Buffing Aluminum

[Agemax]

Yeah but what about the heat from the parts? Perhaps a bucket of water but that tends to be a bit on the messy side.
Sometimes I use just plain old leather work gloves.

the heat problem is easily solved, work for 10 minutes then stop for a ciggarette lol

[Steve]

the heat problem is easily solved, work for 10 minutes then stop for a ciggarette lol

You mean I have to take up smoking to keep polishing?

Unless you are talking about this kind of cigarette:





By the way, I can heat a piece so it's too hot to hold long before 10 minutes.

I use gloves like this for the grip and the thermal protection:


.

[Planecrazy]

That really looks terrific - Nice work!

Regards,

[Nessism]

I swore off the hand sanding since getting a sisal wheel and some heavy gray cutting compound. Saves a ton of time and effort, but as other have mentioned, gloves are needed since the parts get HOT.

[alke46]

so today i tried my hand at buffing my case covers as they are way outta shape. picked up a buffing motor from harbor freight. some extra buffing wheels, black, brown, and white compound... 400, 600, 1000, and 2000 grit sandpaper. first thing i did was progressively wetsand the cover with the wet/dry sandpaper... starting with 400 all the way to 2000 with wd-40. i then began the buffing...first starting with an agressive wheel with the black compound. this compound is used for removing rust, pitting, and scratches from the surface, i then moved to the brown compound with a medium wheel. i then finished up with the white compound with a light wheel and it turned out 100 times beter than i expected. almost looks as good as chrome...i cant wait to finish the other covers. what do you guys think?

Very nice looking end result. Keep up the work and you will have something to really be proud of

[alke46]

i was deffinately gonna do somethin with them...ill try polishing the factory fasteners just to see how it comes out but im also thinkin about getting some black allen caps...wondering how that might look

Black caps would give you a good looking contrast. Go for it.

[jwhelan65]

I swore off the hand sanding since getting a sisal wheel and some heavy gray cutting compound. Saves a ton of time and effort, but as other have mentioned, gloves are needed since the parts get HOT.

Ed, do you have a pic of the sisal wheel?

[Wallowgreen]

Ed, do you have a pic of the sisal wheel?

These are what I use:

http://www.eastwood.com/buff-wheel-8-inch-sisal-1-2-inch-hole.html

[Octain]

This is what I use.

Hey ED, what brand rougue do you use on your finish?
I've seen your work and I think I prefer the non chrome OE look for the parts on the 78.

[sschering]

Nice work.. Be careful, it's an addiction..
Now every aluminum part is a chance to polish

I need to get off my butt and order a sissal wheel..

Just so I can keep track I write the compound used on the side of the wheel so I don't mix them up..


It'll do wonders for fork lower legs too..
Yeah I got a bit carried away and polished the speedo drive & spaces too.
The looked about like your covers when I started



Also did the rear spacers and crush drive.

[Nessism]

This is what I use.

Hey ED, what brand rougue do you use on your finish?
I've seen your work and I think I prefer the non chrome OE look for the parts on the 78.

Sears sell compound sticks for cheap, only a few dollars each. The sisal wheels I use come from Caswell's Plating.

[shibby_cbs]

Nice work.. Be careful, it's an addiction..
Now every aluminum part is a chance to polish

I need to get off my butt and order a sissal wheel..

Just so I can keep track I write the compound used on the side of the wheel so I don't mix them up..


It'll do wonders for fork lower legs too..
Yeah I got a bit carried away and polished the speedo drive & spaces too.
The looked about like your covers when I started



Also did the rear spacers and crush drive.

you hit the nail right on the head there...ive even been looking at things not even related to the bike to polish...im already addicted...as soon as i got my wheels i marked them so we are good to go on that...i need to look at new wheels as the ones that came with the motor blow and are shredding all over the place...this isnt normal right...the fork legs are deffinately next on the list...they need it bad...i am wondering if the sisel wheel will cut through the weird black stuff that seems to have embedded itself in the metal...it takes quite a bit of sanding to get that stuff off...also bein the covers still have the stock finish should i use a stripper to take off the clear?

[sschering]

for stripping clear coat off the legs I used a HF roloc mount and a 3M clean n strip roloc pad


HF roloc 3" holder

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-disc-holder-with-1-4-quarter-inch-shank-99560.html

I mounted it in my lathe and kicked up the spindle speed as high as it'll go..
It worked great...

As for the wheels my spiral cotton wheels blow off a bit at first but they stop after a bit of use.

the loose cotton wheel for the white rouge is always blowing string everywhere..

[GS ace]

Clear Coat

Here's a tip from my shop. I don't use any abrasive to remove the clear coat. Permatex gasket remover sprayed into a can then applied with a brush has results that are almost instantaneous. You just wipe it off after a couple of minutes.

It's pretty potent stuff, so make sure gloves are worn and it is applied only to what needs to be removed.

[Nessism]

Here's a tip from my shop. I don't use any abrasive to remove the clear coat. Permatex gasket remover sprayed into a can then applied with a brush has results that are almost instantaneous. You just wipe it off after a couple of minutes.

It's pretty potent stuff, so make sure gloves are worn and it is applied only to what needs to be removed.

Paint stripper works similarly and is cheaper.