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Polishing parts

siitman

siitman

Member
Because I couldn't Buy these I made them, But I am Having a bit of trouble getting them polished to a mirror finish, to many small scratches. Does any one have any Ideas on products or methods to get these mirror like. Hopefully my Pictures come through. If not I need to know how to polish Stainless steel Thanks

My harley new stuff
 
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No pix, but polishing SS is not to hard if you have a buffing wheel on a pedestal mounted motor. Make sure you use a rouge stick on the buffing wheel. Also make sure you use gloves and hold on tight.
 
Depending on how bad the 'small scratches' are you may want to wet sand with 2000 grit paper then start polishing in levels with Heavy then Medium then Fine rouge.
I know it sounds like a lot of steps, but the results are well worth it.
 
A few years ago i wanted to do some serious polishing on some engine pars so i invested in a heavy duty bench grinder and got a hold of the relevant spigots and mops to use it as a bench polisher
different mops are used with different grades of polishing compound a good pair of gloves and eye protection are a must and ear protection if you will be polishing for a wee while
if you go this route then ensure you start with a heavy duty grinder the cheaper ones rely on the weight of the grinding stones to act as a flywheel and the polishing mops have No weight so need a powerful motor
it only takes a wee while to convert back to a grinder when needed

Brian
 
I prefer a polished metal compared to chrome. Polishing shows a lot of love and dedication to your machine. When I bought my bike I almost past it over because of the staining on the front forks but I went to work on them and now I am very satisfied. After you do the polishing do not put clear coat on the parts. Just wash and polish again with some Flizt or other polish to bring back the finish.
kemo
 
As D Gill said, you will have to start with a sand paper that will get the scratches out. With scratches it will take forever to polish it.
If they are very deep start with something that will take them out and then step up 200 grit till you get it looking very good before you even start with the polishing.
I have a Cobra Tach that the chrome flaked off it, I sanded all the chrome off down to the bare billet aluminum base. I had scratches so I had to do the same thing. After I got all the scratches out, I polished it with a Harbor Freight polishing kit. It looks pretty darn good now. I could have got it better but it was taking too much time and it was good enough for me.

R_W_B said:
As D Gill said, you will <.....> enough for me.
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Your Picture doesn't show on my browser so I don't know what you are working with. If it's Chrome you can still sand it with a high grit sandpaper (don't sand too much) but that may not take all the scratches out. The problem with chrome is once you get through the
Chrome layer you will start to see a mixture of the nickel and the copper layer which will cause discoloration. So tread lightly on chrome.
I sanded some badly weathered (with some spec rust) chrome spokes because they were too rough to polish. Had no choice and they look much better than before.
 
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R_W_B said:
As D Gill said, you will have to start with a sand paper that will get the scratches out. With scratches it will take forever to polish it.
If they are very deep start with something that will take them out and then step up 200 grit till you get it looking very good before you even start with the polishing.
I have a Cobra Tach that the chrome flaked off it, I sanded all the chrome off down to the bare billet aluminum base. I had scratches so I had to do the same thing. After I got all the scratches out, I polished it with a Harbor Freight polishing kit. It looks pretty darn good now. I could have got it better but it was taking too much time and it was good enough for me.



Your Picture doesn't show on my browser so I don't know what you are working with. If it's Chrome you can still sand it with a high grit sandpaper (don't sand too much) but that may not take all the scratches out. The problem with chrome is once you get through the
Chrome layer you will start to see a mixture of the nickel and the copper layer which will cause discoloration. So tread lightly on chrome.
I sanded some badly weathered (with some spec rust) chrome spokes because they were too rough to polish. Had no choice and they look much better than before.
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I am 28 miles in land from the ocean and I can feel the sand and salt in the air
 
R. Lewis said:
are ya braggin or complainin'??? LOL !!! :s
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Both LOL, I moved here from Minnesota to escape the cold and salt on the roads, I have been known to ride in the snow, Now I just have the salt and I hate washing my scooter and The Redhead wont help, Maybe I should trade her in :newsmile100:
 
Jack Klarich said:
Both LOL, I moved here from Minnesota to escape the cold and salt on the roads, I have been known to ride in the snow, Now I just have the salt and I hate washing my scooter and The Redhead wont help, Maybe I should trade her in :newsmile100:
Click to expand...

If she reads what you just posted - she may TRADE YOU IN !!!! :newsmile100: It's 37* right now here at home.

Sorry for the highjacking of the thread!!!
 
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