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Buffing and Mops

David Day

David Day

Registered
Joined
Dec 15, 2014
Messages
115
Location
England
Ive found (stole) an old bench grinder from my dads shed.
Its nothing more than a 1980's washing machine motor bolted onto a strong bracket with a grinding disk fitted on.
I'm thinking of attaching a polishing mop so I can easily buff up metal pieces. I'm restoring a couple of Jubilee Riviera bandits so it would be a godsent for them alone!!!!
Has anyone done this themselves for polishing up legs and the like?
What sort of mop is recommended? (Size, composition ETC)
What sort of polishing compound would be best?
Any ideas you might have would be greatly appreciated :D
Ive been looking at this site to source the parts:

http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/

Cheers!!
 
Exactly, the site I recommended above is from the @Nedreud but he's a bit like beetlejuice don't call him unless you absolutely need him
 
You called?

Sorry, been lost in the depths of DIY for weeks and weeks and weeks. I think my posting rate on here flat-lined...

The company that @astyy linked is great place to get your stuff. Can't find anyone cheaper and when I bought a 750g bar of polishing compound it actually weighed nearly 1kg when I put it on the digital scales!

For polishing large items, such as legs, lock-down bars, side rails, etc., a bench polisher is best. I just use a power drill clamped to the bench. You'll need to check the speed, don't want to go too fast else it'll get too hot and the waxy polish starts to burn! And it's a bugger to clean off when it does that. I use 4-inch mops and my drill does 2,800 rpm. One advantage of the drill is you can use it the other way around - clamp the work on the bench then work the mop over it. Mops come in three grades: "sisal" for use with black compound to remove really bad corrosion/dirt (I rarely use this), "colour stitched" used with green compound to bring up the initial shine and "loose fold" used with white compound for the final finishing polishing.

Most of the time I use the loose fold with white compound. It's best to start with a finer grade (all polishing is just using ever finer grades of abrasives) and see if that works because if you go in heavy it will clean off the crap faster but you then have to polish out the scratches it leaves.

For small items, i.e., just about anything else like wire forms, plungers, pop bumper rings, plungers, posts, nuts, bolts, washers, screw heads, etc., I use a Dremel fitted with 1-inch felt buffing wheels. These are used by jewellers and are cheap as chips. Use with the same white final finish steel polishing compound.

Have a flick through my shop logs. Loads of polishing tips in there and lots of "before & after" photos.

Most important though PLEASE wear decent gloves and proper eye protection. A shiny pinball machine isn't worth losing a finger or an eye. And make sure when you're using the bench grinder that the part of the mop that's touching the work is moving AWAY from you. That way, if it snags hold of the work and rips it from your grip (and it WILL happen eventually) it will be flung across the room away from you and not straight into your knackers!
 
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