I gots me a motorcycle - Page 3

561design · #21 07-02-2009, 11:00 PM

Today I finished smoothing off the remaining top section of the battery tray.

I finally decided to grind off the remaining supports for the tool box.

Old vs. New

Working on polishing/buffing for the first time evar.

Anyone know what the white stuff is on the bottom right? I was not able to remove it. Did I do something wrong?

ffdbrooks · #22 07-02-2009, 11:59 PM

Did you wet sand the piece prior to using the polisher? It also depends on the quality of the metal that you are polishing. You should be using a few different levels of polishing compounds while smoothing it all out. The finer the sand paper you use, the brighter the shine will be. I have polished several things of aluminium and always ended with 2000 grit sandpaper before starting to use polish. The gradually stepped up the polishing compound. I always end using the white polishing compound and it makes for a chrome like finish on aluminium. It takes a ton of time to polish something and get it perfect. Just remember to sand in the same direction at all times. Don't swirl sand or cross sand. Those little sand marks will take forever to get out. looking good so far. Keep posting pics and keeping us all up to date.

561design · #23 07-03-2009, 10:21 PM

SHAT! No I didn't wet sand. I used Simichrome polish with 000 and 0000 steel wool. I'll go back around, sand it down this time and polish again to see what happens. Thanks for the tip. When I'm polishing I'm using black, white and then red.

ffdbrooks · #24 07-04-2009, 09:22 AM

It all depends on the maker of the compound that you are using. Most complanies use white as their finest polishing compound. Just make sure you don't cross sand and take your time on the polishing. You can mess it up by rushing, going to slow, or making the metal to hot in one spot. Good luck with the project and the polishing. Very tedious task but well worth the time for a great looking motorcycle.

561design · #25 07-07-2009, 10:16 PM

The past couple days I've been polishing some parts. I have about three more pieces on the motor I would like to polish. But this is what I've done so far. That large casing was very difficult for me to polish. The irregular shapes were just hard to navigate around. Overall, I'm happy with the results although one piece (top right) still has a LITTLE milky look to it. I'm not sure what that's about. But, I did redo it from the picture posted previously and there is significant improvement. I have been sanding the pieces with 600 grit and then 1000, and then buffed with ebony, white and then rogue.

Found this wedged in the alternator. It looks like it's already cut a groove in the magnets. I'm glad I decided to tear the motor down.

Current state

561design · #26 07-12-2009, 07:51 PM

I've been insanely busy the past couple days. I did manage a few hours today to polish this piece. As I get further into the motor I'm encountering a large number of stripped philips head screws. A few of them I had to drill out and use a screw extractor. Maybe I'll replace this with some allen head bolts. I also had some company from a little butterfly, who hungout right next to me the whole time.