New fella needs a little advice

[easleysp]

I'm trying to polish some cast aluminum parts off my bike and I have a few questions. Should I clean the part with a degreaser such as Simple Green before moving to the next buff, wipe it down with a soft towel, or can I just jump right over without any worries? Also, what if I'm using a spiral sewn wheel and it's not buffing the scratches out of a certain area of the part. Can I simply back up a step and work on it with the sisal wheel? The last question I have is about stainless. Can sandpaper be used to get out any deep scratches, or should I skip the paper and go straight to a sisal/emery to get them out? Thanks for any help, and thanks for all the other great info I've been reading.

Steve

[sswee]

I have not had any problems with just wiping the parts down good then going to the next step.
If you start the next step and find a place you missed, just back up a step to get it. Happens all the time. Some scratches are hard to see until you do start the next step, then they jump right out at you.
Some scratches or gouges will wear out several wheels to get out without sandpaper first. This is all metals not just stainless. A word of warning on the sandpaper, don't go any coarser than you have to or you'll be sanding out your sanding scratches when you don't have to. Unless I have a deep scratch or gouge I don't go coaser than 150 to 180 grit. Then work up to 220/320/400 or 600 wet. Only on special parts do I go to 1500 wet.
Best of Luck. SS

[easleysp]

I figured a good wipe down with a towel would do, but I wanted to make sure. With the sandpaper I usually start with 220 and if it doesn't look like it's gonna be enough then I'll grab something a little more coarse. One of my exhaust pipes has a nice deep wound and before I did any sanding I wanted to make sure it would buff out. Would it be best to use elbow grease or palm sander on stainless? Thanks for the reply.

Steve

[sswee]

I've done parts both ways and unless your trying to build your arms go with the palm sander. Be sure to work the radius so you don't haveflat lines sanded into the pipe. Sounds like you have it down pretty good. SS

[easleysp]

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll try and post pics of my exhaust when I get finished.