So the polishing starts...

[Chancebmx25]

title does say it all. im polishing all the aluminum of my frame... starting at 500grit moving through and im still sitting at 600. ive finished one side of the main frame. still got the sub and what not to go... but my question is... do these drill kits that come with the compounds and different buffs and all ur lil peices that plug into ur drill...actually work? im eyeing up a couple on trademe? even though im still going through my sanding stages could i use something like this to straight wip over the top cutting it fresh? its hard to get that mirror finish going man..its taking me days.....

Cheers.

[bogan]

that mans keen to start a job like this without power assist!

Not sure if a drill would give you the control that a proper buffer would. Definitely get your hands on something though We used a power buffer at work, got from welded to mirror finish on stainless really quickly.

[dogsnbikes]

It certainly does take awhile,It took me 2days to polish the swingarm on the CBR400 starting with a 200grit then 800 and finishing with 1200 grit that was the sanding part done then I use seretone metal polish and muslin cloth (cheese cloth) and its come up pretty good,

[speedfish]

i done the rims on my 955 daytona came up bloody mint but its one hell of a big job.I started out with 120 on the rough cast areas and a die grinder to remove casting nos etc then went 240 320 600 800 then 1200 all done wet with a black guide coat mist between sandings to identify areas that need more work.After doing the front rim in a week and a half of spare time i went to local polishers and he gave me a few old polishing wheels and some old polishing sticks which i used and then followed up with autosol the back rim took another week but the results are awesome and they get better each time you hand polish them.check the bike out on trade me #369681870 for pics of finished wheels cheers

[marty]

it's a funny old world. i took mine to a metal polisher. $100 each, done in 2 days. i worked overtime doing what i know, and paid someone to do what they know.

i recently started doing an overhaul on some alloy wheels - sandblasted one of them - took me 2 hours just to blast it. got quoted $250 for paint, and I have access to a heated paint shop.

i then took that wheel and the other 3 down to the powder coaters, and got them all done for $320. ready the next day.

[Chancebmx25]

i done the rims on my 955 daytona came up bloody mint but its one hell of a big job.I started out with 120 on the rough cast areas and a die grinder to remove casting nos etc then went 240 320 600 800 then 1200 all done wet with a black guide coat mist between sandings to identify areas that need more work.After doing the front rim in a week and a half of spare time i went to local polishers and he gave me a few old polishing wheels and some old polishing sticks which i used and then followed up with autosol the back rim took another week but the results are awesome and they get better each time you hand polish them.check the bike out on trade me #369681870 for pics of finished wheels cheers

Thats quality bro, good work.

[jellywrestler]

It certainly does take awhile,It took me 2days to polish the swingarm on the CBR400 starting with a 200grit then 800 and finishing with 1200 grit that was the sanding part done then I use seretone metal polish and muslin cloth (cheese cloth) and its come up pretty good,

after 1200 i use 1500 then 2000 then autosol also i've used an orbital sander as it gives an even finish, might be awkward to get into some places though
with wet and dry i use soapy water, water only dissappears too quickly