Topic: Where to buy Buffing wheels for air grinder...current results

[Nortstudio]

Hey folks, The repairs to the bike have been placed on hold due to weather.  So I have been taking advantage of the rain delay, working on sanding and buffing a rear wheel I am rebuilding.  I have read some great threads on here about it, and the results are getting better and better as time goes on.

My equipment:
Elbow
Grease
Sand Paper from 320 up to 1000
Air Grinder from HF
various buffing wheels and compounds from HF and Ryobi (they are all sewn cotton I think).

Questions:
1. Has anyone had any luck getting smaller wheels (sisal in particular) at typical stores (HD, Lowes, HF etc) that fit this type of hand held grinder? I would love to locally pick up if possible, instead of having to go online.  I have had no luck finding them on these stores websites.  I know I could go through Caswell, but I want to keep my rhythm going

2. While buffing, I have had some black residue accumulate on the piece.  I know it's from bad form, but I want to know if if it's ok to clean it off with Acetone.  If not, any better suggestions?  I have been cleaning in between each process with this, and wondered if it will have adverse effect on the aluminum.

Thanks in advance,

Scott

[bollingball]

Take a look here http://www.dimecitycycles.com/blog/cat/tech/

[Kong]

The black is excess wax (the carrier for your abrasive) and it will generally wipe off with a clean rag, but acetone should work to dissolve it so that your rag can carry it away.  As for buying them, particularly if you are located in New York, I'd go straight to Caswell.  With them you know exactly what you are buying and the prices are reasonable.

[Nortstudio]

Thanks Kong.  The more research i do online about my local outlets, the more I realize Caswell really are the only place that offers "1-stop shopping" for this kind of stuff.  OK.  Flow interrupted, but not stopped!  I will continue with some other indoor project I have and get these wheel on their way to me asap.

Appreciate the help.

[Kong]

It shouldn't be too much of an interruption, they ship quickly and if my mind's-eye geography is still working you are only about 400 miles away from them, basically a 2-stop run for UPS.

On that black residue, you might want to clean (rake) your wheel , reload it, and maybe use just a little less rouge net time you try it out.  That seemed to help me when I was getting a lot of that build up.  I don't know squat about polishing other than that I bought one of Caswell's big buffers over the winter and did a number of my bike's parts with it.  About all I learned was to reload the wheel frequently, but lightly, and to lean into the thing when buffing.  My parts didn't really start to get a good shine until I started getting on it hard enough that they got hot, hot enough to require heavy leather work (not welding) gloves.  Actually I can tell you how hot they got.  When I was polishing the bottom axle caps for my front end I had one in my hand when my chin started itching.  I instinctively just reached up to scratch it -with the cap in my hand - and it burned my cheek enough to leave a red welt that eventually scabbed over.  Ruined me for the good roles in the movies.   

[Nortstudio]

Don't count yourself out, Hollywood is always in need of a good, menacing looking gorilla

Can you tell me how to "rake" the wheel?  I've seen the term on the caswell site, but they didn't mention how. They must have thought I would have had that type of knowledge already

[bollingball]

Nort look at this http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/wheel_rake.htm

[Nortstudio]

Sorry, didn't even see that. I was looking in the how-to. I guess this is one more thing to buy 

Thanks for the heads up.

[Nortstudio]

Well, as I've done with many of the "fixes" for this bike, I decided to go ahead and see what work I could muster while waiting for better parts/tools to arrive.

Unfortunately the photo below is not great quality lighting, so it truly does look better in person (no, really, I swear!), but this is what I came up with using:

320-1000 grit wet/dry
Cheap HF air grinder
Cheap buff cotton wheels from Ryobi and HF
Cheap compound from same
Turtle wax rubbing compound

It's ok.  I know I can do better with proper wheels, probably better quality compound and some MUCH better rubbing compound (Turtle Wax is literally the ONLY stuff at the local auto store!).  But this was good practice. 

I really think other pieces will be easier to do, because of the wheels odd angles.

The phot shows the brake part which is exactly what the wheel looked like before I started.  Guess that's next...

