Trouble polishing wheels & FUSTRATE!

[Valk-N-Indy]

OK, so I have seen the video and many post on how to get that highly polished mirror finish on Valkyrie rims. I hade great success with the wet sanding process, got the surface super smooth.

The trouble I am having is in the final step using the polishing wheel and the compounds. I don't have any expience using polishing rouge and was suprised how hard they are.

I started with a black, but it did not seem to want to stick the the polishing wheel.

I thought maybe I got some bad compound so I read some more posting and found where DFragn reccomended using Dico® Tripoli Buffing Compound (531-Tc6) and finish with Dico® Buffing Compound (531-Wr1). But I am still not getting any noticable polishing effect.

Any advice for this rookie polisher?
Thanks, Tom (Valk-N-Indy)

[Grumpy]

What ever grade of compound, it requires some pressure on the buffing wheel, if you are doing it right the piece you are polishing will get hot. I do quite a lot of polishing, sample below.

[junior]

What ever grade of compound, it requires some pressure on the buffing wheel, if you are doing it right the piece you are polishing will get hot. I do quite a lot of polishing, sample below.

that is some nice work there Grumpy 

[Valk-N-Indy]

GRUMPY: Thanks for the tip, I will give it some more pressure and see if that works better.

You work looks great, my forks could really use polishing.
How did you wet sand these parts, by hand or some kind of power sander?

Thanks,

[Grumpy]

I use a lathe, and step down through grades of paper, final is 800 grit wet, then start compounding them on the polisher.

[custom1]

Those look great Grumpy. I have some experience with polishing paint and am surprised you can stop with 800 paper and start polishing. With paint I would go to 1200 or 1500 paper. Not sure if that would work with aluminum though. The most I have done with metal is Mothers on a rag and a lot of rubbing.

Also what kind of polishing machine are you each using? Stationary or handheld? I'm sure the power of the machine makes a difference.

[R J]

When I polish stuff, haven't in a long time now, but I used a Mother's Buffer Ball.

I was on Power Tour one year and rolled up to the Mother's display as some asshole keyed my left fender on the Chevy Trike.   Fender had been powder coated.    I showed the guy what I had, walked around to the other side to retrieve a piece of paper I needed and when I walked back around, he was done except for the normal rag wipe.

I bought a ball on the spot and have used it numerous times on varies vehicles of ours, with superb success using a power drill.

[Grumpy]

Those look great Grumpy. I have some experience with polishing paint and am surprised you can stop with 800 paper and start polishing. With paint I would go to 1200 or 1500 paper. Not sure if that would work with aluminum though. The most I have done with metal is Mothers on a rag and a lot of rubbing.

Also what kind of polishing machine are you each using? Stationary or handheld? I'm sure the power of the machine makes a difference.

I have a stationary machine, 14in wheels and 2 horse motor, I stop at 800 as I use 4 different grits of compound , the first is fairly coarse and does the cutting, then progress to finer grades, the first is brown emery, then brown Tripoli, then white rouge and finishing with red rouge. Also I use 4 different buffing wheels, the first is a very stiff canvas for cutting, then the rest are soft sisal wheels. the important part is to use different wheels for each compound. So far I get good results with this method.

[Valk-N-Indy]

Those look great Grumpy. I have some experience with polishing paint and am surprised you can stop with 800 paper and start polishing. With paint I would go to 1200 or 1500 paper. Not sure if that would work with aluminum though. The most I have done with metal is Mothers on a rag and a lot of rubbing.

Also what kind of polishing machine are you each using? Stationary or handheld? I'm sure the power of the machine makes a difference.

I have a stationary machine, 14in wheels and 2 horse motor, I stop at 800 as I use 4 different grits of compound , the first is fairly coarse and does the cutting, then progress to finer grades, the first is brown emery, then brown Tripoli, then white rouge and finishing with red rouge. Also I use 4 different buffing wheels, the first is a very stiff canvas for cutting, then the rest are soft sisal wheels. the important part is to use different wheels for each compound. So far I get good results with this method.

So you are using 14" wheels on a Lathe and just take the part to the polishing wheel? Are you using flapper wheels for the sandpaper on the lathe also? Or am I totally lost?

[Miker]

Tom,

  Black compound is designed for Stainless Steel. I you use it on Aluminum, it will keep cutting until the Aluminum is gone!
  I use it, initially, to prep wheels that are in really bad shape ( a little faster than sanding). Once the wheels are clean, use red which will give you a pretty good shine, finish with white which will give you a high gloss (contrary to popular belief, white is a finer compound than red).  If you have nothing but time on your hands, you can use green compound between the red and the white.
  You need to use a decent amount of pressure when applying the compound to your polishing wheel -you have to generate enough heat to melt the compound into the fabric of the wheel. However, when polishing your aluminum, you don't have to use a lot of pressure. Let your equipment do the work. It's like sawing with a hand saw - if the saw is sharp, you just have to move it back and forth!
  As others have said, use a different wheel for each compound ( red compound-hard wheel; green compound-softer wheel; white compound-softer wheel yet).
  Don't worry about the machining ridges on the bike wheels - they will be gone by the second polishing and you can get a nice shine, even with the ridges.
  Finish up by hand with Mothers or some other Aluminum dressing of your choice to remove any residue.
  Have fun and wear a dust mask, face shield and coveralls!

