- Thread starter Seano
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brightspark
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- yarm stockton on tees
just loads of effort and preferably a large polishing head with various mops and grades of compound http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBAPWj3TYQo
In principle it's as simple as working up through finer and finer grades of abrasive i.e. you get the thing straight and even with a coarser abrasives and then remove the scratches with finer abrasives/compounds until they're no longer visible. As with paint etc it's ALL in the prep as if you don't blend a defect out over a large enough area then once you get to the glossing (colouring) stages it can stand out like a sore thumb. The kit that's available makes a difference in that hand drills and cheapnese pedestal grinders fitted with mops often don't have the guts. You need to generate heat to get the compounds used with mops working. That means sufficient speed while leaning on it. Lean on hand drills/cheapnese stuff and they often slow (or even stall)
Something with lots of shape/small radius curves is relatively easy as getting it shiney will often suffice. Large flatish areas are a LOT harder as making it shiney will reveal the TINIEST of flaws by messing with reflections i.e. getting a mirror like shine is relatively easy, getting a real mirror finish is not
The soft alloys (1050/3103) that i use for fuel tanks and the like are harder to polish to a proper mirror finish than harder alloys like the 6xxx series. It's hard to describe but 1) even with a very greasy super fine compound finishing mops can still mark them and 2) they are a lot easier to 'burn' which results in a hazy finish if that makes sense
Something with lots of shape/small radius curves is relatively easy as getting it shiney will often suffice. Large flatish areas are a LOT harder as making it shiney will reveal the TINIEST of flaws by messing with reflections i.e. getting a mirror like shine is relatively easy, getting a real mirror finish is not
The soft alloys (1050/3103) that i use for fuel tanks and the like are harder to polish to a proper mirror finish than harder alloys like the 6xxx series. It's hard to describe but 1) even with a very greasy super fine compound finishing mops can still mark them and 2) they are a lot easier to 'burn' which results in a hazy finish if that makes sense
