polishing

[RichardH 0]

Okey pokey, I have this idea of doing some of my own polishing, heal plates etc and would like some advice on what to buy. I was thinking of either using my drill or buying a Dremmal type thing.What attatchments etc would I need?
Thanx in advance

[dick65 0]

i think lee would be the best person to ask personaly i use drill and dremel with various mops etc which seem to do a decent enough job depends what sort of finish you looking for

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

yes lee's you man, he will put you right

/u31

[lee1 1]

here ya go matey,order from here all the kits are exasplained,what they do/or for ect

if your useing a drill,make sure its a good one
they tend to burn out quick or not powerfull enough same with bench grinders

drill will be ok for just ya basic polishing


http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/Standard_Polishing_Kits.html

[RichardH 0]

Thanks Dude, I owe you one

[E.goldstein 0]

ITCHY wrote:

Okey pokey, I have this idea of doing some of my own polishing, heal plates etc and would like some advice on what to buy. I was thinking of either using my drill or buying a Dremmal type thing.What attatchments etc would I need?
Thanx in advance

Polishing stuff it’s a “dirty job but some ones got to do it”!

I hate polishing stuff but if you’re doing Aluminium or Stainless steal get a big electric motor and a lot of polishing mops, watch out stuff gets hot mighty quick when you’re using an electric motor.

About ten years ago I polished a GSXR 1100 frame and swing arm I burnt two drills, the Dremmal things are good for getting into the tight sports.


E Goldstein “They are watching you”

[suzukijax 0]

That is my favourite part of cleaning a bike, when hubby does his streetfighters i do the swingarm as he hates that part

[RichardH 0]

What kit do you use Suzu? I've ordered a kit from the link and was going to stick it on my drill.

[Chas 0]

You'll get a lot more mileage from a modified bench grinder. Power drill bearings aren't built for sideways loading.

[RichardH 0]

Modified how?

[Chas 0]

ITCHY wrote:

Modified how?

http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/Spindles___Adaptors.html

http://www.btinternet.com/~eric.guy/benchgrinder.htm

They're not ideal for polishing but it's a far better way than a power drill. The optimum way is a purpose built polishing spindle with dust extraction but these are usually 3phase & command good prices even 2nd hand.

To be honest the optimum way is to bung it all off & pay a proffesional, polishing is a skill aquired over several years.

I've invested over £1k in spindle, mops & polishes, been doing it for over 4yrs but I still send everything but the odd job to my semi-tame polisher.

[lee1 1]

you will only ever get good results,with industrial stuff itchy,but for light home use a good qaulity drill/bench grinder will be fine

practise/practise/practise

good results can be had with a drill been there done it

where alot of people fail,is in the prep work
just like someone painting a car

heres a pic of me with my latest polisher
£350.00 price tag but Im serious about it

[img][/img]

when ya start to polish ya stuff,Im here to help/advice

[Chas 0]

@lee wrote:

heres a pic of me with my latest polisher
£350.00 price tag but Im serious about it

[img][/img]

when ya start to polish ya stuff,Im here to help/advice

You could start the help/advice part by apologising for not wearing any form of eye protection.

You could follow that by telling us what you know about the effects of breathing in all that compound & aluminium is having on your lungs.

Please don't try this at home folks, it's not cool & it's not 'ard.

I always wear wrap around specs when I'm polishing, even with massive amounts of air extraction I've still experienced discomfort from particles in my eyes

Simple disposable dust masks cost about 0.05p when bought in bulk, they pays for themselves in 20yrs time when you can't climb the stairs anymore.

[yankeedoodle 0]

or you could share your infinite wisdom with us chas?

[Chas 0]

@yankeedoodle wrote:

or you could share your infinite wisdom with us chas?

