Metal polishing

[Rossvickicampbell]

Ok guys - what is the secret with polishing up, and keeping it that way, an alloy swingarm or some other bit of bling?  Autosol is great - but how do you get the polish nice and consistent?  What do you do afterwards when you are happy with the shine - spray clear over the top? Polish by hand. machine or something similar to a dremel?

thank ya

Rossco

[Digga]

The only way to keep polished aluminium shiny is to keep polishing it. There is no real practical way to prevent it from oxidizing & tarnishing unless you either clear coat it with a good suitable paint or better still, have it clear anodized (as they did in the factory as OEM)

A new modern alloy wheel that you see in the marketplace is machined, polished & then clear coated, otherwise it goes yuk very quickly.

[bigk]

Don't use a rag with Autosol, use your hand, you'll get a much quicker, deeper shine (and a real black hand). A foam buff works well with Autosol as well. Wipe it with some thinner, brake clean, metho etc afterwards to remove the black residue. As Digga says, clear coat it if you don't want to keep doing it.
K

[jerry]

I hydroblasted all my Bultaco alloy and then had it professionally polished by Dave the Polisher in Kilsyth. Since then it's been elbow grease. I'm not sure about sealing it because if it does get scratched it would be difficult to polish sealer (I assume) so you would have to go to the trouble of removing the sealer and repolishing and then resealing. Ahhhhhrg! Guess your needs are defined by wether the bike is for riding or for looking at. One thing I have learnt is if you do ride your bike in mud clean ASAP as alloy can corrode very quickly. J

[Butcher]

I polished the alloy tank on my b50 then cleared over the top. It is then no different to painted tanks.
The b50 has paint AND  polished alloy on it. The tricky bit is to get the CORRECT clear.
This is not cheap and easily stuffed up. It helps to have a mate panel beater who drinks beer

[jerry]

Ok here is a stupid question without notice! If you spray with clear can you rub it back or does it scuff and go cloudy? J PS always wanted to ask but up until now too embarrassed!

[bigk]

2k clear can be rubbed flat & buffed to a deep shine (I prefer it that way to the candy apple look off the gun). I do zillions of Husky tanks with polished or brushed effect panels in the sides.
K

[Digga]

Yep, 2K clear coat will scuff but can be cleaned up with additional polishing to the point where you cut back to bare alloy & then it starts all over again.

New cars are painted with a flat solid base colour coat & then clear coat to bring out the best colour/lustre/shine. If you scratch or scuff them you will usually see a whitish mark (unless you gouge through to the base coat). That can be polished out by a repairer but you do reduce the clear coat film thickness so can only happen a few times.

If the question is for fuel tanks, then Big K is the man best to advise there but for other more functional parts like fork legs, swing arms etc I'll be going polish/anodize (that's what I am doing next).

[Digga]

PS - if you choose to paint (other than tanks), then the best most durable clear coating would be hi temp cured (140'ish). 2K is best used for repairers with low bake ovens (~ 60C) or no oven at all. This is what is used for painting OEM plastics where there is temp threshold for low grade plastics such as PP etc.

Remember all of these coatings will vary in thickness & hardness which = durability. Clear powder coating is another option (baked at 200 - 220C) but you will not get that same depth of clarity & gloss as wet spray & there is some degree of orange peel. But if its for a swing arm, does that matter?

Hardest coating will be clear anodizing, by far the most durable but again, depends on what parts you are wanting to coat, how you want them to look & how often you want to be cleaning/repairing/repolishing etc

[jerry]

Which goes to prove, a dumb question is one that is not asked! Thanks guys J

[Colin Jay]

I have been trying "Shine Seal" which is a chemical sealant sold by Caswell (www.caswellplating.com.au). This product is applied over the polished surface and is claimed to protect the surface from oxidisation and dulling with out changing the appearance of the surface.

I can't make any huge claims for it as I have only used it on the polished alloy on the SL125 I am restoring, and it hasn't seen any real use as it is not quite ready to ride. However, the alloy was polished and treated about 4 months ago, and hasn't showed any signs of dulling while sitting on the bench. Only time and use will see how well it really works.

CJ

[bishboy]

Bit off topic, but if you get something hydro/water/vapour blasted (engine cases, swingarm etc) do you need to seal it with a clear coat?

[Digga]

Once you exposed the raw aluminium (by any means), it is prone to corrosion/oxidation. If you have a bike stored indoors for show only, then it will be fine but once it is exposed the elements & especially water, mud & roost etc then it will quickly look crap. So you either clean & polish regularly or coat it accordingly by whichever method sounds best.

e.g. Brand new Harleys that have machined glossy edged wheels are uncoated because the consumer market dictates it that way. They like to be able to polish up the shiny machined alloy. If it was painted clear then they have issues with scuffing & discolouring, so they choose to leave them raw aluminum on the edges (rest of the wheel is powder coated black)

[PBMGold]

What's the lazy man way to polish fork legs? I tried a Dremel with Autosol but I gave up after 10 minutes because I figured it would take half the day to do them and also realised the job was not that important.

Is their a bigger polisher like an orbital sander set to low that would do the job? If so, would it be a lambswool cover that would use to polish off the finger applied Autosol?

[Colin Jay]

What's the lazy man way to polish fork legs?

I made my this back in the late 1990's. I would be lost without it and a good supply of wheels and polishing compounds. Use it to polish everything from switch blocks to wheel rims.

CJ