Kurt makes a good point in this post from a couple of weeks ago, and I've decided I really should get a buffing wheel, but never having owned one before, I'm not sure what to buy. I saw one at Sears over Thanksgiving for about $100, which seems cheap, so I wonder if it is any good. What do others use? I'm also not familiar with the various wheels and buffing compounds used. Can someone fill me in and perhaps provide links to online stores that sell these supplies? I have a few projects involving some crankarms that need to be cleaned up and polished, and I'd like to do it an easier way.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Kurt Sperry <haxixe@gmail.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Restoration: Alloy parts. Question?
\r?\n> To: "Norm and Val Lafleur" <nvlafleur@verizon.net>
\r?\n> Cc: "classicrendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Date: Friday, November 13, 2009, 10:34 AM
\r?\n> Polishing unanodized aluminum to a
\r?\n> mirror finish doesn't require a lot
\r?\n> of sanding steps. You can quickly sand out any
\r?\n> pitting or scratches
\r?\n> with 220 grit dry then go straight to the buffing
\r?\n> wheel. Start with
\r?\n> bobbing compound on a cotton wheel and follow that with
\r?\n> Fabuluster.
\r?\n> Use two different wheels, the polishing compounds are
\r?\n> available
\r?\n> through any large jewelry supply house. You can get a less
\r?\n> bright but
\r?\n> shinier than satin finish by stopping after the bobbing
\r?\n> step. I
\r?\n> always cringe when I read people describing how they went
\r?\n> through
\r?\n> multiple hand sanding steps over hours to get what is
\r?\n> probably not as
\r?\n> good a polish as I can get in a few minutes. Careful
\r?\n> with the buffing
\r?\n> wheel though, it's dangerous.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Kurt Sperry
\r?\n> Bellingham, Washington
\r?\n> USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n> 2009/11/13 Norm and Val Lafleur <nvlafleur@verizon.net>:
\r?\n> > The current thread on restoration got me thinking
\r?\n> about restoration of alloy parts. I enjoy salvaging
\r?\n> scratched up seat posts, oxidized brake calipers, stems ,
\r?\n> hubs etc. For the most part I leave anodized parts alone.
\r?\n> For non anodized parts I wet sand with grits up to 2500 and
\r?\n> buff with Tripoli compound and white rouge. What I'm
\r?\n> wondering is there any equivalency scale to correlate the
\r?\n> various abrasive media. Is Tripoli finer than 2500 grit
\r?\n> paper, where do the steel wool grades "0", "00" etc fit in.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > It would be helpful to know the equivalency in order
\r?\n> to know when to stop the tedious sanding and move on to the
\r?\n> easier to apply buffing compounds. Does such a correlation
\r?\n> scale exist? For those of you who also polish parts what
\r?\n> have you learned? What do you use for a mirror finish? For a
\r?\n> satin finish? Opinions welcome.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Norm Lafleur
\r?\n> > Ashfield, Massachusetts
\r?\n> > USA