My infinate wisdom tells me & anyone who asks me, to bung it all off to a profesional

But that's not the answer we want is it

We don't see the economics of paying a profesional £40ish to do a job we could do ourselves for nowt, that is after we've paid out £20 to £200 for the gear to do it with, do we

Even then, the results are pathetic untill we've wrecked the bits we wanted polished in the first place. By the time we can polish to any kind of pro standard we've already spent more than a polisher will ever charge us on the gear & replaceing the parts that we f#cked up when practising

But then anyone who's ever sat down with 5 tubes of Autosol & spent their whole weekend off work sitting on the patio whilst vigorously rubbing their wheel rims, doesn't really understand why their fingers aches so much for such pathetic results do they

No, they have to justify their foolishness by fooling other people into doing pretty much the same, don't they

[lee1 1]

@Chas wrote:

@lee wrote:

heres a pic of me with my latest polisher
£350.00 price tag but Im serious about it

[img][/img]

when ya start to polish ya stuff,Im here to help/advice

You could start the help/advice part by apologising for not wearing any form of eye protection.

You could follow that by telling us what you know about the effects of breathing in all that compound & aluminium is having on your lungs.

Please don't try this at home folks, it's not cool & it's not 'ard.

I always wear wrap around specs when I'm polishing, even with massive amounts of air extraction I've still experienced discomfort from particles in my eyes

Simple disposable dust masks cost about 0.05p when bought in bulk, they pays for themselves in 20yrs time when you can't climb the stairs anymore.

dust masks wrap around specs are for girls
yes I do use these as a rule,in that pic Im just trying the new polisher out,foolish not wearing the protective gear yes

[RichardH 0]

Even then, the results are pathetic untill we've wrecked the bits we
wanted polished in the first place. By the time we can polish to any
kind of pro standard we've already spent more than a polisher will ever
charge us on the gear & replaceing the parts that we f#cked up when
practising

Thats a good point matey, I only wanted to do my heal plates, thought " how hard can it be "

[Baby B 0]

my advise is ....... get Lee to do it! he does a great job for not too many £s,was very happy with my wheel rims,heel plates n engine casings [img][/img]

[yankeedoodle 0]

hmmmm he aint done a very good job on that seat......

[Baby B 0]

@yankeedoodle wrote:

hmmmm he aint done a very good job on that seat......

lol @ Matt

[Chas 0]

ITCHY wrote:

Thats a good point matey, I only wanted to do my heal plates, thought " how hard can it be "

If you truly want to learn polishing, maybe have need to polish lots in the future, then start assembling the equipment & have a go.

Please bear in mind that pro polishing is an art that takes many years to perfect !

If you just want your heel plates to look nice n shiny, trust me that it's a lot less hassle (& cheaper) to bung 'em off to a man who can.

[RichardH 0]

What's the going rate for 2 heel plates?

[Baby B 0]

ITCHY wrote:

What's the going rate for 2 heel plates?

PM Lee mate!

[Guest Guest]

like a clean bike but want to ride more than a polish

so if you ride i bike wet/dry roads
is it worth polishing [done by a pro]
know parts i done diy feck up quick in the wet

[Stue11 0]

@Baby B wrote:

my advise is ....... get Lee to do it! he does a great job for not too many £s,was very happy with my wheel rims,heel plates n engine casings [img][/img]

Excellent job

[dick65 0]

yeah thats good polishing

[lee1 1]

As said polishing is a true art in its self

you will only ever achieve,good results through spending some serious money on equipment

The only other way to get to these standards,is to sit there hour upon hour upon hour,with lots of grades of sand paper and very sore fingers

and still need a buffing compound and mop to finish off the job

some pick it up real quick with a little advice and the right stuff,I admire anyone that has a go at it,as through own exsperience it aint easy by any means

everything has to be looked at carefully,only the polisher with the exsperience knows what needs to be done,once the paint or anodising has been removed

what you have to remember is when bike or car manafactures are haveing something painted or anodised it dont matter to much what the product looks like as its been coverd

ive got a casing here to polish,when ive removed the paint I will post a pic to show you the condition

heres my two fav pics of my polishing

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[flange 0]

Stunning Lee.Top work mate Ive done a few wheels a few years ago with a cheap pollishing kit....Bloody machine lines ..It took about 4 hours for the 2 rims.They looked ok but not brill.I leave them standard now.

