Polishing Alloy

In conjunction with my restoration, I was hoping to polish the alloy covers myself to free up some $$$ towards other upgrades. Is this just foolishness, or with some patience can the amateur mechanic hope to approach professional work here? I've acquired an 8" buffer with an 3/4HP 8 amp motor that seems up to the task, along with the various grades of commonly used polishing compounds...

Cheers,

- HJ

Be prepared to put a lot of time in. You may already know this, but some times a part needs to be sanded before you begin polishing.

Oh, BTW, googles and a dust mask are mandatory.

Have at it!

I have done the manual method and swore I'd never polish stuff myself ever again.

It's dirty work and you can make a mess if you aren't careful. I send stuff to a pro that gives me volume discounts for 2 or 3 bikes worth of engine covers, fork legs and z-plates at a time.

My time is worth enough to me that it comes out cheaper than doing it myself.

Now, in the "do as I say, don't do as I do" department, you might notice that my own personal bikes do not have the same gorgeous lustre as all my client's bikes, but it's mainly because I'm CHEAP.

Sure you can easily do professional-quality polishing yourself but it's very labor-intensive and very messy. Best to do it outside or in a hood or chamber of some sort or you will end up with waxy grit ALL over your workshop. I generally start out with 100 grit sandpaper and work up to 220 or 400 before I start polishing with the black polish, then the brown. I find finer grades of the waxy polish sticks unnecessary and finish parts off with a round or two of Autosol.

Hungry J0e said:

In conjunction with my restoration, I was hoping to polish the alloy covers myself to free up some $$$ towards other upgrades. Is this just foolishness, or with some patience can the amateur mechanic hope to approach professional work here? I've acquired an 8" buffer with an 3/4HP 8 amp motor that seems up to the task, along with the various grades of commonly used polishing compounds...

Cheers,

- HJ

Click to expand...

I polished all of my parts including the amal bodies (so-so) and found the process to be :

DIRTY....... (hoods, masks, go outside etc.... )

LABOR INTENSIVE .....

but I also found it to be a lot of fun in the long run, since I'm building my bike as recreation, not as a business....it's like polishing out a paint job: all that sweat reveals itself as that little extra 'bling'......

polishing

Debby had her covers polished some time ago and I believe she posted some photos. They looked great and the price was reasonable..........Hey Debby!! who was that guy? Then again, you could probably do a forum search and find the thread.

Yes, the photos were posted over on britbike.com (by the guy who did the polishing, doing a little self-promotion!) The work he did was fast and very reasonably priced. I don't know if he's still in business, but I'll look to see if I still have his contact info.

I've also polished some of the pieces myself. I wetsand down to 600, then use brown compound on a spiral wheel. I finish by hand-polishing with Mothers and soft cotton cloth (old t-shirts work great), changed frequently. The results aren't show-winning quality but they look pretty darn good. The more work you put into it the better it will look!

It's very satisfying to polish it yourself, but the sanding can take a lot of time, particularly if the piece is heavily corroded or pitted. The actual buffing is the easy part, if you've sanded properly.

Debby

I've been doing my own polishing on the 73 Interstate I'm restoring. I've learned a few things:

1. Use at least an 8" buffer. I've currently got a 6", and it's too small for anything larger than a transmission cover.

2. You can use a cheap buffer motor, but spend the coin to get good wheels and compounds. I get mine from Bright Works, but I'm sure Caswells or any of a number of places are just as good. Bright Works has a 40-page Polishing/Buffing manual that I would recommend for anyone just beginning.

3. As everyone else here has pointed out, it takes time. In my experience when working with Tripoli (brown) compound, it works pretty quickly at first, then you go through a long period where it doesn't seem to be doing much at all, then finally you end up with your shiny surface. Once you're happy with it, then go over it with color (white) compound to get the mirror finish, then finally hand finish it with something like Mother's or Autosol. This final step will protect the metal from oxidation, so the shine lasts longer.

4. While doing your own polishing is quite satisfying, It's not something I'd want to do for more than one bike

Filthy business

I have always polished my alloy but if you use your bike do what I do & only use the Tripoli then solvo etc to protect it. It buffs up really well.
Using the bike will take the shine off pretty quick & I find its enough work without going through all the stages up to the white polish soft mop/ lime powder.
So says someone who is far too into shiney bikes than I should be.
Chris

You can get a very good finish even without powered equipment but a mop does make it easier. I go to 1200 wet and then very fine "Scotchbrite" before buffing.

