At 11/13/2009 09:47 AM -0500, Norm Lafleur wrote:
> The current thread on restoration got me thinking about
> restoration of alloy parts. I enjoy salvaging scratched up seat
> posts, oxidized brake calipers, stems , hubs etc. For the most part
> I leave anodized parts alone. For non anodized parts I wet sand
> with grits up to 2500 and buff with Tripoli compound and white
> rouge. What I'm wondering is there any equivalency scale to
> correlate the various abrasive media. Is Tripoli finer than 2500
> grit paper, where do the steel wool grades "0", "00" etc fit in.
>
> It would be helpful to know the equivalency in order to know when
> to stop the tedious sanding and move on to the easier to apply
> buffing compounds. Does such a correlation scale exist? For those
> of you who also polish parts what have you learned? What do you use
> for a mirror finish? For a satin finish? Opinions welcome.
Norm, All of my older bikes have the original paint, so bright shiny parts would look out of place. Final finish on alloy parts is SimiChrome or similar polish but applied with very fine "Sage" Scotchbrite.
When I have to use a new chromed part on a bike with patina I go over it with 0000 steel wool and Simichrome. Part stays nice and shiny, but the "New" is gone.
Once I polished up some old Campi high flange hubs with Simichrome and followed up with a coat of NuFinish polymer based car polish. Stayed so shiny that 3-4 years later I overheard, "Look, some idiot chromed his Campi hubs.".
Mark Stonich;
BikeSmith Design & Fabrication
5349 Elliot Ave S. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417 USA
Ph. (612) 824-2372 http://bikesmithdesign.com
http://mnhpva.org