[stantheman 0]

very nice job lee

[Stue11 0]

@lee wrote:

As said polishing is a true art in its self

you will only ever achieve,good results through spending some serious money on equipment

The only other way to get to these standards,is to sit there hour upon hour upon hour,with lots of grades of sand paper and very sore fingers

and still need a buffing compound and mop to finish off the job

some pick it up real quick with a little advice and the right stuff,I admire anyone that has a go at it,as through own exsperience it aint easy by any means

everything has to be looked at carefully,only the polisher with the exsperience knows what needs to be done,once the paint or anodising has been removed

what you have to remember is when bike or car manafactures are haveing something painted or anodised it dont matter to much what the product looks like as its been coverd

ive got a casing here to polish,when ive removed the paint I will post a pic to show you the condition

heres my two fav pics of my polishing

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

Some awesome work there Lee

[RichardH 0]

Well after sending Lee a PM it transpires that it is cheaper to send my heel plates to him, than the cost of the bits that I have already odered , I think I will have a go, as the stuff's on the way anyway and I really just want to tidy them up. If I'm not happy with the results they will be in the post pronto.
Lesson here for all, get the price of a propper job FIRST, before you start ordering stuff.
Thanx for all your opinions

[pugeyed 0]

itchy thats why i let lee do my fork legs , no worth the agro in doing them yourself.

(note to lee, you should put your prices up lol)

[lee1 1]

@pugeyed wrote:

itchy thats why i let lee do my fork legs , no worth the agro in doing them yourself.

(note to lee, you should put your prices up lol)

not into ripping people off mate,thats one of the reasons I started polishing

paying good money out for shit work

cheers for all the nice comments all

[lee1 1]

here ya go then a couple more pics
when I received the first casing in the pic,it didnt look to bad bit of chipped paint nothing to bad then I removed the paint

[img][/img]

Then the second casing arrived,after a message,Ive stripped the paint so shouldnt be to bad to do
then after a message the truth comes out,hi lee I used a wire brush attachment wtf ok no worrys will sort it for ya



[img][/img]

after a few hours or so,and some know how there as good as new,so just take note from the first pic,untill the paints off dont think it will be a simple job

[img][/img]

[yankeedoodle 0]

smart job as always lee

[stantheman 0]

very nice job mate

[Les 0]

Thats shiney..

[Stue11 0]

@lee wrote:

here ya go then a couple more pics
when I received the first casing in the pic,it didnt look to bad bit of chipped paint nothing to bad then I removed the paint

[img][/img]

Then the second casing arrived,after a message,Ive stripped the paint so shouldnt be to bad to do
then after a message the truth comes out,hi lee I used a wire brush attachment wtf ok no worrys will sort it for ya



[img][/img]

after a few hours or so,and some know how there as good as new,so just take note from the first pic,untill the paints off dont think it will be a simple job

[img][/img]

Cant comment on them yet Lee as my comp is on a go slow wont load pics but im sure there stunning

[RichardH 0]

Right had a go, not fantastic and needs another go ( don't laugh polishers) but much better than it was.
Must admit it doesn't look as scratchy on the bike.

[suzukijax 0]

Thats well smart lee i love polishing and always do the swingarm on the bikes he has have seriously thought about doing this as a job but i also like the look of the paint jobs aswell

[RichardH 0]

I think what lee does is amazing, it looks chromed, must polish for hours on end to achieve that.

[Grumpyowl 0]

Brill, well done Lee

[lee1 1]

cheers all

@itchy try putting more pressure on those healplates with the stiched mop,then use the last mop ya almost there

[RichardH 0]

@itchy try putting more pressure on those healplates with the stiched mop,then use the last mop ya almost there

Thanks for the tip, will have another go when I get some time

[stantheman 0]

not tryin to take anything away from lees work co its very good but me mate brought some bits to my place to polish off his honda 750 and the quality of the metal seemed much better than the bandit stuff im used to it was also thicker

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

@stantheman wrote:

not tryin to take anything away from lees work co its very good but me mate brought some bits to my place to polish off his honda 750 and the quality of the metal seemed much better than the bandit stuff im used to it was also thicker

well the bandit is a budget bike

[flange 0]

And a great one at that

[Davehutch-hutchs 0]

@flange wrote:

And a great one at that