*SUCCESS!!* buffing and polishing

So I have several sized buffing wheels, red, white, and emery rouge, some 800, 1000, and 2000 grit sandpaper, and some blue magic aluminum polish.

I've been experimenting with a side cover but haven't perfected it yet, and I'm curious if anyone has any input. I start with the 800 to basically remove deep imperfections, move up to the 2000 grit to even the surface out, and then start buffing with the red rouge. The red rouge doesn't appear to remove the small scratches which are all too visible. They're pretty fine scratches, but even the white rouge doesn't seem to remove them.

I'm not sure if maybe the emery rouge will work better at removing these scratches, I thought I've seen somewhere that emery isn't for aluminum so I'm afraid to use it, but I could be wrong.

Do they even make finer sandpaper that I could try or maybe try a flapwheel? Should I be using the emery first before the red to kinda "flatten" it a little more?

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Dime City has a good tutorial on polishing that I reference from time to time

Aluminum Polishing 101

 

Re: buffing and polishing

You're doing all of the sanding (800, 1000, 1500, 2000) WET? As in, under running water or with a bucket of water at hand?

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Using wd40 for wetting

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Maybe I should try running water though

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Yeah you should. WD40's not what "wet" means. "WET" means "with water." No wonder you have deep scratches, WD40 isn't cutting tool oil either. It's fine for "dressing" mating surfaces when rebuilding a petcock or the like; but you're trying to produce a nice finish.

Go back and go thru the 800-1000-1500-2000 sequence WET sanding for real and you won't have all those gouges.

Honest.

 

Re: buffing and polishing

IICA, typically, you choose your "opening grit", the one that you start with, based on your deepest scratches. Obviously, if you only have very shallow scratches/gouges, it would be a huge waste of time to scratch it up with a courser grit.

Most of the time, unless it's a show piece, its 1200 or 1500 followed by the aluminuim polish on a spindle or cotton buffing wheel. I do so much I've had to find ways to cut my time as much as I can.

don't forget to show up your work when your done....most of us here can appreciate how much work it is to make it nice.
jeff

 

Re: buffing and polishing

I definitely will take pics. I actually went and picked up a decent digital camera after a sad attempt to take a picture of my valves through my exhaust port with my phone.

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Rouge is for taking something shiny and making it BLINDINGLY shiny.

To remove polishing marks (sandpaper marks) you need to use tripoli compound.

I was in the buffing and polishing business for 12 years. WRXG33K's link is a very good write up for beginners.

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Caswell Plating

Has a better website explaining buffing and polishing to the beginner

 

Re: buffing and polishing

Don't know if you have it in the states but over here in blighty we have a system called " MICRO MESH" Micro surface finishing products inc. Come to think of it , it probably is a USA company, any way up their abrasive cloth goes to 12000, yep 12000. I have used them for many years on ally and aircraft transparencies and as the other posts say , the key is clean running water, good luck ..

 

Re: buffing and polishing

So after trying sanding under running water it did produce much more even results. I did go ahead and start over with the 800 just to be safe. After the 2000 it was still rough but like i said, even, much finer scratches though.

I have several sized buffing wheels, all the same type (spiral sewn cotton i believe) and i was having trouble with the red smoothing it out even more. I have recently acquired a free dremel and decided to try buffing in between the letters and tight spots with some of the little buffing wheels, and noticed real results, especially with the white rouge. I went ahead and did the entire thing, which worked decent but slow since the wheels are so small, and also sacrificed some uniformity because of the small size. Im assuming i needed more of an agressize wheel to help remove some metal.

I went ahead and used some blue magic aluminum polish, with a buffing wheel to rub it in, blacken it, and a microfiber towel to remove the leftover haze. I polished it about 3 or 4 times with the buffing wheel (on a cordless craftsman btw) and it went BEAUTIFULLY!

I would honestly recommend this over doing it with all the rouges and everything because honestly, from the sound of it after reading up on it, its much cleaner.

My girlfriend had a good idea for a picture, so we tried it, and even with my shitty camera on my phone it still shows how reflective it is.



Thanks again for the help guys!

 

Nice work.
Grab any prize off the top shelf.
Polishing aluminum gets to be a disease.
You look at a perfectly polished piece and think it can be better.

We should have a gallery.
One guy did-up a Valve Cover that would knock your socks off.

 

Yup, nice work.....and Rick, that Seca POPS!! Very pretty bike!!


jeff

 

Keep you eyes open for a Harbor Freight sale on their buffing machine. It is basically a long shaft grinder. You can use a grinder with buffing wheels but the longer shafts make it much easier to manipulate the piece you are polishing.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-buffer-40668.html

Loren

 

My "buffing machine" is my 1/2" electric drill clamped upside-down in my WorkMate spinning cheapie 4" cotton buffs from Home Depot. As I've noted before, I like to do the absolute final polish by hand. It produces a "softer" shine; I don't want my polished aluminum to look like chrome, I want it to look like polished aluminum.

Good job, Rudie. Did you use Aircraft Paint remover to get the old clear lacquer off first?

 

Shop for the Finishing Paper you need at an Auto Body Supply Store.

The Commercial Name for Wet Sanding Finishing Papers in Ultra-Fine Grits is:
3M WetODry.

Wet sanding "Loads-up" the Paper.
Dunking the Sanding Block in a bucket of water and shaking it will UNLOAD the paper when you are sanding body filler or paint.

The Paper "Loads-up" fast when you are sanding and polishing aluminum.
A Trigger Spray Bottle with a strong stream will help unload the sheet.
A Pump-up Garden-type Sprayer will clean-off the loaded-up sheet in no-time-flat.

http://3mcollision.com/3m-imperial-weto ... grade.html

 

Honestly, I just sanded the piss out of it, however this is an area I know nothing of. Does any of the aluminum have any kind of clear coating already on it (if there's any left by now?)

