Hi
In this blog I’m going to talk about how I got a mirror finish on some aluminium lambretta suspension parts.
The pictures featured don’t do the finish any justice, but believe me they were very bright mirror finish.
For this job I used
A half round file
Coloured mop with 150 & 240 grit satene
Sisal mop with grey supercut 523 BFF
White stitch with green 439T
Calico with blue p164
Wdr ( swansdown) with yellow p175 “ you can pink p126” instead of yellow, but yellow gives a better brighter finish.
This job will take a novice about 30 to 40 mins using a converted bench grinder using 6” or 4” mops.
You can buy all this kit from my online shop, including the bench grinder for £50 including postage. Excluding the satene and coloured stitch mops
Because the client wanted all the casting, stamp and anodising off i used a half round file at first to remove the bulk of it. Making sure not to take too much off and create flat spots.
After I was happy, I loaded the coloured stitch mop with 150 grit satene, waited 5 mins and loaded it again making sure I had a thick coverage.
Working the piece I moved it in a forward motion because it was tubular, making sure not to keep it in one place too long and create flat spots. We don’t want to create too much heat at this point. If it’s too hot to hold leave it for a couple of mins to cool off.
Once I was happy with the finish which looks sort of brushed I cleaned the mop off with a wire brush and then a heavy flat file, making sure all the previous satene was gone. What we don’t want is to make more scratches so it’s important to clean the mop well. Also make sure to clean the piece you’re polishing with a clean dry cloth, and do it softly.
I loaded the 240 grit in the same way as before.
I worked the piece same as before constantly turning it, this took about another 5 mins. When I was happy with the finish and all anodising, scratches and casting marks were gone I put it to one side to cool. By now it looked smooth brushed finish and you’ll know when this is..
Next we get to the best bit, sisal mop. This is where you’re going to see it coming together. We apply grey compound in a dabbing motion for about a second at a time, do this 3 times and you will have enough on it. We work piece in the same way constantly turning it and create enough heat for compound to work. Every 30 seconds or so add a little more compound in dabbing motion but only one time. You’re going to want to clean mop every 3-4 applications of compound, do this with edge of file or something with a flat straight edge. This is to get rid of any build up of compound and material. When you’ve been over it 4 or so times its going to look ready for next stage. You can tell because the piece will look dull metallic with no real visible scratches. Wipe clean with cloth and you can also use Vienna lime which gets rid of residue.
Now we use the white stitch with the green compound, same application as grey and same methods of cleaning and working. After you’ve been over it a couple of times it’s going to look bright, you can stop here because if you have done the process well it will look polished. But were going for a real bright mirror finish.
Now we use the calico with the blue compound same methods as before, after this stage it’s classed as mirror. You might find it cloudy in some areas so add a bit more compound and generate a bit more heat which will get rid of the clouding. Now the next step usually is to go to pink compound but if you have done all the previous stages well and it looks mirror you can use the WDR with the yellow compound. This will leave a very ,very bright mirror finish. Almost bright chrome looking and well worth the effort.
Now if you’ve taken your time you’re going to get the best finish, it will surprise you how bright it is.
Any problems get in touch with me at www.waxonwaxoffltd.co.uk
enquiries@waxonwaxoffltd.co.uk
or if you want to buy a kit for this job or any other polishing job get in touch and I’ll help you out.
Happy polishing oh don’t forget to wear a dusk mask cos you’ll have lungs of iron if you don’t.
In this blog I’m going to talk about how I got a mirror finish on some aluminium lambretta suspension parts.
The pictures featured don’t do the finish any justice, but believe me they were very bright mirror finish.
For this job I used
A half round file
Coloured mop with 150 & 240 grit satene
Sisal mop with grey supercut 523 BFF
White stitch with green 439T
Calico with blue p164
Wdr ( swansdown) with yellow p175 “ you can pink p126” instead of yellow, but yellow gives a better brighter finish.
This job will take a novice about 30 to 40 mins using a converted bench grinder using 6” or 4” mops.
You can buy all this kit from my online shop, including the bench grinder for £50 including postage. Excluding the satene and coloured stitch mops
Because the client wanted all the casting, stamp and anodising off i used a half round file at first to remove the bulk of it. Making sure not to take too much off and create flat spots.
After I was happy, I loaded the coloured stitch mop with 150 grit satene, waited 5 mins and loaded it again making sure I had a thick coverage.
Working the piece I moved it in a forward motion because it was tubular, making sure not to keep it in one place too long and create flat spots. We don’t want to create too much heat at this point. If it’s too hot to hold leave it for a couple of mins to cool off.
Once I was happy with the finish which looks sort of brushed I cleaned the mop off with a wire brush and then a heavy flat file, making sure all the previous satene was gone. What we don’t want is to make more scratches so it’s important to clean the mop well. Also make sure to clean the piece you’re polishing with a clean dry cloth, and do it softly.
I loaded the 240 grit in the same way as before.
I worked the piece same as before constantly turning it, this took about another 5 mins. When I was happy with the finish and all anodising, scratches and casting marks were gone I put it to one side to cool. By now it looked smooth brushed finish and you’ll know when this is..
Next we get to the best bit, sisal mop. This is where you’re going to see it coming together. We apply grey compound in a dabbing motion for about a second at a time, do this 3 times and you will have enough on it. We work piece in the same way constantly turning it and create enough heat for compound to work. Every 30 seconds or so add a little more compound in dabbing motion but only one time. You’re going to want to clean mop every 3-4 applications of compound, do this with edge of file or something with a flat straight edge. This is to get rid of any build up of compound and material. When you’ve been over it 4 or so times its going to look ready for next stage. You can tell because the piece will look dull metallic with no real visible scratches. Wipe clean with cloth and you can also use Vienna lime which gets rid of residue.
Now we use the white stitch with the green compound, same application as grey and same methods of cleaning and working. After you’ve been over it a couple of times it’s going to look bright, you can stop here because if you have done the process well it will look polished. But were going for a real bright mirror finish.
Now we use the calico with the blue compound same methods as before, after this stage it’s classed as mirror. You might find it cloudy in some areas so add a bit more compound and generate a bit more heat which will get rid of the clouding. Now the next step usually is to go to pink compound but if you have done all the previous stages well and it looks mirror you can use the WDR with the yellow compound. This will leave a very ,very bright mirror finish. Almost bright chrome looking and well worth the effort.
Now if you’ve taken your time you’re going to get the best finish, it will surprise you how bright it is.
Any problems get in touch with me at www.waxonwaxoffltd.co.uk
enquiries@waxonwaxoffltd.co.uk
or if you want to buy a kit for this job or any other polishing job get in touch and I’ll help you out.
Happy polishing oh don’t forget to wear a dusk mask cos you’ll have lungs of iron if you don’t.
ps the picture above, the one on right is polished. the one on left is the origanal
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