ss_girl

iTrader: (9)

I'm having a heck of a time trying to polish aluminum. I've wetsanded it smooth down to 2000 grit but when I use a wheel I'll get patches that look like chrome but the rest is hazy. Sometimes it looks almost like heat marks or the compound is melting into the metal. Am I using too much polish? too much pressure. I'm using eastwood's brown and white polish on seperate wheels. My wheels are from a hardware store but they're brand new. I'm also using these on an arbor on my dewalt drill. Thanks for any tips. I'd love to get this stuff looking great.

dragonZ28

iTrader: (32)

Just keep at it and you'll get it. Aluminum is probably the toughtest metal I've had to polis, and I've polished a lot. There are a lot of impurities in aluminum that will show themselvs while polishing. Basically, you have to sand it extremely smooth. It should have a reflection in it before plishing begins. Then, hit it with your buffing wheel. You'll not get it too hot, so don't worry about that. The trouble is coming from impurities that you will eventually overcome with enough elbow grease. It's not a bad idea to polish heavily in the same area more than once.

Fire-formula 93

iTrader: (1)

I apply polish to the buff ball (or wheel) once, I smear it all over the alluminum and start polishing. Just keep on it, it takes quite a while. I found the less polish I used the better. I was polishing a stripped ws6 wheel with a mothers mini powerball and noxon 7 metal polish that I purchased at advance auto. I spent 2 hours on one wheel, but the results were amazing. Have fun!

thesoundandthefury

iTrader: (3)

Too much pressure. When the shine doesn't pop out immediately, it's easy to wanna try and speed it up by pushing harder. It'll come in it's own time. Just be patient.

How many rpm's does your drill spin? Reason I ask this is because how fast a compound is able to work on a part depends solely on the SFPM's that the wheel see's. SFPM stands for "surface feet per minute." The higher the number, the faster you'll get results. The ideal operating range for SFPM is anywhere between 3,600 and 7,500.

The formula for calculating SFPM is 1/4 X wheel diameter X rpm.

So for example, if you're using a 4" wheel on a drill that spins 2,000 rpm's, the SFPM would be: 4" X 1/4"= 1" X 2,000rpm = 2,000SFPM

Obviously in this example, the SFPM's are really low, so the working time for the compound is going to be increased substantially. There are only two ways you can increase SFPM's: increase tool speed, or run a bigger wheel.

Judging by the symptoms you're describing, it sounds like your SFPM's are too low. Handheld drills, (unless you've got a really expensive one), typically run between 1,800-2,500 rpm's. With a 4" wheel, to make it to the low end of the SFPM spectrum, you'll need to spin at least 3,600rpm's.

What is the part you're trying to polish? If it's not too big to physically lift, taking it to a bench grinder with an 8" or 10" buffing wheel mounted on it will definitely help to speed things up and give you the results you're looking for. If not, you'll just have to take some patience pills and keep at it.

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

What part were you trying to polish?

Some parts are harder to get right... for example valve covers are way different compared to maf ends.

That's why some consider it to be a "black art." It takes lots of time/patience/practice to learn, get right, get better. ~Joshua

ss_girl

iTrader: (9)

I was working on the valley cover and an aluminum elbow. I just got some wheels tonite for my bench grinder. I hope to get some time over the weekend to try them out.