troyzstang Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Good evening all Trying my hand at polishing a few parts. Is there an easier way This really sucks First I stripped the factory finish off the clutch cover and then I started the never endind sanding process. Thats as far as I 've got. Need a few tips from the pros or this is going to take all week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blewbyu Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Its a long process for a beginner with limited tools and supplies. It takes a while. Just be patient and get yourself some little polishing wheels for your drill or better yet, if you have a bench grinder get yourself a couple bigger wheels. Stiffer ones for the first buffing process. And then softer ones for finishing. Tripoli (brown) for rough buffing, then a rouge such as a red or green for the final hit on the soft wheels. Make shur your parts are warm when your doing it all. It will speed up the process and make things alot easier for you. Hopefully that little bit helps you out. I have an unfair advantage. lol. Im shur your cover started out something like this. Then hopefully something like this. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troyzstang Posted April 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Its a long process for a beginner with limited tools and supplies. It takes a while. Just be patient and get yourself some little polishing wheels for your drill or better yet, if you have a bench grinder get yourself a couple bigger wheels. Stiffer ones for the first buffing process. And then softer ones for finishing. Tripoli (brown) for rough buffing, then a rouge such as a red or green for the final hit on the soft wheels. Make shur your parts are warm when your doing it all. It will speed up the process and make things alot easier for you. Hopefully that little bit helps you out. I have an unfair advantage. lol. Im shur your cover started out something like this. Then hopefully something like this. lol Very nice set you got there. My cover looks fair right now. I just finished with the 400 grit paper. I also picked up a small buffing kit with a variety of polishing rouges. Should i invest in a bench buffer. Also I tried to load one of my buffing wheels with tripoli but the material is so hard the wheel won't load. Is there a trick to it. Last question what do you recommend for sanding small tight spaces? Thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blewbyu Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Well it depends on how much more polishing on your bike you wanna do. If you can come accross a cheap used one. It will make it easier for you. As far as the compund sticking, it takes time to build a "head" on the wheel is what we call it. Then you wont go through quite as much compound to do parts. We have several different dremels and air tools that are good for getting into tight spots. In your case if your not ttrying to put a ton of money into it, just get some more attachments for your dremel, assuming thats what your using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1FlawlessShee Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Being a beginner with limited tools I can say that polishing takes forever... and there id no way around that. However, I have had excellent results by hand. Like I said... it takes FOREVER but is well worth it when you see the end result. I've found out that 80 grit is a good starting point when you have deep scratches. I then follow it up by wetsanding with 120. Then wetsanding with 600. Thenwetsanding with 800. Followed by wetsanding with1500 and finishing with Mothers Aluminum Polish. It takes a long ass time but I'd be willing to bet that my work by hand looks as good as any machine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1FlawlessShee Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Heres another one. Sorry about the typos in my last post. I just realize I can't edit them... Would have been perfect but that damn dent screwed me. I guess there is only so much you can sand away from the bottom of a beat up used skid plate... And by the way... I had about 15 hours of hand sanding into this ONE skid plate. I know tools would have made it go alot faster but I'm a cheap ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastassbanshee96 Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Heres another one. Sorry about the typos in my last post. I just realize I can't edit them... Would have been perfect but that damn dent screwed me. I guess there is only so much you can sand away from the bottom of a beat up used skid plate... And by the way... I had about 15 hours of hand sanding into this ONE skid plate. I know tools would have made it go alot faster but I'm a cheap ass. Yeah right. You could have gotten the dent out you just didn't try hard enough. Lol looks good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody 350 Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Once you polish, what is the maintenance involved? Does it fade, or yellow? How often do you have to polish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankieSquid Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 You guys have some patience. I tried to strip and started the process with my clutch cover, after a few hours i ended up painting that sucker back to black. i will probably try it again but when i have a bench grinder for the wheels and the other needed equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastassbanshee96 Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 You guys have some patience. I tried to strip and started the process with my clutch cover, after a few hours i ended up painting that sucker back to black. i will probably try it again but when i have a bench grinder for the wheels and the other needed equipment. Yeah it definetly sucks ass. I've polished my clutch cover, rear skid plate, full body skid plate, throttle box, master brake and lever, clutch lever, exhaust, handle bars, front bumper and the dog bone all by hand. And all within the last month. It really sucks when your finger tips start bleeding from doing soo much sanding but it's well worth it in the end. I have ADD so it's really hard for me to focus on one part for a period of time. Lol. But like I said it's worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troyzstang Posted April 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 Damn your work looks great. Can I send you my stuff I did finish my clutch cover and it looks pretty good. I'll post some pics when my camera battery is charged up. Larger areas aren't to bad but the small areas kick my ass. I think I've spent more on prep material then the parts are worth though. My hats off to you for having the patience to polish all of your parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulvafan537240 Posted April 12, 2010 Report Share Posted April 12, 2010 polishing is addictive. youll wind up polishing every aluminum part on your banshee lol. i started "experimenting" on my tri-z and now ill probably have every aluminum part polished on it. Blewbyu, what kind of sealer do you use? ive been told to use zoopseal but i havent bought any yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankieSquid Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 polishing is addictive. youll wind up polishing every aluminum part on your banshee lol. i started "experimenting" on my tri-z and now ill probably have every aluminum part polished on it. Blewbyu, what kind of sealer do you use? ive been told to use zoopseal but i havent bought any yet. X2 It is addictive, shyt can never be too shiny. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajogejr Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Jeff...I want royalties for using Rich's cover for your advertisement....LOL Seriously, I tried...note, tried...to polish my cylinder. Without the right tools, know how and patience...it's pointless. However, done right it sure looks purdy. That, and it's just a dirty, dirty job period.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakar Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) i started with the lil dremil but way to slow but good for tight parts they got that kit at sears with a few wheels and diff types of the paste and ??trapoli?? that works much faster easier kinda queer to get commfy trying to hold both drill and part when the drill trying to throw the part across the room , i cant imagine doing it by hand wow props to u man. im gunna invest in a 2nd hand old bench grinder and buy the ext for the ends but im wondering what kind of hp should the grinder have for polishing ???? thanks Edited April 20, 2010 by shakar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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