. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but posture is key to preventing that part from getting sucked in and you need to be comfortable for the few hours you'll be buffing. Buffing will cause the part to heat up significantly. While buffing, try to conduct the heat evenly across the part surface so it doesn't heat up too rapidly in one spot where you might accidentally touch.
Btw so much sanding is a plus in that you'll develop Ironman hand muscles!
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