DIY: The POLISHING
12-16-2003, 03:13 PM
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DIY: The POLISHING
I'm delirious. I've been in my sink sanding for 10 hours now. Ignore this if you want. If there's no interest in this thread, let it die. Any input from others that have done this is welcome. Please discuss what you know about polishing. Post pictures of your work, etc. No finish looks as good as a polished finish, and few people are crazy enough to do it... so if you're out there, HOLLER!
I've put myself through polishing projects before, and they were fairly small and simple. Now I have a little more than a dozen parts to polish, and some of them are pretty frikkin large. Maybe I overdid it this time.
I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to engine building. Depending on the quality of the cast of the part, the way you used to have to polish stuff was...
1. wet-sand your part using low grit sandpaper to remove cast imperfections
2. wet-sand your part using medium grit sandpaper to remove the damage done by the low grit sandpaper
3. wet-sand your part using fine grit sandpaper to remove all scratches left by the medium grit sandpaper
4. wet-sand your part using ultra-fine grit sandpaper so you don't have to spend every weekend polishing it
5. (optional) wet-sand your part for 10 hours using insanely-high grit sandpaper until you see your reflection
6. Use an air-powered DIY grinder with polishing wheels, and the appropriate polishing compound to glaze on an ultra-reflective finish... let the polishing wheel do all the work.
7. Repeat step 6 until you're happy with it.
... but nowdays, I'm sure there are more efficient ways of achieving this type of finish because that method is a PITA. Seriously. Doing it will bore you to death. It's like watching flys f***. (it still works, though)
Does anyone know of any other sanding tools for detail sanding? What's the smallest one you've seen? Are there any good mechanical processes for polishing parts? What's this stuff I hear about a tumbler? What's a Steel-abbraider? Is there a better way to do this? Or is hand-sanding still the best way to get a great finish?
I've put myself through polishing projects before, and they were fairly small and simple. Now I have a little more than a dozen parts to polish, and some of them are pretty frikkin large. Maybe I overdid it this time.
I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to engine building. Depending on the quality of the cast of the part, the way you used to have to polish stuff was...
1. wet-sand your part using low grit sandpaper to remove cast imperfections
2. wet-sand your part using medium grit sandpaper to remove the damage done by the low grit sandpaper
3. wet-sand your part using fine grit sandpaper to remove all scratches left by the medium grit sandpaper
4. wet-sand your part using ultra-fine grit sandpaper so you don't have to spend every weekend polishing it
5. (optional) wet-sand your part for 10 hours using insanely-high grit sandpaper until you see your reflection
6. Use an air-powered DIY grinder with polishing wheels, and the appropriate polishing compound to glaze on an ultra-reflective finish... let the polishing wheel do all the work.
7. Repeat step 6 until you're happy with it.
... but nowdays, I'm sure there are more efficient ways of achieving this type of finish because that method is a PITA. Seriously. Doing it will bore you to death. It's like watching flys f***. (it still works, though)
Does anyone know of any other sanding tools for detail sanding? What's the smallest one you've seen? Are there any good mechanical processes for polishing parts? What's this stuff I hear about a tumbler? What's a Steel-abbraider? Is there a better way to do this? Or is hand-sanding still the best way to get a great finish?
12-16-2003, 10:43 PM
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ive polished shit before and it made me hate sanding with a passion,..but you know what? i still polished shit up afterwards,..because i agree with you,..polishing shit makes it look real good,..the last thing i polished was a valve cover,..came out blinging,..but i sold it and didnt take any pics,..when im done with my next polishing project which im doing rightnow,..ill post pics,..its actually a b16 head that had a exhaust cam seized,..so its fawked,..my friend gave it to me so im polishing the WHOLE HEAD for display purposes for my shop
12-17-2003, 08:03 AM
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Ugh... chainsaws... I was up 'til 2AM last night sanding, and VA Power woke me up at 8:00 in my yard removing 3 trees. I told them when I heard the chainsaws that I thought it was someone stealing my civic. They sound a lot alike.
Anyway... Day one. 10 hours of sanding. I've finished with 220 grit on one side. There are still some rough spots that may need a little more before I move on to 320 grit. I'm probably going to stop at 600 grit on the head, and 800 grit on the valve cover since most of the head is blocked by heat shields, manifolds and coolant necks (which are also getting polished). I snapped a picture of the progress. Here's the pic...
Anyway... Day one. 10 hours of sanding. I've finished with 220 grit on one side. There are still some rough spots that may need a little more before I move on to 320 grit. I'm probably going to stop at 600 grit on the head, and 800 grit on the valve cover since most of the head is blocked by heat shields, manifolds and coolant necks (which are also getting polished). I snapped a picture of the progress. Here's the pic...
12-17-2003, 08:28 AM
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...also be warned... BEAD BLASTING IS BAD on ANY part that used to, or will eventually contain motor OIL. Glass beads are nearly indestructable, and they stick to oil. All that oil has to do is eventually get pumped through the engine into a bearing surface and you're engine is fawked. Of course, you can hot-tank the part, and then blow it out with compressed air... but that would still scare the hell out of me if I bought HKS cams, forged rods and pistons, and $1500 worth of machine work.
Solution: if you're going to blast something, use walnut shells on any engine parts that will contain oil. Walnut shells are oil soluable, so they won't eat bearings if you don't manage to clean that one little tiny piece of it out of the part.
Solution: if you're going to blast something, use walnut shells on any engine parts that will contain oil. Walnut shells are oil soluable, so they won't eat bearings if you don't manage to clean that one little tiny piece of it out of the part.
12-17-2003, 08:39 AM
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That polished head is coming out real nice:thumbup: I think I'm gonna do the valve cover the old fashioned way when I get around to it. Does anyone know if you have to replace the gasket when you take it off/put it back on? I've never had the valve cover off before.