If you use a wheel, make sure you hold the exhaust rocker covers really well because if the mop grabs them..... :shock: They are as aerodynamic as flying saucers as they go into orbit !

One of the most frustrating things about polishing is when you have spent the time to sand, buff, buff again, buff again, and you just want to get that little spot in the corner.....ZING...BANG. The wheel catches it, jerks it out of your hands, and throws it across the shop where it ricochets off that perfect NOS Commando tank on the shelf, putting a little ding in it and a corresponding ding in the part your were polishing. Oh well, sand out the nick, put up a cardboard backstop, buff with tripoli, buff again. Convince yourself that ding in the NOS tank's paint is just "patina".

Who was it that said this was satisfying?? I'm looking for a reasonable local polisher. It's a messy, frustrating job.

Ron L said:

Who was it that said this was satisfying?? I'm looking for a reasonable local polisher. It's a messy, frustrating job.

Click to expand...

I use a guy in Wisconsin at a place called Creekside Metal Finishing. His name is Joseph Hansel. He is roughly 1800 kilometers away from me and he is cheaper than any of the local ham fists and does great work.

www.creeksidemetalfinishing.com

Awesome... thanks for all the great replies and advice! I've got access to an 8" Buffer and was looking for an excuses to make a rolling workbench for dirty jobs in the driveways, so this is perfect...

I do all my own buffing and if you take your time it can turn out great. Yes it is messy and everytime you change compound you need to go wash your hands and I was the part. Also make sure you have seperate buffing wheels for each grade of compound. Not good to mix them up. The Eastwood company specializes in car restoration but they have a very good selection of buffing products and they have a forum on their web site dedicated just to this.
Also check out this we site http://www.lusterlace.com/
I have used these product and the results are not bad for a one step alloy cleaner. If your stuff is not pitted and corroded you can get a respectable shine without all the buffing.

RonL has it right about going two steps backwards if the wheel happens to grab your part. Aside from that the most important rule in polishing metal is that you are most effective if you keep the heat up in the part. So, wear gloves and don't move so quickly around the part. Keep the heat up by limited movement around the part and gradually move out keeping the heat with you.

I do stuff on my big buffer when it is off the bike for some reason. However,you will be amazed at the quality shine you can get just using Mothers Aluminum Polish and a 3-4" wheel on a drill. It can be a bit messy if you overload the goop but try it and you will not believe it. You cannot use a small diameter wheel as the tip speed is too low.

Try the little sanding pads used by woodturners for sanding wooden bowls. I have one about 2" dia with very soft and flexible backing (sponge). I put it in my lathe chuck and hold the piece being worked on and turn the lathe at about 500RPM. I stumbled on this out of desperation with a gearbox outer cover which was in very poor shape, it had been hammered by someone, using the sander in the lathe I had it ready to buff with about an hours work. If you don't have a lathe then a drill press would work just as well, I woudn't recomend puting it in a hand held drill. The sanding pad is that soft and flexible that there is virtually no chance of accidently sanding a gouge with the edge, or sanding a flat spot where you don't want one, just be carefull on the edges of the part, continued sanding can round them slightly. I find that it cuts quite quickly and I can start with around 240 grit and work up though to the finer grades. You can get one of these from a woodturning supplies retailer, the type you want is one that is intended for use in a power drill for sanding a bowl that is spinning on a woodlathe, it has a very flexible backing and takes abrasive discs by the hook and loop system, they vary in size and one about 2" works well.
Graeme

Are there any aussies who can reccomend a professional polisher down under?? , I dont think i have the time/patience to do the job justice

Coco said:

Ron L said:

Who was it that said this was satisfying?? I'm looking for a reasonable local polisher. It's a messy, frustrating job.

Click to expand...

I use a guy in Wisconsin at a place called Creekside Metal Finishing. His name is Joseph Hansel. He is roughly 1800 kilometers away from me and he is cheaper than any of the local ham fists and does great work.

www.creeksidemetalfinishing.com

Click to expand...

I will also mention that Joseph at Creekside will now offer a 15% discount for members of the Norton Commando forum.

If you use a wheel, make sure you hold the exhaust rocker covers really well because if the mop grabs them..... They are as aerodynamic as flying saucers as they go into orbit !

Click to expand...

Ahem yes, I was climbing the fence into the next door neighbours garden after not heeding that advice to retrieve a errant rocker cover, working outside means less mess in the garage but your mistakes are seen by more!! :lol: :lol:

Hopefully you've recovered from your whisky poisining 79 x 100 ? :lol: :lol: