wet sanding

[sin]

im polishing my aluminum motorcycle frame and i had a few questions. can i use the palm sander for the wet sandind or do i have to do this by hand. also i was planing on sanding from 320 grit all the way to 3000 then starting with emery, tripolie, jewlers then white. is this just a wate of time or will it help with the results. i dont mind the work if it will help.

[fxstcguy98]

If your going to wet sand all the way to 3000, I would start with trip on a spiral sewn and see if that removes the scatches. If that is taking too long I would use the emery on a spiral, then back to trip. Using black with a sisal on aluminum can leave gouges if your not careful or experienced. Just my 2 cents.
Darrin

plam sander wet ?

saftey is a factor here.

and sisal's tear up the metal try a sprial emery combo. it never let me down

[sin]

the only reason i was gonna go to 3000 grit is cause i had some laying around. but if i dont need to i wont ill stop at 1500. im basically going by the motorcycle polishing class 101 sticky on this board. but on thing i dont get is if red has no cutting and white does why does the tutorial say to go red then white.
any suggestions for sanding small hard to reach places? i was thinking sanding drums on a drill.

and as for palm sanding wet. well its obviousley not my brightest idea but if you ask my wife im not exactley the brightest guy

[mcaswell]

Actually, I'm a great fan of using a palm sander wet.

It does a fantastic job, keeping the paper unclogged and giving a superior finish VERY QUICKLY.

HOWEVER, it has to be done intelligently.

I use a trigger spray bottle and lightly mist the PART, not the sander.
Just an occasional squirt/spray of water will keep the wet and dry paper libricated and do a great job.

Spray off the sludge occasionally, and mop up the excess, and keep the sander motor casing dry, and you should be fine.

Of course, you're on your own on this. Don't whine at us if you get a jolt because of your carelessness.

[sin]

thats exactley what ive been doing. just a quick spray every couple of minutes seems to work great.

thanks for the replys every one.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by caswell

Actually, I'm a great fan of using a palm sander wet.

Of course, you're on your own on this. Don't whine at us if you get a jolt because of your carelessness.

I use an air-powered doodle-bug. No fear of shock there.