sanding and then polishing tight spots....

[tweak]

how do you guys do it?
im polishing items, they are very intricate but also large..... and a little rough, so they need sanding.....


what should i use to sand it smooth and polish the tight spots out




i hear the bobs with sanding stuff on em suck

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by tweak

how do you guys do it?
im polishing items, they are very intricate but also large..... and a little rough, so they need sanding.....
what should i use to sand it smooth and polish the tight spots out
i hear the bobs with sanding stuff on em suck

This has been covered recently tweak. Do a little reading then ask again if you still have questions.

The bobs with greaseless compound work fine if you know how to use them, and there are a number of other good tools as well. All probably touched upon in the past month's threads.

[Tng21]

check out my thread titled sanding querstions. x1 rider has been most helpful. He also has a thread on this

[tweak]

well there are som many effing diff ways to do it i dont know what way to go lol


rolloc wheels
cartridge wheels
greaseless on felt bobs
cratex


i heard the greaseless sucks and your constantly putting new on and waiting for it to dry....

but im afraid rolloc disc will be to aggressive and ill messs the stuff up... i meessed aroud with a 120grit sanding pad i had and it just eats it like a mofo and kinda left grooves... maybe i just need to finer stuff

but after sanding with whatever device you use, do you just go to the red rouge? or do you sand it by hand a little finer?



im just trying to make shure i got the right stuff before i go and blow $100 on supplies

[Tng21]

I know what you mean, its hard trying to find the right things that work for you. Ive just bought some greaseless and felt bobs and when i get around to it over the weekend ill let you know what happens


Im not even sure if its the right stuff as everyones on about letting it dry but these are bars like polishing bars, only a little softer

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by Tng21

Im not even sure if its the right stuff as everyones on about letting it dry but these are bars like polishing bars, only a little softer

Keep those "bars" wrapped up tight or they will dry out in the package and you can use them for doorstops.

They are an abrasive (probably alum.oxide) in a matrix of what is basically a gummy glue. You need to spin up your tool (wheel, mop, bob, whatever), turn it off and jam the compound onto it - do that several time til it's well=coated, let it dry, then apply another coat or two with the same method. If you try to apply it without letting the tool spinni down, the high rpm's will throw it off, as it hasn't cured yet.

The main disadvantage is the agonizing time it takes to dry (use a hair dryer), but it works great. It is much more forgiving than other methods since there are no edges to dig in and make ripples.