[Grumpy]

Those look great Grumpy. I have some experience with polishing paint and am surprised you can stop with 800 paper and start polishing. With paint I would go to 1200 or 1500 paper. Not sure if that would work with aluminum though. The most I have done with metal is Mothers on a rag and a lot of rubbing.

Also what kind of polishing machine are you each using? Stationary or handheld? I'm sure the power of the machine makes a difference.

I have a stationary machine, 14in wheels and 2 horse motor, I stop at 800 as I use 4 different grits of compound , the first is fairly coarse and does the cutting, then progress to finer grades, the first is brown emery, then brown Tripoli, then white rouge and finishing with red rouge. Also I use 4 different buffing wheels, the first is a very stiff canvas for cutting, then the rest are soft sisal wheels. the important part is to use different wheels for each compound. So far I get good results with this method.

So you are using 14" wheels on a Lathe and just take the part to the polishing wheel? Are you using flapper wheels for the sandpaper on the lathe also? Or am I totally lost?

I do the initial sanding on the lathe, to remove the clear coat and the machining ridges. The polishing is done on a high speed buffer by hand.

[Valk-N-Indy]

Tom,

  Black compound is designed for Stainless Steel. I you use it on Aluminum, it will keep cutting until the Aluminum is gone!
  I use it, initially, to prep wheels that are in really bad shape ( a little faster than sanding). Once the wheels are clean, use red which will give you a pretty good shine, finish with white which will give you a high gloss (contrary to popular belief, white is a finer compound than red).  If you have nothing but time on your hands, you can use green compound between the red and the white.
  You need to use a decent amount of pressure when applying the compound to your polishing wheel -you have to generate enough heat to melt the compound into the fabric of the wheel. However, when polishing your aluminum, you don't have to use a lot of pressure. Let your equipment do the work. It's like sawing with a hand saw - if the saw is sharp, you just have to move it back and forth!
  As others have said, use a different wheel for each compound ( red compound-hard wheel; green compound-softer wheel; white compound-softer wheel yet).
  Don't worry about the machining ridges on the bike wheels - they will be gone by the second polishing and you can get a nice shine, even with the ridges.
  Finish up by hand with Mothers or some other Aluminum dressing of your choice to remove any residue.
  Have fun and wear a dust mask, face shield and coveralls!

Thanks Miker.

[lawdog150]

I polished my wheels like a dumb a## on the bike. Started with 800 wet sand paper then went to 1000, 1500, and then 2000. All wet sand then came back with 0000 steel wool and white diamond. cleaned wheels after each step. Final step was mothers power ball and white diamond the once hand rag and white diamond. A lot of work but they look great. They look like chrome now. A friend of mine took his wheels off and completed them in 7 hours they look great.

[Grumpy]

Those look great Grumpy. I have some experience with polishing paint and am surprised you can stop with 800 paper and start polishing. With paint I would go to 1200 or 1500 paper. Not sure if that would work with aluminum though. The most I have done with metal is Mothers on a rag and a lot of rubbing.

Also what kind of polishing machine are you each using? Stationary or handheld? I'm sure the power of the machine makes a difference.

I have a stationary machine, 14in wheels and 2 horse motor, I stop at 800 as I use 4 different grits of compound , the first is fairly coarse and does the cutting, then progress to finer grades, the first is brown emery, then brown Tripoli, then white rouge and finishing with red rouge. Also I use 4 different buffing wheels, the first is a very stiff canvas for cutting, then the rest are soft sisal wheels. the important part is to use different wheels for each compound. So far I get good results with this method.

So you are using 14" wheels on a Lathe and just take the part to the polishing wheel? Are you using flapper wheels for the sandpaper on the lathe also? Or am I totally lost?

Confused .  I only use the lathe to sand the forks. I have stationary buffer that I use for polishing.  On the lathe, just chuck up the fork, set the rpm at about 600 and use a foam pad with the paper on it to smooth out the aluminum, I sand it down to 800 grit with wet paper, then remove it from the lathe and start buffing on the buffer..

Buffer....................


Lathe

[GotValk]

Tom, I just did mine, Sanded on the Drill press started with 400 then 600,1000 with no problems,
I found the same problem you did with the black couldn't get it to stick to the wheel, well I didn't want to shop all over town looking for better polish, so I use some old ruby rouge I had from many years ago had had pretty good luck, It took some pressure as some have said but It worked fine.
I'm happy with the way they turned out, anyway you know it won't be long before they loose some of there shine anyway, At least they will be easier to wipe down between polishings.
Good Luck finishing them, post a picture when your done. I forgot to take a before shot.





Gary