Topic: Machine Polishing for a Noob??

[LoopsAndLogic]

I've been polishing for a few years now, and I would like to improve on my skills and workmanship.

I've had the buffer from HF for 2 years now, and it does work great with minimal stoppage time for cool downs.

Its the 3\4hp or 1hp + motor, that's all green. Many of you guys know which one.

Anyways, my questions are as follows:

1. At what time during polishing should I dress the pad with my blade knife?
2. I pull against the rotation for cutting and for polishing, I follow the rotation???
3. It seems that when I go up in polishing compounds, it doesn't make an effect on the piece.... Should it???
4. Should I just be using the Emerald polish, cause it's the only one that says, for use with aluminum???
5. What would cause streaking lines in the finish??
6. And lastly, when the aluminum is pitted, is it possible to buff the piece until there gone, or should I start with the wet sanding??

I probably have more questions, but I'll hold off for now

I will post some pictures of my pieces to show you whats going on, but that will be later today.

Any help is appreciated

LL

[Rhonda750F]

I've been putting in a lot of overtime polishing the hell out of all the aluminum bits I have on my bike since ripping it appart. and I might be able to help you out.

1. if your working on one piece, with one compound, the pad will begin to not work well when its loaded up too much.(i.e. trying to polish a large piece in one shot)  I usually polish in sections after a section I clean the pad with the knife and load it up to start on the next section.
2. I go back and forth following the grain if possible. but I would imagine going against the rotation would yield faster results.
3. hell yes! Clean the piece before every step up, also clean the pad, or better yet use a dedicated pad for each different compound.
4. No, Thats a good starting point after you got the surface sanded down with 1000 grit of fine steel wool but don't bother polishing if the surface isn't prepped first or you will see a bunch of scratches.  from emerald, you can go up the list to a mirror finish.  Takes A LOT of TIME.
5. Hitting one spot too long with pad that needs cleaned.
6. Don't buff you'll just mess up the next piece you'll try to buff because of particles left in the buffing wheel.
7. If its pitted bad, use some medium steel wool. with this alone you can get looking pretty good. but it takes a lot of elbow grease then move to fine wool and then you can begin to polish. 

Most important is keep the piece clean between steps, clean rags and clean wheels/pads dedicated to certain compounds.

Good luck,
Paul Z.

[LoopsAndLogic]

I did dedicate pads for the rest of the compounds, but they don't seem to make an effect that even I can't notice.

What type of pad should I be using for starting and the finishing??? Closed cotton, or open???

When I take a piece of aluminum, I first strip off the clear coat or paint. Then look for really bad pits and imperfections in the surface.

If I see any, I hit them with 1200. That might be to light.

So if it starts to streak, that means the pad is ready for some dressing??

I will definitely try the steel wool. I just thought it's too soft to use.

I got the rags and cleanliness down

Will be posting pictures later tonight, so stay tuned.

Thank you for the help

LL

[Jinxracing]

Paul Z.,

Any chance you might put together an entire "How To" thread on polishing for the FAQ section? I don't have the $$$ to pay a pro and have been putting off polishing for awhile now, but it's about time to really dig into it... I've gradually been collecting different compounds, wheels, and felt bobs in preparation. I've polished parts here and there in the past, but my knowledge is pretty limited.

Maybe detail all of the pieces needed, different wheels, compounds, processes, etc. What's the knife that you guys are talking about?

[Blaize]

If you get a Scotch Brite pad on a drill arbor it works great stripping the clearcoat off and getting ready to start buffing. I have been using it for all but the most damaged parts with great results. They are avail at most flaps near all the paint and bondo stuff. Beats the hell out of doing it all by hand. I think they have a few "grits" of them, the one I have been using is brown

 And while I have no exp. myself (largely due to having been warned ahead of time) I have heard that steel wool will leave bits of steel in the alum and when this rusts.......well this is why I went with the scotch brite pad to begin with.

[Bodi]

The knife is just a tool to clean the polishing wheel, you scrape it against the turning wheel and it cleans the dirty compound off. I just use a coarse wire brush, it probably makes more of a mess but works OK.
You should wear a dust mask when polishing. Pro polishing lathes have exhaust blowers and filters to trap much of the crap that blows off the wheel, you shouldn't breathe it in. Aluminum dust is nasty at best and the polishing compound base and abrasive is unlikely to be healthy!

[greenjeans]

Definitely use different wheels for different compounds.   I've had pretty good results with this type of wheel:  http://www.buffpolishgrind.com/supplies/buffingwheels.htm
It's the yellow one.   They are very stiff at first and make more noise than my first wheels, but they seem to make the polishing go faster.  I'm using brown tripoli for a compund.  I also have a couple spiral sewn cotton wheels that I like.   They are sewn pretty tight.   The guy that owns that place (Buff Polish & Grind) is a wealth of information.   
I usually hit the pieces with a scotch brite and some WD-40 first, then wipe them down with some laquer thinner and go to town.   I want to try some of the "greasless" compunds - they are supposed to be like sanding only faster.... there grits range from 300 - 1000 or so...  That sounds like it would really speed up the process.

I clean my wheels with an old wire brish and an old saw.... It seems the cleaner / dryer that they are, the better they work. 

If your buffer has adjustible rpm's count yourself lucky, the guy at Buff Polish and Grind was telling me that aluminum is best polished at around 1850 rpms...  3450 (that's what I have) heats up the metal too much and get's the compund greasier faster.

I just ordered some of the greaseless compount, so I'll report back when I get it and try it out.

Oh yeah... wear a respirator..... that dust is bad for the lungs

[cafehonda]

Spiral sewn wheel with tripoli for fast cutting, then a loose or flap wheel with jewelers rouge for final polish. Never use different compounds on the same wheel. Use aircraft stripper to remove the lacquer coating on stock parts before wet sanding any really rough areas. This always works for me.

[LoopsAndLogic]

Well, I got the steps down, but my pieces are still streaking!!!

I will post pictures this weekend as my battery Pack is dead. Man I wish I had one that takes AA's.

Thanks guys for all the help

LL