Quick Polishing Help

DFG 5OH · Oct 6, 2005

I've got white rouge, and tripoli...i'm about to start the final steps of polishing my valve covers, but the package doesnt say which color tripoli is, i assume white rouge is white, and what order do you use them in?

Matt

1105 · Oct 6, 2005

tripoli (redish) is used first, then white rough (white) it used afterwards usually with a loose sewn buffing wheel

DFG 5OH · Oct 6, 2005

1105 said:
tripoli (redish) is used first, then white rough (white) it used afterwards usually with a loose sewn buffing wheel

thanks zach, i'll post pics in a few!

DFG 5OH · Oct 6, 2005

well i got homework so i knocked off, so how long should i spend on the tripoli, and white rough? I finished with 2000 grit sandpaper, and it looks pretty good, just need to remove the scratches left by the 2000. I bought 2 40 Ply Muslin Cotton Buff, a stick of tripoli, and a stick of white rough, how much product should i use on the buffing wheels? I'm useing this with a drill...

1105 · Oct 6, 2005

When using a drill, it should be rated at 2500rpm from what everyone else has told me... I use a diegrinder or bench grinder to do my polishing....

Use the tripoli until the scratches are gone, probably only need 1 pass over the whole thing, then use the WR until its shiny. I only did 1 pass of each using the bench grinder on my MC. It takes some practice.

DFG 5OH · Oct 6, 2005

1105 said:
When using a drill, it should be rated at 2500rpm from what everyone else has told me... I use a diegrinder or bench grinder to do my polishing....

Use the tripoli until the scratches are gone, probably only need 1 pass over the whole thing, then use the WR until its shiny. I only did 1 pass of each using the bench grinder on my MC. It takes some practice.

thanks for the help man, i have a good diegrinder, but the buffers i have are only rated at 5000 rpms, and i'm sure the die grinder is more than that, and also i'm not sure what rpms my drill spins at...cordless 18v...

1105 · Oct 6, 2005

good luck with the cordless, I'd at least use one that plugs into the wall. We have one that plugs into the wall but its only rated at 1200rpm and I couldnt get a shine out of anything, not to mention it was hard to hold small things.

Post some pictures when you get it finished!

DFG 5OH · Oct 6, 2005

well i'll try movcing up to something thats a little more faster.

94GTLaserRC · Oct 6, 2005

All the polishing info I have read says to use a back and forth, NOT rotating motion. Therefore the die grinders are not the "best" thing to use.

I cant believe you went to 2000 grit. I think Tripoli is even rougher than that, which means you are going backwards.

You MUST use a tightly stitched spiral sewn wheel for the tripoli, and keep a constant amt of pressure while working back and forth.

You "should" use the loose flap wheel for the WR. Whatever you do, do NOT mix the 2 compounds on the same wheel.

RC

DFG 5OH · Oct 6, 2005

well all i have is 2 of the same wheel...i will not mix, but thats what i have to work with. The tripoli took the hazing out from the sandpaper...and i thought you were suppost to go up to 2000 grit...

94GTLaserRC · Oct 6, 2005

Here's the Direct QUOTE instructions from "ALMOST STOCK's" polishing tips

Buffing (Tripoli Compound) Tripoli Compound is used for general cutting of all non-ferrous metals (aluminum, brass, etc. ) Mild cutting action best used with either spiral sewn or ventilated flap buff wheel. This compound comes either in a stick or tube, reddish in color. Buffing or polishing can be done with a cheap electric drill ( $10- $40 ) or a Baldor Buffing motor ($200 - $500).

The basic principle of buffing is to remove any of the fine sanding marks left after sanding . To buff, you need to have the piece secured to the work area in some form (padded clamped, bolted or padded vice ) or when you start to use the wheel on the item you will probably catch an edge or something and the item will hit the ground either braking it (which happened to me ) or putting a big dent in the piece that you can't get out! After you have the piece secured, put a 6" spiral buffing wheel in your electric drill and with medium pressure run the wheel over the Tripoli compound. Apply a small amount of the Tripoli to the wheel , with the Tripoli on the wheel apply slight to medium pressure to the piece your buffing. If you try to apply to much pressure to the piece the Tripoli will only clog up and leave black marks, and will not do the work it was intended for. Buff out a small area at a time using a left to right motion. Do not use a circular motion , apply compound as needed, smaller amounts of compound are easier to work with than one large amount. After you have the entire area buffed move on to another area using the same procedure, by this time you will start to see a nice shine come to the piece, your almost there. I suggest for the smaller areas use smaller buffing wheels (mini buffs) to get into those hard to reach places. Here is a pic after I applied the Tripoli.

