The British Historic Kart Club

Hello all

I am planning on buffing the alloy parts on my kart to get it all mirror shined, altho i tried before and it didnt come out well just went black and looked alot worse than when i started for some reason....(maybe the part i tried it on wasnt totally clean but it had been beab blasted so should of been),

I`m going to buy a new buffing wheel and try again,

I am using a stand drill with a buffing wheel on and the grren type wax/polish/whatever its called.

Is this the correct way to do things? or is there another way to get alloy very shiney? I know a bench grinder would be alot better but the one i`ve got is older than me with none removable casing so the buffing wheel would be tiny... and dont feel the need to fork out for another just to do some buffing...

thanks for any advice

This is a subject that i have had a bit of experiance at. Firstly after having anything bead blasted it will have millions of sharp edged dents in it that have to be smoothed out a bit in order for the polishing wheel to find a large enough area to shine up. It will also be very dirty from blasting and need degreasing with a strong claen solvent in order to get it clean and dust free. (i use brake cleaner, do not get it near anything painted). If you can lightly smooth the surface down with a flap wheel or even by hand then this will hurry the process up later.
Next look at the polishing wheel. I have had no joy with the stitched (fluffy) rag type wheels and instead use the rag disc type (loads of rag discs stapled together). Make sure it is mounted properly and running concentrically as it will just bounce the parts off and not polish them. It also needs to be spinning at a great rate as well. If your drill only spins at 100rpm then it will take about 25years to get a finish and just push black soap around the surface. (the faster the better)
Next a new wheel will not work very well. It needs to be used a little bit for the surface to flatten down and it will go shiney as well (you will see this easily).
Use a test piece to do this and put loads of soap on.
Next choose the right soap for the job. There are kits out there that specialise in aluminium or steel so pick the right one for the job. They used to be colour coded but i think that what is written on the label is what counts now. Soft finishing compounds will give the big shine but not take out any marks and cleaning compounds will not give the big shine.
Once you have cleaned and smoothed the component put on pleanty of soap and start polishing in a circular motion keeping the component moving slowly round and round. Press firmly (ish) but not hard as (1) you might slip and (2) you may burn the wheel (smoke will come off it).
As you are polishing the soap will cover your results so you will have to wipe it off and inspect but do not get the cloth near the polishing wheel for obvious reasons. The surface will start to shine up but have a blue sheen to it and many people stop there as this stage looks pretty good but if you carry on a bit the blue sheen will darken and give a deeper shine.
As you practice and get more comfortable with it you will be able to polish small parts in seconds and larger components will not take long either. A good tip is to have a different wheel for aluminium, copper/brass and steel as the softer metals do dirty up the polishing wheel. Every now and then you may need to clean the surface of the wheel by dragging a wire brush over the surface (lightly and only for a moment) to lift off any unwanted crap and then use a test piece to smooth off the surface again.
Now which is the best polish? There is no correct answer to this as most people have there own systems and ways so you will have to go by what is written on the label to start off with. I ended up using the soft steel blue on everything and have never had any problems.
I do need to point out that this is what i have found works and a professional or restorer will have a different take on things, However i have applyed my findings to show winning scooters so i can't be far out.
Hope this helps. Ed

Thanks alot for that, I think i need to do alot more cleaning before i try again the buffing wheel seams to go black as soon as i touch the alloy parts to it...think i`m going to have to buy a new buffing wheel ...

Anyway i really appreciate the advice thanks again.

Russ

Forgot to mention that when polishing your wheel will go black and that is perfectly normal. It should be the soap and bits of aluminium that causes it as ally is very dirty to polish. If the blackness is caused by dirt and grease it will stop it shining. If you degrease it properly then start polishing it will still turn black but will start shining up the metal.