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Polishing Metal
I will give you the general idea on what you can expect and
you can feel free to ask any more questions in the future.
Remove all the extras, leaving only the metallic area to be polished. This will
save expensive plastic from any accidental slips of the sand paper. Before you
remove anything take note of what parts are actually visible. No reason to
polish something that will not be seen. Then start with 220 grit sand paper to
remove the roughness from every where that you want to shine. What is important
is to go always in the same direction with the sand paper strokes. Try to go
with the existing "grain" of the metal. Removing the roughness is a long pain in
the ass process. You will have no fingerprints left after polishing. From 220
comes 320 to remove the scratches left from 220. I recommend wet sanding all the
grits. Wet
sanding will help to keep your work area clean and it makes a big difference
with the higher grits. The grit sequences I use are as follows: 220, 320, 400,
600, 800, 1000, 1500 and if needed 2000. Doing the whole part
by yourself with a good
part of everyday dedicated to it will take just over a week. If you don't mind
investing some money into this project buy an orbital sander. This will greatly
reduce the polishing time and wear on your fingers. When you have completely
removed all the roughness and pits, redo 220 by hand to
remove all the swirls left by the sander. If you decide to use the sander only
use it for the first grit. The only "trick" involved is not to get into a rush
to complete it. I really cannot stress this enough. If you do not completely
remove the scratches left behind from the previous grit you will always have
scratches visible. Whenever I think I am finished with one grit I always go over
that same area again one more time with a fresh piece of paper to ensure I have
all the scratches out. I recommend to keep using the same piece of paper until
it is smooth so you are using it to gradually remove the scratches left from a
fresh piece of paper.
You asked about coating it to avoid
oxidation. I have seen people who have tried to clear coat a polished
part with little success. I am not a painter but the way
it was explained to me is that the polished part is now
very smooth. Special paint is needed so that is will actually stick. The ones I
saw painted looked very dull. If you have any success with this I would
appreciate any knowledge gained. Up keep of a polished part
is not difficult though. I use a metal polish called "Mother's" but I have used
a product from Europe called "Wenol" that was also good. When I get caught in
the rain I just dry the part to prevent any drops leaving
rings when they dry. And when I clean the part I just go
over it with the metal polish to bring back the mirror
shine. I hope this babbling letter helps you. I believe it adds to the pride of
ownership. Plus it is great to see the look of other people when they
it.
Originally written by:
Nick Rocheleau
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