| Tools | |
| As I said in the intro this is the real key. That can be said for any job but, it is really tough to not frustrate yourself into a frenzy with a project like this if you are just not able to get the piece hot enough to polish. That is the real key with polishing aluminum is to heat it up. If you cannot work the area hard enough to generate the kind of heat that it takes to move the material you will just make a scratchy mess. What I used was very minimalist. I started with a half horse Delta grinder motor and added polishing buffs to either side of the mandrel. I used standard rag buffs like you can get from lapidary suppliers. The whole mess was c-clamped to the top of a table saw. I had more clearance problems than I care to talk about but, it worked. I will not even show you the rig for fear that some of you might laugh but, it did get the job done. There was more than one occasion when I came out of the garage cussing and threw the part that I was working on into the yard because I had fouled it on the retaining nut at the end of the mandrel. the only cure at that point is to go back to the wet sanding stage. Speaking of wet sanding... This is a key step. What worked best for me was 220 or 320 to knock off the clear and smooth out the part and then carefully work up to 600. The more sanding you do the easier the polish is. You must get all of the scratches out or they will break through in the polishing stage. I still have a part sitting in a bucket as I type. The 320/ 220 stage is the hardest because no other stage will knock off the same amount of material. You must have the shape you want when you are done. The long and short of this section should be | |
| that if you cannot afford a nice rig you can still do the job but, you will be better served by hiring the work out or saving your pennies to buy the right tools from a good supplier like Eastwood. | |
| Materials |
| This is where
things get complex. I tried a bunch of different stuff and I can honestly
only recommend a couple of things. The first is a product called ZAM. It
is a wax based polishing compound that is akin to jeweler's rouge. All
of my final polish where I could get a wheel is ZAM. It is very hard to
find. I looked for it online and came up with next to nothing. The one
place that I did find was in Arizona and I got their voice mail at 2:30
in
the afternoon on Wednesday last week. They must just not want to sell anything.
The first bar came from a little place in Cincinnati called the Gold Bug.
I was there this Saturday picking more up. I am hooked on the stuff. It
just works better and quicker than anything else I've tried. The number
for the Gold Bug is: 513-251-2300. By the way the stick of rouge that I
bought to try and make it through till the end of the project is sitting
barely touched in the garage if anyone would like it.
I tried a couple of different types of hand polish too in the process. The inside of the swingarm was done with a product called Simichrome. It is the best I found. I tried Autosol too because someone that I respected said it was great but, I do not believe it works as quickly as the Simichrome. I used pieces of a soft t-shirt to apply both products. Those of you who have any idea about this stuff will know that paper towels are instant death in when working with aluminum. Paper towels will leave huge scratches in the part for those of you who do not know. They are roughly the equivalent of 1000 grit sandpaper. I tried to clear coat the parts once I was done with a mag wheel clear from Eastwood. It was a total nightmare. The solvent in the clear was too hot and it would not spray smoothly. It turned out looking like cottage cheese. (Note I was using it in a 70 degree environment.) I had to strip the part and re-polish it. I am sure that it was just a bad batch but, I will not do that again. I used a heavy coat of Mother's Carnauba wax over the part and that is how it is going to be. If I have to go back over it with Simichrome and wax in a few months so be it. [The following was added 5.29.00] [ I need to update this section first by saying that I called Eastwood. They were very polite about logging my complaint and quickly refunding my money for the clear. I expect that I was not the only one to note that this product was less than fabulous. The nice lady on the other end of the line said that it was a new product and therefore sort of an unknown. I would be very willing to do business with Eastwood again. They seem like a very reputable place. I also forgot before to note how you clean the compound off of the part once you are done. I used Dawn, hot water and my hands on the majority of the surfaces. There are stubborn bits of compound that will not come off. Resist the temptation to use your nails on this. The metal is soft enough that you will leave marks. Instead I used Citra-Solv and my hands to take the compound off in these places. Citra-Solv is available through your local health food store. It is similar to Goo Gone but, I have not tried Goo Gone for this application and therefore I will not recommend it.] |
| Technique |
| I was told early on in this project to move with the sanding marks. I would tend to agree with this though it is not always realistic. It does not hurt anything on larger parts such as the swingarm to hold the part steady in one place for extended periods on time. Like maybe 30 seconds. As I said above it is importanto get the part hot. I tried preheating the swingarm in hot water. This works fairly well. I was pleasantly surprised. It is sort of amusing that every part I initially polished with the flex shaft turned out much better when I took the big polishing wheel to it. Though, I have to admit that I eroded on of the foot pegs with the big wheel. It is just around the mount for the feeler and does not show once the feeler is installed. Be very careful with the small stuff. Keep it moving and once you start to feel the heat through your gloves remove it from the wheel. |
| Good Luck! |
| Well that is about it. It is time for me to go back to diluting myself into believing that I can keep these parts looking good with a lot of elbow grease over the summer. |
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