desmodromic
XS650 Addict
Makita grinder with a Ryobi (home depot) polish kit for a drill.
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How do you polish the valve cover?
- Thread starter desmodromic
- Start date
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- paint
Makita grinder with a Ryobi (home depot) polish kit for a drill.
sseres
XS650 Junkie
Did you need a special nut on that to get the pad on your grinder, or is the one pictured what came with th grinder?
desmodromic
XS650 Addict
No, is the one that came with the grinder. Its kinda hard to put the nut on but its worth it. I have an bench grinder, buffer, and this grinder and I prefer this using my angle grinder when I polish my covers while they are on my bike. If you can remove your covers then use a bench grinder.
Even though I have the bench buffer, I'm using the 2 1/2" or 3" wheels in a HF die grinder more and more, especially on rims. Used with black emery buffing compound, they do a wonderful job. McMaster Carr has the best deal on compounds I've found so far. Giant 2 1/2 lb. bars for $5 to $10, about the same prices other places charge for bars half that size (or smaller).
i have the HF pedistal buffer and love it. I also have the angle grinder conversion from Csswells and use the that on wheels. Most of my aluminum is done with black on a coarse wheel then white on a soft pad, see yourself finish in short order. I would guess I have polished up 6 or 7 engines so far. Menards sells a buffer pretty cheap also. probably the same as the HF unit.
I think it's the 8" 3/4 horse but they are tiny little Chinese horses. I really want to get a 1 1/2 HP Baldor but haven't found a deal on one yet. 3 phase are everywhere but the single phase are harder to find. I got that HF on a nice heavy pedestal with 5 Caswell compound blocks and an assortment of wheels for $80 so I ain't complaining. I have put some hours on it and it's holding up so far. But yeah a heavy push will slow it down.
I have another older 8" HF combo unit. It's got a grinding wheel on one side, buffing wheel on the other. I bought it years ago and it's not from China. It's a beast. I was surprised to see it's only 1/2 HP because it doesn't slow down when pushed on. Taiwanese horses must be bigger, lol.
sseres
XS650 Junkie
Decided after looking at angle grinders in person that I thought I'd have a bit more use for the bench grinder after all. It was really easy to take off all the protective guides:
I had to do something to accommodate for the thinner size of the buffing pads vs grinding wheels, but these little fuel line clamps came in handy.
So, after a few failed attempts, here's what I got done yesterday:
I am having some problem with a bit of a chatter pattern that I think is being caused by the buffing wheel, but I don't seem to be able to easily polish that away with a microfiber towel. also, it's REALLY HARD not to obsess about little scratches that remain even after I've been as careful as I can to get them out. I used the idea above in the thread about doing each sanding grit 90 degrees to the last which seemed to help me get rid of the majority of scratches. Anyway, it'd be great to know how to take this to the next level. I mean it's shiny, but it's not THAT shiny...
I had to do something to accommodate for the thinner size of the buffing pads vs grinding wheels, but these little fuel line clamps came in handy.
So, after a few failed attempts, here's what I got done yesterday:
I am having some problem with a bit of a chatter pattern that I think is being caused by the buffing wheel, but I don't seem to be able to easily polish that away with a microfiber towel. also, it's REALLY HARD not to obsess about little scratches that remain even after I've been as careful as I can to get them out. I used the idea above in the thread about doing each sanding grit 90 degrees to the last which seemed to help me get rid of the majority of scratches. Anyway, it'd be great to know how to take this to the next level. I mean it's shiny, but it's not THAT shiny...
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
$39.50 shipping on a $21.00 item?
I bought some buff wheels some time back at Home Depot, they can be used on a bench grinder. No, it's not a perfect solution but it's a lot cheaper than a dedicated buffer.
What compounds are you using? For best and highest shine, you need to progress through them from coarse to fine (black emery, brown tripoli, white high polish). You should use a different wheel for each compound. I use the black mostly. It will remove sanding marks from 400 paper. If you haven't sanded fine enough, it won't shine as well. I just re-buffed my left cover yesterday. I didn't have all the buffing stuff I do now when I originally did it. After spending some time with the black emery and small buffs in die grinders, it's better but still not perfect. I didn't sand fine enough to begin with.
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
What type clear do y'all use on engine parts, or do you clear them?
sseres
XS650 Junkie
I'm still experimenting. I got a 3 stick set from Home Depot and was really frustrated with he black because it just seemed to jam black marks into the littlest sending marks. So then I though it was the denim wheel that was too hard so I just started using the soft wheel with the white compound (read= no, I don't know what the hell I am doing!). Could be I don't have the right wheel compound or something.
If the black you got really is black emery, it will be softer than most of the other finer compounds. When you "load" your wheel with compound, you only hold the stick against it for a couple seconds at most. It doesn't last long and you need to "re-load" the wheel frequently but that's just how it's done. If you put too much compound on, it will clog the wheel up. You want a harder wheel like that denin one for the coarser compounds. The unstitched (loose) wheel is just for fine compounds and high polishing. It won't do much about removing scratch marks. The wheel is too soft and the compound too fine.
Even using the proper small amounts of compound, your wheels will clog up eventually and will need to be cleaned. They make a special tool called a wheel rake but it's pretty expensive for what it is. In a pinch, you can lightly "rake" the wheel as it spins using a wire brush.
Here's a little "how to" that covers the important basics .....
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffman.htm
Even using the proper small amounts of compound, your wheels will clog up eventually and will need to be cleaned. They make a special tool called a wheel rake but it's pretty expensive for what it is. In a pinch, you can lightly "rake" the wheel as it spins using a wire brush.
Here's a little "how to" that covers the important basics .....
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffman.htm
Instead of sand paper I like these wheels to do the engine side covers especially back in the folds and inside radii.
Orange is coarse, blue is finer then you are ready for black compound. Wipe the part with paint thinner on a rag occasionally it removes the wax residue from the buff sticks,
You can go too nuts on polishing.
The shop that cast the huge detailed brass doors for cathedrals employed an old gent to do the detail finish and polish work. A visitor watched him work away for a while and finally asked; how do you know when you are done? The fellow replied "I just keep polishing until they come and take them away".... Paul Harvey told that, if I remember right.
Orange is coarse, blue is finer then you are ready for black compound. Wipe the part with paint thinner on a rag occasionally it removes the wax residue from the buff sticks,
You can go too nuts on polishing.
The shop that cast the huge detailed brass doors for cathedrals employed an old gent to do the detail finish and polish work. A visitor watched him work away for a while and finally asked; how do you know when you are done? The fellow replied "I just keep polishing until they come and take them away".... Paul Harvey told that, if I remember right.
sseres
XS650 Junkie
Instead of sand paper I like these wheels to do the engine side covers especially back in the folds and inside radii.
Orange is coarse, blue is finer then you are ready for black compound. Wipe the part with paint thinner on a rag occasionally it removes the wax residue from the buff sticks,
You can go too nuts on polishing.
The shop that cast the huge detailed brass doors for cathedrals employed an old gent to do the detail finish and polish work. A visitor watched him work away for a while and finally asked; how do you know when you are done? The fellow replied "I just keep polishing until they come and take them away".... Paul Harvey told that, if I remember right.
Did you buy that online?
sseres
XS650 Junkie
Awesome! Thanks!
Farm and fleet sells them probably many others, Farm and Fleet sells them on line also. They come in several styles and sizes the type shown has a 1/4" mandrel so you just chuck em in a cheap electric drill. A little water or LOL paint thinner helps They last forever and ever. I bet I have 3 or 4 hours of time on my blue one.
