Topic: For all you polishers out there....

[greenjeans]

I bought a 1.5 hp buffer from Sears to polish my parts and am having some pretty good results.
I'm going to go crazy polishing stuff - I can't seem to stop.
I understand that it's better to have separate wheels for different compunds - makes sense.
I'd like to know if there is a difference between the wheels ie.  cotton vs flannel  would one do a better (faster cutting/polishing) job vs the others.  I'm going to buy a few buffing wheels this weekend and wanted a little knowledge before buying.....this place always seems to get me the answers I'm looking for.  And with buffing compunds - are they all the same, brand-wise, or are there better choices ?   I have some brown tripoli? for the aluminum parts & also some blk compound that is supposed to be more aggressive - haven't tried it yet. 

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

[ken736cc]

There is a lot to learn about polishing. I am sure others will reply. Foe a quick education , take a look at he products from eastwood.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=432

[greenjeans]

yikes.... their stuff is pricey.... If anywone is interested, I got mine at Sears.com 
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Bench+Power+Tools&pid=00921181000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Bench+Grinders&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

last week it was on sale for 129$ !    Score

[ken736cc]

I use Sears stuff also. I use the Eastwood site for a reference for what equipment performs what function. Keep practicing. It takes time, but the results of polishing your own parts is worth it.

[Rvah3]

I'm no expert but from what I understand alot has to do with the compounds you use. I use the brown kind as well. In fact its all I've used so far. It is a slow process but like the other fellow said its worth it. There might be a better faster compound but still like the saying goes. All good things take time.Good luck.....Happy polishing.

[slarty-bart-farst]

Chuck some T cut on the mop if the process seems to be slowing.  Also mops can get loaded with old wax and become inefficient.  Take a wire brush and offer up to the mop to rag all the surface up like a new mop.

Graham

[Sweep]

I'm starting to get pretty good at this and this is what I do for a piece in baaad shape, such as my fork legs were...

1) orbital sander to get rid of the pits and bring it all down to bare metal.  You need to be very careful how much metal you remove depending on the depth and function of the piece.  I used 220 paper here but I'm a cowboy and just want to get this done.

2) Sisel cutting wheel with black rouge to get out the deep sanding marks and give it an initial polish.

3) Medium wheel in different shapes and sizes.  I use the cone ones alot along with the white rouge.  If you do this right you have some semblance of a shine at this point.  I clean the piece liberally with WD40 between steps.  Gotta get that black stuff off.

4) Fluffy wheel with multiple layers.  I use this on the final step with white polishing cream that I apply by hand.  I only apply it by hand so it doesn't fly off on application of the wheel.

5) Depending on the piece I may do a bit of hand polishing with the cream and a soft towel as well.  This stuff is where most of the work on my bikes is going!

One thing that made a major difference for me was employing my air compressor and air tools to do this.

[KEVINM]

I use an air powered die grinder with a scotch brite roll loc pad. It cuts through all the corrosion real fast, and all I do is buff out the marks with the brown polishing media and a buffing wheel.

[736cc]

If you want an oem satin sheen rather than super-shiny, try etching the aluminum w/ hydroflouric acid first, followed by polishing w/ 000 steel wool and penetrol w/o ANY polishing compound, rubbing in parrellel strokes. Clearcoat w/ Eastwoods rattle can. Comes out decent, w/o looking over-restored.

[paulages]

the tighter stitched wheels are for harder cutting--generally used with the coarser compounds. my personal experience with the coarse compounds is that they are a shortcut (to wet-sanding)that doesn't really end up being any easier or of better quality. i usually sand as coarse as needed to get out nicks or high spots (220 usually), and then work up to a 400, then 600 grit. if the 600 is sanded well, then a rouge works very well by itself. on large areas, this method is very easy with a sanding block.

anyway, for these reasons i only use one wheel for the rouge compound, and it is a loose stitch (soft).

this is a poor photo (taken from my phone), but here is the seatpan i've been working on, polished with this method. took about 20 minutes. it's not fully polished, by the way-- i just polished it far enough to catch any high or low spots i might not have seen when shaping the metal with the dull finish..

[Cowboy]

If you're going to do much polishing, it's not only necessary to have separate wheels for the various polishing compounds, but you will find that you need to have wheels in various widths and diameters, for reaching into small areas, between fins, etc.

If you have a buffer where the polishing wheels bolt onto the shafts, do yourself a huge favor, and mount tapered spindles on the shafts, then buy buffing wheels that are reinforced in the center for use with tapered spindles. The spindles will only cost $5-10, and the buffs are no more expensive than the kind that bolt on. But the tapered spindles allow you to swap from one size wheel to the next in mere seconds. Try them, and you'll wonder how you ever got along without them.

I've found all too often that buffing kits come with loose muslin buffs that are way to soft. They are great for polishing stuff that is already nice and shiny, but useless for polishing a corroded engine case.  For that, you will want to start with a hard, large diameter buff and coarse compound, like tripoli.

Search jewelry suppliers for the tapered spindles and buffs.

[crazypj]

Use stitched wheels instead of buffs for cutting down rough stuff.
(if its really rough/pitted I use a palm sander with 80 grit, then go over it with 120 before polishing)
Also use the black/dark gray emery compounds instead of tripoli
If you do that you don't have to get such a fine finish with wet or dry papers. (quite often I don't even bother with paint stripper to remove varnish, just polish it off)
 It would be better if you used emery bobs.( which I don't anymore, don't do enough polishing) Use stitched or loose wheel and coat with glue, run through powdered emery and build up layers on outside. use with tripoli or anything else to grease it up and change aggressiveness of cut.
Its totally true about tapered wheel extenders as well, just make sure you get right and left hand thread or bob/brush/mop falls off.
One other advantage of taper spindle, you can get closer to the work without hitting steel washers or nuts which overhang a bit and can be a problem with certain items
One tip, when doing fork lowers, don't 'spin' them, you will see the ripples.
Polish along length only (more difficult and time consuming but noticeably better quality and easier to maintain)
PJ

[CB360T]

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

Download an excellent free Buff and Polish booklet (Buffbook.pdf) from Caswell here http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm

Great site that'll make everything shiny -  If you want shiny this is THE place to go! 

Do a search for caswell for other SOHC/4 comments regarding these folks.

[greenjeans]

thank fellas....
spend pretty much all day polishing everything i could get my hands on.... rebuilt the forks w/ new seals and oil and polished them
took the spokes out of my wheels and polished the hubs & rims   just those two alone are going to make a world of difference.
even polished my float bowls (rebuilt those las weekend) and the brass/bronze colored drain plugs.  That buffer is my new favorite toy.

Thanks again for all the tips....