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HOW TO POLISH METAL


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Ive had many pm for polishing metal etc so this may help out

 

yes its possiable, but many bench grinders are to weak for good job, idearly need at least 3/4 hp one minimum,

 

Basic needed

pig tail for hand drill £6.00 ( hand drills burn out easly )

pig tails for grinder, left hand & right hand one about £30.00

if its got a coating ie paint , you will need paint stripper, £8.00

wet and dry sandpaper, 120, 240, 300, 400, 600,1000,1500, and finaly 2000 grit £16.00

stiched sisal 4" cotton wheel £5.00 (for grey compound)

stiched 4" cotton wheel £5.00 (for brown compound)

colour wheel £5.00 (for green compound)

calco wheel £5.00

grey cutting compound £7.00

brown compound £7.00

green compound £7.00

white £7.00

proberly need some felt bobs etc £5.00

 

thier is many people thats sell polishing kits etc, all i can say is you are taking a gamble if they are any good etc, ive bought many so called cheap wheels and polish etc and it dont pay in the long run tbh :D

 

these are only rougth prices for what you need

 

do as follows

strip the part down completely

give parts a real good clean remove all greese etc

apply paint stripper to remove paint or laquer etc ( if its painted or laqured) never youse wire brush

sand down the entire part going thru the grit paper working your way up to 2000 grit

make sure you remove the scratches from each previous sanding ie sand one way then the other with the next stage of grit size paper, if you dont it will show thru when polished, never youse 80 grit paper as its not worth the agro to sand out, from grit sizes 120 to 300 youse dry, after that sand down with other grits using water and a bit of washing-up liquid in it

wash down with soapy water after every sanding stage, if you dont you will get some of the loose ali you sanded in the next grit stage and will scratch it.

 

once sanded then grey compound , brown, green, white on polish wheel

after every polishish compound wash down with break fluid to remove the compound

you can only use a buffing wheel for one type of compound

 

once you have done the compound stage, then you can use a soft coth with auto sol or simular to give that shiny mirror finish,

as alli is so soft you have to be very carefull with it as it marks so easy

 

be warned its take a lot of pratice to use these compounds properly on a buffer, pratice pratice

its not as easy as it is typeing this out

 

ive done it for 20 years and still learning, the day i no it all i will jack it all in

 

get ready for a lot of swearing and a good few hours to get a mirror finish, and to be honest i have never known any one get a mirror finish that have just started doing polishing etc, but i wish you luck

 

if you want me to polish any parts send me a picture so i can see what the size of the part is etc and condition it is in. to give you some sort of idea a wheel would cost about £40.00 to polish on average,i charge average to polish rocker covers from £40.00 polishing is not cheap as its a time consuming process, but the end results are worth it in my opinion.

 

bell me if you want to chat about it etc, as its easy for me to say what you need to do over the phone etc , will freely give advise

 

best reagrds rob

 

ps hope this helps a bit, not saying i am right every one has their own methods, all i can add to this is if your stuck contact me, via pm phone email etc

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AS a responce to various phone calls since i posted this today here are some other polishing jobs i have done for various car moders

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/CraftPolishing/DSCN0694.jpg

Mirror image pictures dont lie

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/CraftPolishing/DSCN0699.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/CraftPolishing/Picture008-2.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/CraftPolishing/inlet-2.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/CraftPolishing/BMWE30INLET.jpg

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great topic m8 shocked at the lack of reply those pics do look great :) but what exacctly canbe polished say under the bonnet of a standard cvh or zetec escort ? thanks ps what about door catches ect?

 

anything thats is metal will mirror finish, but only trouble with steel it will rust unless you put a clear laquer on it,

but if i was you, i would stick to anything that is alliminium, good luck

 

so look on a motor if its alli then it will mirror

 

regards rob

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