Here's the MC I just finished:

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The main things I got from "ALMOST STOCK's" instructions (and he knows his polishing $hit) is to firmly support the object, use back and forth motions, and to not go so crazy on the high grits. ( I go to 400 usually)

RC

94GTLaserRC · Oct 6, 2005

matthiasj said:
well all i have is 2 of the same wheel...i will not mix, but thats what i have to work with. The tripoli took the hazing out from the sandpaper...and i thought you were suppost to go up to 2000 grit...

Almost Stock NEVER uses that high. In the MC above, I went to 400, then used buffing dremel wheels with the Tripoli...then the WR
RC

onebad95 · Oct 7, 2005

Check out the first page of my website over on http://www.gotstang.com screen name Onebad95

I am now a distributo for Metal Master Polish. It is the best aluminum polish I have ever seen.

94GTLaserRC · Oct 7, 2005

$hit Charlie, I forgot I was gonna order some of that stuff...You sure I cant send PayPal?
RC

1105 · Oct 7, 2005

94GTLaserRC said:
All the polishing info I have read says to use a back and forth, NOT rotating motion. Therefore the die grinders are not the "best" thing to use.
RC

How is a diegrinder different from a drill or the buffing motor? If you use a back and forth method for the tripoli you'll be rubbing it in with your fingers...

I'm confused at what you're trying to say there. All of the polishing I have done is by the diegrinder and or benchgrinder which both rotate the wheels the same as a drill would (which is what you said in Almost Stocks polishing tips) Yes the diegrinder will spin it at an insane RPM but you don't have to squeeze the lever down all the way, and in my case I just regulate the air pressure to slow it down a lot.

What other way besides a rotating motion is there to buff something with the compounds? Mothers and stuff like that I rub on and wipe off, but the compounds I use my diegrinder and buffing wheels

MysteryMachine · Oct 8, 2005

I talked to a guy from Eastwood's last year at carlise and he said don't go over like 3000 RPMs cause all your doing is burning the **** on there. Bench buffers are rated at like 2500 i think. Its all with how much patience you have if you have none don't bother cause you'll just get pissed cause it takes time and it won't be show shine in a few min. Good Luck

94GTLaserRC · Oct 8, 2005

1105 said:
How is a diegrinder different from a drill or the buffing motor? If you use a back and forth method for the tripoli you'll be rubbing it in with your fingers...

I'm confused at what you're trying to say there.

I thought it would be easy to understand.

When the die grinder rotates, it is rotating on the ACTUAL surface of the metal. The rotation of the drill does NOT occur on the metal...it occurs in the air.. When using a drill, the wheel contacts the surface in single direction, not a rotating one..you move the drill back and forth.

The die grinder is parallel to the metal, the drill wheel is perpendicular, hence the difference in contact with the surface.

Also, does a buffing motor's wheel spin "on the surface" of the metal...NO, it contacts it in ONE direction.

The whole idea is you want to contact the metal in a way where it doesnt swirl...not that it wont work the other way...just not optimal.

Hope this clears things up.
RC

1105 · Oct 8, 2005

Are you thinking of one of these? This is an angle grinder. Its the only thing I can think of that spins the wheel how you describe, unless you're thinking about an angle diegrinder

This is what I use... A diegrinder. Setup the exact same way as a drill, except it uses air. The wheel spins perpendicular to the surface of the metal

94GTLaserRC · Oct 8, 2005

1105 said:
Are you thinking of one of these? This is an angle grinder. Its the only thing I can think of that spins the wheel how you describe, unless you're thinking about an angle diegrinder

I ALWAYS use the angledie grinder for "rough" sanding and "grinding", so yeah...that's the one Im thinking of.

I have the "regular" die grinder like the third pic, but the Tripoli wheel I have for it is too heavy, so I Always use my drill for the polishing stage.

Glad we cleared that up!
RC

1105 · Oct 8, 2005

94GTLaserRC said:
Glad we cleared that up!
RC

me too

I use the angle diegrinder to rough things up. I just recently found out that the blue sanding disks do a really really really good job for sanding aluminum. For my MC I just hit it with the blue sanding disk, then hit it with compounds and it came out virtually scratch free.

RC, how did thoes little things you got work out? I forgot what they were, but wern't they like sanding sponges or something like that for the dremel?

Anyways, here is what I was talking about, its the blue one so if anyone has one laying around the house give it a try on a piece of aluminum and see if you like it. I use the brown first to grind down the rough casting parts, then use the blue until all the scratches from the brown one are gone then sand with 400 real quick.

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