I looked at several Auto Body stores and they only sell by the bulk (50 pieces). I only need about 5 pieces. I am trying to polish my aluminum softride frame.
Thanks,
Cesar
homedepot? lowes?
Woodcraft, or other woodworking store (maybe).
Another thought, call maco or other auto detailing place and see if they will sell you (or give you) a few sheets.
There is an auto paint supply store on Camino Santa Fe, just off Miramar. I cannot remember the name of it, but it is on the west side of the street at the bottom of the dip.
I certainly hope this is only the first step you are intending. A disc sander at 1000 is going to leave a ton of swirl marks. One, the disc sander has way too much weight. Two, the abrasives of standard sandpaper are just wrong for aluminum. You should at least be looking at a wet sand and plan to go to 1500 grit before you go to proper metal polishes. Wet sanding is best done by hand unless you have a good way to rig this for power applications. Also, I would look at more of a buffing setup so you don’t have the weight of the sander directly applied to the metal.
Finally, what do you plan to do to prevent aluminum oxidation once it is buffed out? Clear anodized? Clear coat?
I would look up a good metal shop to do this work. There is no reason you cannot do the strip and prep work, but unless you have some good experience with metal polishing, I would consider leaving it to pros. I learned a few lessons in automobile restoration, and would hate to have you repeat them with the frame of your bike.
Great advice from Jim. Also, be aware that there are several different sandpaper grading systems. All 1000 grit is not identical. Do a little web searching for more detail.
You may well wind up hating what you do on your own. This is skilled work you are contemplating.
For crying out loud, waht is this doing in the tri forum???
You should be able to find 1000 grit sandpaper at any auto parts store. I routinely buy far finer than that for sharpening chisels (ScarySharp™ rocks!), but I buy it in sheets.
If it’s made in disks–I assume for a ROS, this place should have it:
http://www.marshallshardware.com/
(This is a place that, if you live in San Diego, and ever have the need for a weird fastener…say a nylon 7 mm cap screw…this place has them, and they’ll sell you just one, if that’s what you need. It has the added bonus of being in Emilio’s neck of the woods.)
For polishing aluminum, I’ve seen very good results with Veritas Green buffing compound on a cotton wheel (chucked in a drill motor)
For crying out loud, waht is this doing in the tri forum???
The man asked about materials for working on his bike.
I’m sorry - I didn’t realize that. Scanned it too quickly. I hope he found something.
You seem pretty knowledgeable on this stuff. I recently picked up a used DA set 10 crankarms after much deliberbation. I really wanted the FSA black carbon but mechanically the DA is better especially with the loosening crankarm issues that have cropped up for others. Anyway its kinda scratched up. I was wondering about trying to remove some of the scratches using wet sand paper, steel wool, scotchbrite or ??? & then polishing it with ???
I know the DA comes with some sort of coating on it & anything I do will affect that so I was wondering if there is anything that works the best to cclean itup but least affects the coating. Alternatively I can do nothingbut just put some kind (???) of polish on it.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Barb
I will try, but will admit to being a bit out of my depth on certain aspects here. A high salt diet is recommended.
I assume you will work on the crank arms without any rings attached. Generally the practice is to isolate parts as much as possible.The best procedure would be to remove all coatings and polish the entire arm. Polishing single scratches out will cause headaches in the end if you are trying to achieve a uniform look. And lets be honest here, all of this work is purely cosmetic. If a scratch was deep enough to cause structural issues, the part should be junked (not worth the price of repair, expecially in aluminum).I have no idea what the coating on the DA is, so I really cannot advise you how to remove it. Most paint removers are pretty strong chemicals, and would work with most coatings like a sprayed clear coating, so that would be a place to start. Failing that, a mechanical series of abrasives would be the best.For a small part like a crank, I would use a series of buffing wheels with various polishing compounds - if you are removing coatings and deeper scratches, start with about a 320 grit, and progressively work your way up to around 1800. You can finish with diamond hone or Veritas green compound.How are you going to seal the product? If you like the look of the FSA carbon, why not take it to a shop and have them black anodized?Make sure you protect all surfaces that will come in mechanical contact with other parts - make sure the threads are protected, as you could contaminate them with aluminum dust and abrasive compound. If you join up arts again with this crud in there, you will wear the mechanisms.Good metal finishing, just like good wood finishing, is a very time consuming venture. It is not a quick sanding job and slapping on some varathane. All your prep work needs to be meticulous, and you cannot cut corners.Consider taking the arms to a place that specializes in automotive alloy wheel restoration. These guys have seen it all, and would probably do it for cheap as a little side job. For the amount of time you will spend doing this properly, you could get a couple of good long runs in.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info.
Cesar
I just want to thank all of you for your suggestions. You all have been really helpful. Thanks again,
Cesar