G
Guest
Guest
The long and short of it.
The long and short of it.
Well I have spent more hours of my life than I'd like to admit polishing with a repurposed bench grinder and the HF wheels and compounds.
First, it is VERY MESSY! I will be spending a lot of time cleaning the residue out of my shop for years I'm afraid. It goes everywhere! Pick a good day and have your grinder on a portable stand you can take outside, you'll be glad you did.
The best thing I found to weaken really stuck on clear coat is lacquer thinner. The red compound will do the rest.
Wear tight fitting gloves. The part will get hot if you're doing it right. After you wear-in one wheel start using another wheel on the other end. The old one should have already started to flare out and lose some of its stiff edge. Use it for the white compound later, it will make for a much nicer polished look to aluminum.
The pressence of that nasty black reidue is aluminum. Don't be stupid like yours truly and not wear a mask for the first few times. I'd highly recommend a mask and a full face shield (more on the shield later). Also wear stuff that might qualify for the trash if you are going to be at it all day as it will ruin what you are wearing. The washer might not get rid of it and it could end up on the next load which would equal a night on the couch at least I would think.
Take the red rouge bar and touch it to the wheel. As Brain noted it is hard but you don't need to heat it, the wheel will do that for you. Just be sure to go slow at first. It will get easier and faster to apply after it has been used a few times even if it has been months since you used it last.
I take the part with as much clear coat as possible removed and bring it into contact with a heavy coated wheel. The motor will slow dramatically. This is what you want to see, just start moving the part around as soon as you see the drop in speed. This stuff can be aggressive so move the part around. Do a large easy to do area first and get it to a finish that you like then move the part around to get the rest up to that level of shine. You will need to use a lot of rouge at first but less as time goes on as the wheel holds a lot. The removed aluminum also will act as a buffing compound too. Don't be concerned by the black "goo" streaks from too much compound. Just let the wheel get a little "dry" of compound and then move it across the streak. It will also come off with lacquer thinner.
The wheel will get packed over time with old compound and removed materials. Take the side of a putty knife to it as it is spinning to separate the fibers of the wheel so it appears fuzzy again.
As a safety note, it is best to have the wheel spinning toward you. Luckily my grinder has the ability to be hand spun in the direction I want it to go before turning on the power and it will continue to go in that direction. These wheels WILL grab the part at some point when your working near the edge. Sprained thumbs and fingers are only a possible outcome if the part gets flung out of the grinder. Again due to how nasty a job this can be, move it outside. Doing this in the grass would be ideal, as if the part gets flung out of your hands it will hit the dirt resulting in much less damage to it. The last thing you want to see is the part go flying into your bike sitting a good 10 ft. away. Kind of a day ruiner I'd say. A full face shield is easier to use than goggles for this process as you can flip it up to inspect the work then right back down and back to work you go, plus it could save your ugly mug from said flying part.
You can do a light polish or go as far as taking out road rash. Yes, road rash can be made to look much better, not perfect but much less noticeable. I will post a few before and afters here of a H**da engine cover.
After getting this to a shine that you want put Mothers on it maintain or better stated, slow the dulling over time. I have buffed chrome parts too but you must be very careful so as not to remove hardly any of the chrome as it is only 2-5 thousands thick at best. Do not do this on fork inner shafts, it is too hard to not produce a flat spot and leak.
There are lots of techniques to different shapes and such that are hard to describe, so you will still probably have to use a Dremel for some parts to get to all the surfaces. I have all but eliminated that need by going to the largest wheel I can find and hours upon hours of practice.
This is dirty back-breaking work if you are going for a chrome like finish or removing gouges from the aluminum. Practice on a piece of junk first and heed my warning about flying parts! :-D
The long and short of it.
Well I have spent more hours of my life than I'd like to admit polishing with a repurposed bench grinder and the HF wheels and compounds.
First, it is VERY MESSY! I will be spending a lot of time cleaning the residue out of my shop for years I'm afraid. It goes everywhere! Pick a good day and have your grinder on a portable stand you can take outside, you'll be glad you did.
The best thing I found to weaken really stuck on clear coat is lacquer thinner. The red compound will do the rest.
Wear tight fitting gloves. The part will get hot if you're doing it right. After you wear-in one wheel start using another wheel on the other end. The old one should have already started to flare out and lose some of its stiff edge. Use it for the white compound later, it will make for a much nicer polished look to aluminum.
The pressence of that nasty black reidue is aluminum. Don't be stupid like yours truly and not wear a mask for the first few times. I'd highly recommend a mask and a full face shield (more on the shield later). Also wear stuff that might qualify for the trash if you are going to be at it all day as it will ruin what you are wearing. The washer might not get rid of it and it could end up on the next load which would equal a night on the couch at least I would think.
Take the red rouge bar and touch it to the wheel. As Brain noted it is hard but you don't need to heat it, the wheel will do that for you. Just be sure to go slow at first. It will get easier and faster to apply after it has been used a few times even if it has been months since you used it last.
I take the part with as much clear coat as possible removed and bring it into contact with a heavy coated wheel. The motor will slow dramatically. This is what you want to see, just start moving the part around as soon as you see the drop in speed. This stuff can be aggressive so move the part around. Do a large easy to do area first and get it to a finish that you like then move the part around to get the rest up to that level of shine. You will need to use a lot of rouge at first but less as time goes on as the wheel holds a lot. The removed aluminum also will act as a buffing compound too. Don't be concerned by the black "goo" streaks from too much compound. Just let the wheel get a little "dry" of compound and then move it across the streak. It will also come off with lacquer thinner.
The wheel will get packed over time with old compound and removed materials. Take the side of a putty knife to it as it is spinning to separate the fibers of the wheel so it appears fuzzy again.
As a safety note, it is best to have the wheel spinning toward you. Luckily my grinder has the ability to be hand spun in the direction I want it to go before turning on the power and it will continue to go in that direction. These wheels WILL grab the part at some point when your working near the edge. Sprained thumbs and fingers are only a possible outcome if the part gets flung out of the grinder. Again due to how nasty a job this can be, move it outside. Doing this in the grass would be ideal, as if the part gets flung out of your hands it will hit the dirt resulting in much less damage to it. The last thing you want to see is the part go flying into your bike sitting a good 10 ft. away. Kind of a day ruiner I'd say. A full face shield is easier to use than goggles for this process as you can flip it up to inspect the work then right back down and back to work you go, plus it could save your ugly mug from said flying part.
You can do a light polish or go as far as taking out road rash. Yes, road rash can be made to look much better, not perfect but much less noticeable. I will post a few before and afters here of a H**da engine cover.
After getting this to a shine that you want put Mothers on it maintain or better stated, slow the dulling over time. I have buffed chrome parts too but you must be very careful so as not to remove hardly any of the chrome as it is only 2-5 thousands thick at best. Do not do this on fork inner shafts, it is too hard to not produce a flat spot and leak.
There are lots of techniques to different shapes and such that are hard to describe, so you will still probably have to use a Dremel for some parts to get to all the surfaces. I have all but eliminated that need by going to the largest wheel I can find and hours upon hours of practice.
This is dirty back-breaking work if you are going for a chrome like finish or removing gouges from the aluminum. Practice on a piece of junk first and heed my warning about flying parts! :-D
Last edited:
