welcome to my post on how to hand polish. first i'm going to introduce you to what you'll need:



in the picture is a jug of metal safe paint stripper, sand paper (you'll need an assortment), a small can of "mothers mag and aluminum polish," and an un-shiney piece of metal.

the sand paper i use ranges from 80 grit to 400 grit. some people go higher, but i like 400 because a machine such as a buffing wheel can remove it clean and why spend the extra time doing finer grits?

i also recommend you get a fine towel or cloth for rubbing the compound in. such as terry cloth or cheese cloth.

you'll need a large tub or go outside and use your hose when rinsing off the paint stripper, its really messy. just follow the directions on the paint stripper can.

plenty of paper towels, and a safe work area. i also suggest having plenty of time and plenty of cigarettes plus a case of beverages of your choice .

here we go:

a little bit of stripping


some pics of 80 grit (removes the deep blemishes, after you remove the deep stuff the rest of the grits go really fast. this is the main part of your work load.)




after you've gone through the sanding procedure, you start working in the polish compound. i like to use the really fine/soft cloth for this. just work in a dime sized amount until it turns black, turns hard, then wipes itself away without changing spots on the towel. in other words, dont clean away black polish with a clean part of the towel, just keep rubbing on the same part of the towel.



after this, you have successfully hand polished a piece of metal.
to you

this isn't the cleanest polish, but its damn close and you dont have to use any special machinary, just your hands. if you want that crazy chrome look i suggest investing in a jewelers style polishing wheel and getting all of the rouges required.

good luck.


Modified by 3.504 at 6:38 PM 6/26/2005

 

 

sweet you can do my valve cover now......

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DnB TeK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sweet you can do my valve cover now......</TD></TR></TABLE>

for $150.00 i'll do it

 

Smoking while using paint stripper

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MolecularIntegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Smoking while using paint stripper </TD></TR></TABLE>

that was for picture purposes.

i mentioned in my instructions to use a safe work environment. i'd hope if someone was handling flamable material they'd be smart enough to not smoke around it.

 

appreciate that !

 

You also recommended having a lot of cigarettes. I know most people aren't that stupid but you never know. I'm just messing around.

 

 

i did some more work on the valve cover, its almost done, just need to finish up the detailing paint work.








again, sorry about my 17 dollar walmart camara...

what do you guys think? ?

 

nice!

 

looks good

 

wow!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by intenseEK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks good</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

cool..

 

 

nice

 

Nice to see some hand polishing tips.

I know a motorcycle shop thats local that does all of their work by hand. They charge a GRIP, but their work is CRAZY!

 

Nice! Hand polishing is a pain in the ***! But it looks damn good when you are done.

 

thanks for all the comments guys.

hopefully the guy im doin this cover for likes it too

 

cant wait to see more of your work

 

damn that looks nice, i might have to do that.

 

was a bitch hand polishing my radiator but well worth the time.

 

i polished my distributer by hand ... well almost all by hand final step i did w/ a buffing wheel . came out nice though.. ill post a pic tomorrow .

nice write up