Topic: First attempt at buffing CB500 motor parts

[wildcatmahone]

Guys all these polishing steps have been tried and true if your having problems your just not doing it right. For aluminum, wetsand to at least 600 grit, use greaseless compound first if your parts are heavily pitted.  Start with emery(grey) or tripoli (brown) rouge using a spiral sewn buff buffing AGAINST the rotation of the wheel. Be easy with the emery rouge as it will smooth out the aluminum way too easily. Just like sandpaper grits the rouges are the same just on a finer scale so tripoli will take out the scratches from emery and so on and so forth. Finish off with white rouge using a loose sewn buff buffing WITH the rotation of the wheel. Make sure you dedicate a buffing wheel to each king of rouge and clean your parts real good with acetone between each buffing stages. Don't want contaminate the different grits together. Your parts must get nice and hot for the rouges to work properly. Any water spot looking marks etc. are just casting irregularities nothing can be done about them just the nature of polishing cast material hope this helps ya....
My buffing setup includes a 8" Craftsman Variable Speed Bench Grinder with 4" spindle extensions on a craftsman cast iron stand works real good.

-Wildcat

[Really?]

I had a tough time getting an acceptable shine on the rear drum brake hub.  Sanded and sanded and buffed and buffed.  Went down to 2000 grit a few times.  I got something acceptable but there must be something either differenent with that aluminum or it gets heated so much from the braking that it does something to the aluminum.  I really do not know why, just trying to find a reason.

[wildcatmahone]

Yeh your right buffing cast aluminum can be problematic had to go through 3 sprocket covers before I got what I was lookin for. 

[Kong]

Guys all these polishing steps have been tried and true if your having problems your just not doing it right. For aluminum, wetsand to at least 600 grit, use greaseless compound first if your parts are heavily pitted.  Start with emery(grey) or tripoli (brown) rouge using a spiral sewn buff buffing AGAINST the rotation of the wheel. Be easy with the emery rouge as it will smooth out the aluminum way too easily. Just like sandpaper grits the rouges are the same just on a finer scale so tripoli will take out the scratches from emery and so on and so forth. Finish off with white rouge using a loose sewn buff buffing WITH the rotation of the wheel. Make sure you dedicate a buffing wheel to each king of rouge and clean your parts real good with acetone between each buffing stages. Don't want contaminate the different grits together. Your parts must get nice and hot for the rouges to work properly. Any water spot looking marks etc. are just casting irregularities nothing can be done about them just the nature of polishing cast material hope this helps ya....
My buffing setup includes a 8" Craftsman Variable Speed Bench Grinder with 4" spindle extensions on a craftsman cast iron stand works real good.

-Wildcat

Can you tell me where you found the spindle extensions?  A set of them would be very useful.

[wildcatmahone]

Yeh Caswell has them...

[Stev-o]

Yeh Caswell has them...

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/longsa.htm