Is there even a type of clear coat for polished aluminum to protect it?

 

Part actually looks really good, I didn't see any clear coat in the pic.

There is, but I wouldn't use it. Most of it yellows easily, and now that it's polished all you have to do is wipe it with some Mag & Aluminum Polish to keep it looking good.

If you would like to use the buffs and compound after polishing to remove the polishing marks, get some brown Tripoli compound to use before you use the rouge (red). Rouge doesn't cut, tripoli does. You could also use green compound, that is the one specifically for aluminum.

My only advice is: BE VERY CAREFUL around letters and numbers. It is very easy to "pull" the corners of these and make the part look like it melted there (because it did).

Also, don't let the part get too hot. It is actually possible to burn the metal.

Keep up the good work!

 

Rudie; Virtually ALL of the polished aluminum (except the rims) had a clear lacquer coating on it from the factory.

Getting the covers and all the other "polished" aluminum polished up requires removing it; whether you sand it off or strip it first, it has to come off. Quite often after stripping it, you can go right to 1200-wet.

I'm sorry, I thought you'd seen this already: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=22125.html

The stuff is called "Aircraft Paint Remover" and you can get it at the auto parts or home improvement stores.

 

Part actually looks really good, I didn't see any clear coat in the pic.[/quote="tskaz"]

that side cover was immaculate, but another cover I'm working on has what looks like watermarks that I can't get off, which I guess is maybe some leftover clearcoat?

 

It more than likely is clear coat. I've got a cover that has such a dull clear coat it looks like black mud is caked on it.

I would like to do a write up on buffing and polishing but I'm waiting until I park it for the winter to do my tear-down.

I could explain so much more with a few pictures.

Take a look at Fitz's valve cover job he linked to. Very good explanation of the prep involved, and it beats the hell out of sanding off all that clear.

 

The grey "watermarks" are UNDER the old clearcoat, and the old clearcoat is still in good enough shape to fight you off.

Get yourself some Aircraft Paint Remover, rubber gloves and Scotchbrite and have at it. Then you'll be able to start with a finer sandpaper, and get right to the grey stains.

Go back and look at the pic I posted of my '81, on the previous page. That bike had spent 4 straight years outside, in Michigan, uncovered except for a heavy canvas carpenter's tarp in the winter. Every piece on it was horribly gray-stained; until I joined XJBikes and learned about Aircraft Paint remover, I was fighting the same fight as you. Once I discovered "the secret" the rest was pretty straightforward. (British bikes never came clearcoated.)

If you use a good quality metal polish (I used Solvol for years, have switched to Mothers' Billet Metal Polish) that leaves a protective "wax" behind, there's no need to try to re-clearcoat. Like I said, British bikes never came clearcoated and I've had no problems keeping my Norton shiny for 37 years now.

My black bike wasn't so much corroded grey as it was yellowed. ALL of the original lacquer was yellowed, some flaking/flaked off. A lot of parts simply needed to be stripped and re-polished, with little or no sanding.

 

The cover under the shifter is what I'm having this problem with, and I did actually notice some yellowing which was a bit of a pain to remove. I sprayed some spray can stripper on it and let it sit for a couple hours, so ill see if that helps. If it doesn't do the trick tomorrow ill definately be getting some of the aircraft paint remover.

I use blue magic which I heard GREAT things about, and lots of recommendations of, not sure if it leaves a protective coating or not though

 

You did pull that cover, right? Remove the lever, three screws and it's off; don't lose the rubber flap thingie behind it?

While you have the cover off, clean out that old chain lube, rust and road debris train wreck in there and be careful of the neutral switch wire where it connects to the switch.

Just checked out Blue Magic's site; it's a similar product (leaves a protective coating behind.) Actually, I'm kind of impressed, might give it a try myself.

 

It was indeed a train wreck back there. CAKED rusted chain lube, and grease. Was not fun to clean, i havent even touched the engine side yet. As far as the flap thing i cant remember off the top of my head, but everything that i take off is next to the engine, laid out in the order it goes back on.

I got bored yesterday and polished on side of my float bowl to show someone the difference in what ive been doing.

Then i got even more bored, bought a 20$ dremel kit and polished the entire float bowl. There were a couple hard spots to get to with the sandpaper, i could get everywhere with the mini buffing wheels though, and it looks AWESOME.

 

Sounds like you have polishing fever. Can I send you my dingies and help you get over this rare infection?

Seriously once your done you should document the whole process and divulge the best tricks and shortcuts you learned. It sucks to waste time when all you want is perfection! Personally I think rust & oxidation should be declared public enemy number one. Although I have to admit it feels good when you get there and it shines!

 

I do indeed have polishing fever. Spent a couple hours on this one the first time to get past all the nicks. Went over it again real good in about an hour or two, looks alot better. I used the 1 inch wheels this time, and they dont cover as much area, and there were some lines this time, ill try some white rouge on these spots again and see if it covers em up.
Still BLINGS though.

 

Very nice float bowl RdR. This isn't really polishing but it comes close. Thought you might enjoy my "new" master cylinder. The lid has yet to be cleaned it's next. Strange what 30 years of time will do to old brake fluid. Cleaned master cylinder without tools, that's just solvent, rags, q-tips and scotchbrite. I did sand the top lip with 1000.

reservoir was a little more caked up than the lid - started cleaning the middle


suppose it could get a little better but...

 

Sometimes there are dark marks in aluminum castings, it's just the way the metal poured

 

My brake fluid reservoir is pretty nasty too. That looks good, ill have to give mine a good cleaning. Ill have to resist my "polishing fever" and refrain from polishing the inside of it, lol.