[q2418130103p]

It is surprising how little rouge you need to use.  Certainly using less will reduce the build-up of the black stuff.  The black stuff wipes off really easy when it is hot.  I usually have some paper towels or a rag handy, and I wipe off the gunk before the part has a chance to cool.  Paint prep removes it immediately too, but I have a bad feeling about using chemical cleaners on the parts, I feel like the finish gets dulled.  But I do it anyway.

[Nortstudio]

Fortunately, from the various kits I bought, I had enough wheels to keep the different colors on separate wheels.  But I think I put too much on the early ones when I was first trying this, so i really need the rake that was pointed out, to clean them up and start nice.  But by that time, I will have more proper wheels that will get the job done much better.

I will have to take photos outside in good light, because these don't show how good it actually looks.  But I also realize that I could have done more "deep" sanding on some bad spots/gouges.  I think this is probably good enough right now, for my purposes, and definitely served as a good test run.

Thanks for the tip.  Less is more.  I need to keep remembering that.  Also, the trick with my air compressor is to do a little spot, and then let it charge up wiht air again, so the wheel doesn't spin too slow.  Patience.....patience.....UGH!  

[q2418130103p]

Fortunately, from the various kits I bought, I had enough wheels to keep the different colors on separate wheels.  But I think I put too much on the early ones when I was first trying this, so i really need the rake that was pointed out, to clean them up and start nice.  But by that time, I will have more proper wheels that will get the job done much better.

I will have to take photos outside in good light, because these don't show how good it actually looks.  But I also realize that I could have done more "deep" sanding on some bad spots/gouges.  I think this is probably good enough right now, for my purposes, and definitely served as a good test run.

Thanks for the tip.  Less is more.  I need to keep remembering that.  Also, the trick with my air compressor is to do a little spot, and then let it charge up wiht air again, so the wheel doesn't spin too slow.  Patience.....patience.....UGH!  

I love my air tools, but I use electric ones for polishing because of that charge up time (except for sanding, thats still air).

[Nortstudio]

It's definitely a little annoying, but I own it already, so I figured I'd give it a go.

I'm thinking of getting a cheap Ryobi grinder that I can turn into a buffer. I saw that on a thread here, and a friend grabbed one. It works pretty great, from what I've seen, anyway.

[Madmax01]

Is it possible to use a 90 degree heavy duty drill for polishing?  I've got an amazing Milwaukee drill with no time on it.

[Nortstudio]

Based on the way my air grinder worked when the juice ran lower, it would have to be able to spin pretty good to work for you.

Just my experience, but obviously I'm very new to this whole process.

[scottly]

I hand polished these parts today with Mother's. When I put them in the sun for the pic, I could see that I should have spent more time with 600 grit paper, which is as fine as I ever use. I spent about 25 minutes for both parts with the polish, but already had hours invested in sanding. I could get a better finish, but I have to get this bike put back together for a little ride, later this month.

[mystic_1]

I sand down to 1000 grit when polishing aluminum.  I only go coarser than around 600 when there are pits or scratches to deal with.

Sit in the couch and polish while you watch a movie or something, it goes pretty quick.

mystic_1

[q2418130103p]

Is it possible to use a 90 degree heavy duty drill for polishing?  I've got an amazing Milwaukee drill with no time on it.

I use a corded high speed drill, works great, but you have to keep a tight grip otherwise the wheel will catch and it will send the chuck right into the part you are working on.

[Kong]

I think you all would be better off finding a used grinder than using a large drill in most cases.  Buffing wheels spin pretty fast and I think most of those large drills are a bit slower.  As for using a used grinder, I see them at yard sales, Pawn shops, and at auctions frequently and they don't bring very much money at all.  I'm don't think I've ever seen on sell for much more than $25.  The only down side for them is that the arbor shafts tend to be short compared to a dedicated buffer.  I believe Caswell sells arbor extensions that help and as I recall they too are inexpensive.

[Nortstudio]

I've been keeping my eyes peeled, but nothing used around these parts.  But you're right Kong, if you can grab one cheap, I think it's the best bet.