What type of polishing equipment do you use

eac67gt

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  1. eac67gt - 03-05-13, 08:23 AM
    I use a HF 6" bench polisher It was rather in-expensive but does the job well on the size parts I finish. I will say one thing in just learning all this it is so easy to shoot a part across the room.
    There has been many a part that I had to remake or go back to the wheel one the drill press to smooth back up.
    I work almost all the time in aluminum.
    Currently I do my "pre-polish", deburring on the drill press with a deburring wheel 4" unitized silicon carbide fine grade density: 2 density grade: soft.
    It seems to work quite well.
    Then I hit it with a scothbrite ball on the drill press.
    In the past I did not do the scotch brite ball and the polishing was slower and not as good.
    On the polisher my first step is a 6" Dico 527-40-6 cotton spiral sewn 1/2" thick buffing wheel.
    With this I use Tripoli compound. I have used the emory comound from Porter Cable and have had excellallant result sbut if not careful it can be quite agressive.
    Next I go to the 6" Dico 527-36-6 cotton cushion sewn 1/2" thick buffing wheel.
    With this I use the Rouge compound.
    With these steps I have found the aluminum comes out like a mirror.
    For anodizing I always go through these steps to remove all small imperfections because any small imperfection will show when anodized.
    If a matte finished is wanted for anodizing there is a process after the polishing to bring it to a uniform matte finish.

    Ed


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  2. JT. - 03-05-13, 10:14 AM
    do you use a cleaning wheel (sort of rubber wheel ) to getthe previus abrasive off?​
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  3. ddushane - 03-05-13, 04:37 PM
    Speaking of Rubber wheels, Cratex are great for cleaning up & shaping, but they are expensive, they come in all different shapes & sizes, I was blessed with some 1"x6" ones that are going to come in handy, I've got a lot of the smaller ones that fit on dremels, & foredoms.

    Dwayne​
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  4. eac67gt - 03-06-13, 10:51 AM
    JT. do you mean the abrasive/compound from polishing? If so I polish on a particular wheel until all compound that may be on part is totally removed. If you mean on the other wheels, I have never honestly noticed that there was abrasive left behind. There might be I will have to look next time. After I machine parts I do go to the slop sink and wash them down with dish soap before I continue to next step. I do not want to contaminate any of the finishing wheels with oil.​
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  5. eac67gt - 03-06-13, 08:42 PM
    Yes I have used the Cratex on other stuff before and they do work great. What would be nice to find is those or ones like those that are small point like for a Dremel that were cylinders that would fit in a 1/8" slot. I've run into where I need to finish inside a slot 1/8" and found it really difficult to get much of anything in there.

    Ed​
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  6. JT. - 03-07-13, 01:19 AM
    here are some pics from kelblys inc.
    the got a set of 3 machines like thise look at the slots they got an vacuum cleaner atach to it thats why the close the slots and open only the one the are
    using

    polish1.jpg


    polish3.jpg


    polish2.jpg


    the "rubber" wheel sits on the left side​
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  7. eac67gt - 03-07-13, 11:00 AM
    Here is a shot of my grinder and polisher stand. The one in the back of course is the polisher. You can see the sheet metal pan I made under the wheel. It would be easy enough to connect my vac to that as in your picture. Actually this is where the major dust balls start to collect and start to blow around. I always hesitated on doing it because my vac eats a lot of power and I am usually polishing for long periods of time. I guess in a lot of ways I am now at a cross roads where is the dust collection more important or not consuming power.
    Thanks for your photos and idea.

    Ed



    asset.php
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  8. eac67gt - 03-07-13, 11:01 AM
    Wow is my photo big enough :)
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  9. JT. - 03-07-13, 11:24 AM
    yes it is i need a bicicle to get to the other side​
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  10. eac67gt - 03-07-13, 11:55 AM
    Fixed it, much better.​
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I have been using products from Brownells, the gunsmithing suppliers in Montezuma IA. Their line of 555 polishing media is pretty impressive, fast, and affordable. Polish-O-Ray works well too if you really want to get into it. I just use the 555 anymore as I try to simplify things a bit. They can help you polish any media you have and they have excellent pros that you can call up and talk to if you can't figure it out. Brownells.com should get you there. Get lots of wheels and don't cross contaminate them with grit or media. Be sure to get a wheel rake and trueing stone. True the wheels as you can't get a perfect shine if the wheel face is skipping all over the place. Your results will be worth it. I slowed my wheels down from 3600 to 1800 on advice of a knife maker and have found my control is much better and less parts go skipping across the shop floor. Have fun!
 
I use a homemade set up that has a General ball bearing head on a pedastal that I made with a belt drive from a 1/4 HP motor. It has served me well over the years, Polishing many motorcycle parts and these days airplane parts. I have a set of roughes I bought from Sears and they seem to work fairly well. I also used an old 1X42 Mead belt sander to smooth out the rough cast aluminum before polishing on the old Indian that I had years ago.
 
I agree with previous posters, do not cross contaminate wheels. Use a different wheel for different operations. I don't mix metals or grits. I polish brass, aluminum and steel. A 500 grit wheel I use for steel will only be used for steel. Just my $.02.

Frank
 
Thanks for the very useful info so far, does anyone have any pictures of how they store their wheels and buffing equipment?

Thanks,
Dave
 
the softer the metal the more important it is to not contaminate the wheels

nothing is more fustrating to see a scratch appear on a nearly finished polish job
 
Yes I agree. I keep wheels seperated for specific tasks. I have ziplock bags labeled what they are for and they go back in everytime then thrown back in box of polishing goodies.
Ed
 
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