Polishing Tunnel

[roughrider99]

after reading most of this thread i decided i needed to go with buffer wheels, jewlers rogue, and tripoli compound, but i have some good scratches in my tunnel and it sounds like 600, 1k,2k and maybe even 3k? wet sanding. what does a guy use for the wet stuff for sanding? is there a proper technique or can i just hit it with an orbital?

i bought some ultra luster from my snap on dealer (his wife distributes the stuff) and it works nights and days beyond mothers with a powerball. its a bit more expensive but i have not found anything even close. I have also used never dull to take the junk off before polishing.

 

[Midwest_Cat]

rough rider - I did mine by hand and just sanded the crap out of it. I couldnt find 1k or 2k discks to fit on my palm/orbital sander or angle sander... majority of the time was spent going in the longest direction of the metal - kind of like going with the grain of wood. i found the more wet the paper the better the results. so i was spraying quite a bit, plus is helps wash the metal and dirt/debris off. i went to shucks (like an auto zone or murrays/napa) and they didn't have 3K. only found 1K and 2K.

 

[Surly1]

Roughrider -

I hand sanded everything on mine. Like I stated I quit at 800, found the Tripoli compund will take those scratches out pretty easily. You could go up to 1000 (if you can find it), but personally the time sanding vs, polishing is about the same.

For hand sanding, recommend going and getting a good automtive style sanding block (these are usually rubber in material, and have decent weight to them). Change the paper often, keep things really wet (spray bottle, also dip the paper in a bucket of water, as it helps clear the debris off the paper).

If you have deep gouges and scratches I would start with a rougher grit paper, you can try 400, but may have to get down to 320. Only sand as much as you need to. You have to work progressivly up from the rougher grit to a finer grit (make the sanding marks less and less as you go up). If you take off a bunch of material with 320, you will have to work twice as hard with the 400, 600, 800, etc. Don't start with 1000 on the deep scratches, as it will take you forever (you may as well use wet newspaper, cause that is about how corse the 1000 is, ok a little exaggerated).

Also do some youtube searches on polishing aluminum (or google searches), there is a ton of eductional info out there.

 

[ne1cadrgn]

They all look good. How can a person get the finish to last.

 

[SSWIM]

They all look good. How can a person get the finish to last.

Clear coat it or never ride it. Sorry, but that is the only way polished aluminum will last. No doubt it looks awesome, but you will polish forever to keep it looking good.

Sam

 

[roughrider99]

just use water for wet sanding?

 

[MtnMaxMod]

mothers powerball and mothers aluminum polish.

 

[roughrider99]

when wet sanding does a guy need to hand sand with the grain of aluminum? or can i just used my drill and sanding disks?

 

[MtnMaxMod]

hand sand.

i just used a red scotch-brite pad on my tunnel and it turned out pretty well.

 

[roughrider99]

there has to be a better way, tunnel is in bad shape cosmetically and i have some decent scratches. wet sanding at 400-800-1k-1.5k grit then buffing with a series of compunds.

Mastercraft makes an awesome buffing set for any metal. comes with 6 different compounds, a few different buffing wheels, balls, and tips of various shapes and sizes. All for only 50 bucks at canadian tire.

 

[Midwest_Cat]

just use water for wet sanding?

i used a water + dish soap mix in a spray bottle. helps keep things clean.

 

[Midwest_Cat]

They all look good. How can a person get the finish to last.

after your done polishing it, put a coat of wax (carnuba or similar) on it. it will help with the maintenance.

 

[roughrider99]

ya i was planning on using some water with dish soap and spray bottle also. but is the sanding by hand a must? i was hopin to cheat with by usin my drill and sanding discs.

 

[somefear]

Here is my second sled that I have polished.....my pics from the previous sled are in this forum as well. I wet sanded this one with 2000 grit first, then used Mothers Aluminum polish and used an orbital buffer and buffed by hand. I then finished it off with Mothers billet polish for the last few coats, buffing each coat by hand. The wet sanding technique cut the time of polishing down to less than 1/2.....I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and my hubby is too!!

 

[samiams2]

The quickest easiest way to do it is a thick buffing wheel on a high rpm grinder with bar rouge. If you want it to really shine wet sand it first starting with 600 and work up to 1200 with a DA before you start polishing. The sanding gives you the best finish and actually makes the polishing much quicker with better results. I build Semi show trucks and have the misfortune of polishing a full truck about 6 times a year.

so Im the idiot but....whats a DA?

 

[green_denali]

polishing

I use the kit that Dunatic recommended with the tripoli and jewelers rouge, and then polished by hand with mothers. This is the best way to polish a sled IMO.

 

[edog1605]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverGriz
Mothers is very affordable for how good it works. I bought a good size jar that will do the entire tunnel for under $6.

are you going to do your rails?