Polishing alloy blower - finished, for now

[vortechyank]

I was going to edit the other thread, but realised i couldn't, so anyway, here it is.
My first buffing job from a complete porous cast, i'm really proud of the results for a preliminary polish, but there's a bit more touching up to do, and i'm going to concentrate on technique. Always looking for that better finish. It's going into a race-car and alot of it will be covered, so there are areas i didn't focus on heavily, but once everything else is done it should look nice.
Finished off with green compound for the shine.
Process was, black compound with sisal just to knock the cast down and see the surface.
80 greaseless
120 sandpaper on a drillbit
240 on a drillbit
320 on a drillbit
A little hit with 400 wet by hand, with soap just to shine up and assess the surface.
black emery with cloths on a dremel and the angled buff drill
brown compound with dremel and angled buff drill
white and a little green mix for the inside on the dremel
then green all over on the angle buff drill.
Was basically experimentation just to see what worked and what didnt, i think i have a good process mapped out now for next time.
The finish rivals chrome but could be a little clearer in places, always trying to improve.
Appreciate any comments, suggestions or pointers

[vortechyank]

Just a few more Appreciate all the help and tips on file here, great help i must say

[woodjames]

Great job, no distortion in the reflection. You can see a mile in the thing, and you kept the detail crisp, I'm impressed.

Just a few more Appreciate all the help and tips on file here, great help i must say

[baz]

yes , nice work you did there . keep in mind that you are working with a casting some casting don t get as shiny as others so it could be normal if in some areas it is not as shiny

[vortechyank]

Thanks guys, appreciate it was alot of work and patience, and to think it had orange peel back after the first step, i was worried then! The Vortech castings are usually pretty good material-wise and polish up nicely, but this one was quite porous in some areas, one area particularly there are still pits. They were right on the surface and are just too deep to sand out, but they hide very well in the reflection/lustre.
For what it's worth, i cleaned with cool water and soap, using a toothbrush to scrub the fine areas, but i found you really need to hit it with a can of degreaser, to really just blow the crud right out.
Interesting you say that baz, in the first picture, right where the outlet is at the top, as it curves down, there are these kind of subtle lines that i just can't get to evenly mix in shine with the rest. You can probably 'just' see it. It's nowhere near noticeable, but i was just curious as to why, as it had the same treatment there that the rest of the part received. I guess that's why, some areas just dont get as shiny

By the way, a question actually - Do you fellows do the soap/degreaser, or just a general clean, after the very last step, and final shine up? I just left this one, because i found if i wet it, and dried it, and then left it to sit, it kind of dulls and oxidizes quicker than if i just leave them with all the buff/wax still on there. Also, an interesting note, a home made metal polish i have actually leaves the surface cloudier, than if i would have just used the metal polish alone. You can rub it on bare machined material and get a mirror shine, but if you follow up compounds with it, it looks notably worse. I think i'll just keep it for rejuvenating the shine on these pieces when they dull, it usually works well in that capacity

[baz]

i usually clean with very hot water and soap then rinse with very hot water then dry with clean compressed air once you find a good soap stick with it ! be careful with soaps some are too strong and have too much phosphate and can dull the shine , also industrial soaps may have lye or caustic in them and that also can ruin your buffing job.
i use the liquid sunlight in the yellow bottle works good for me .

[vortechyank]

Cool, i'll give the compressed air a go, i have never done that. Yeah this soap i have rocks! Just a plain yellow stick that REALLY cuts grease with ease, and it actually shines the aluminium up well when you rub it on it. Another liquid soap i have though is, as you say, terrible

[CrazyRay]

Not bad at all for your first polish job!
One thing that I've done for removing the buffing oxidation is to put the part in an oven at 225 for about 10 min. I pull it out with gloves and immediately wipe it down with a clean towel.

If you do another one of these style of superchargers or a turbocharger compressor housing, a buff motor with a rubber expandable wheel and sanding bands will cut your time down by a lot!

[vortechyank]

Interesting, cool tips!
Thanks by the way too