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From: alumcan
Email: alumcanTandThd@aol.com
Remote Name: 205.188.208.138
Date: November 23, 2003
'Cut' with or against the whatever!? That statement sounds like your whittlin' a piece of wood, instead of polishing stainless! The only direction you want the buffing wheel to go on the piece you are polishing, is so it don't 'tear' the piece out of your hands and wrap it around the wheel. There is no 'with or against the grain'. First you will be dealing with heat. Go down to the welding supply store and get you a GOOD soft pair of welding gloves. The more expensive ones. $15. The better, softer, gloves will let you fingers bend more freely. For 'me' a 6" wheel is too small. I perfer a wheel something between 1 1/2" to 2" wide. 10" or 12" in diameter. You then got to have a motor that will have enough power, so not to stall out on your 'work'. The proffesionals at the plating shops use a 2 up to 5 horse 3200 rpm speed. Home buffers can't be so pickey. Mine, was a 2 horse, 440 V, 3 phase, 1750 rpm industrail, that was throwed away. I spent $125. to get the motor rebuilt and changed to single phase, and 220 V. You only need one kind of rouge. White. The others are a waste of your time and money. I never used them. Go to Carlisle/someplace and buy several of the $10 sticks of white rouge, that are 2" wide on the bottom and 10" long. Your wasting money buying rouge from Eastwood. Sand? By all means! A piece of raw stainless, I start with 36 grit on a DA, then 80, then 180, 220, then 320, then 400, then final sanding, 500. You will statr seeing a shine at 320. The 500 grit will leave a smokey or a dull shine. The buffer will then give you a HIGH shine! Trim peices, I start with 400 then 500. Little blemishes with then show up. Go back to 320 to get them out. Big dents/gouges will have to be hammered out somewhat. I'll hammer out a gouge, then file down the high spots. Watch your heat! Don't keep the 'work' buried in the wheel. You'll actually melt or warp your trim piece. I do a stainless piece three times. With complete cool down period between each buffing. Aluminum/Brass/Copper are soft metals and will require only one buffing. Take a junk, or a piece of moulding that don't mean anything to you to practice on. You know, get use to the wheel, heat, etc. Also! Wear a dust mask! The little wheel threads/rouge dust, that fly through the air, are like smoking a cigarette in a sandblast room. It'll f$#@ up yer lungs! Try to have a fan behind you. Some pieces of aluminum car trim are anodized. You can buff from now untill next month and you'll get no more shine. Stainless bolts and nuts will require a disc sander to get the markings off. Then, rub the head on a piece of 320, then buff to a high shine. Practice, practice, practice!
