Can greaseless do the job? Pleasehelp

[CASBEN]

I am new to this but i have done my research. I am trying to buff some old alcoa aluminum rims to a glass shine. The problem is they are deeply pitted and scratched. If you rub your hand against it you can feel the scratches.I tried removing them with black/sisal combo but it did not work. The pits/scratches are even more noticeble, they are filled with black residu. I also tried sanding with 120 grit paper but they are still there. I heard that greasseles is like sanding exept it is much faster and effective. If GREASELESS can do the job of sanding them down to a smooth even surface ready for power buffing please outline the steps i should take

I have included some pictures

[Rasper]

I would think it would take almost forever with greaseless, since it wears off the buffing wheel fairly quickly and will need to be re-applied continually.

Those wheels need some serious sanding. I would probably start with something like 50 or 60 grit. Then 80, 120, 220, 400, 600 and then black emery. You need to grind off enough metal to where you have reached the level of the bottom of the pits and scratches. It may not be worth the effort. Given the labor involved, new wheels may be a better bet. Polish them.

Richard

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by CASBEN

I am new to this but i have done my research. I am trying to buff some old alcoa aluminum rims to a glass shine. The problem is they are deeply pitted and scratched. If you rub your hand against it you can feel the scratches.I tried removing them with black/sisal combo but it did not work. The pits/scratches are even more noticeble, they are filled with black residu. I also tried sanding with 120 grit paper but they are still there. I heard that greasseles is like sanding exept it is much faster and effective. If GREASELESS can do the job of sanding them down to a smooth even surface ready for power buffing please outline the steps i should take

I have included some pictures

You could experiment with a setup wheel(s), which is a cotton wheel impregnated with glue and abrasive. Caswell sells the makings. If you use a thin coat it will be a bit flexible and not gouge. Use it on a 4" spiral wheel with your drill (a cheap drill will burn up quickly, however). It will take some practice to avoid gouging, but what have you to lose?

Start with 120. After that, you'll have to go by hand with 220 and 320, maybe 400 or 500, or else use greaseless up to 320. Once the surface is smooth, the greaseless will work much better and last longer. Use a little white rouge on the greasless wheel after it sets up - that will prevent an orangepeel surface. Work in different directions as much as possible to reveal the scratches.

Good luck. A lot of work but cheaper than new wheels.

[jrow]

CASBEN,

Before I went to any expense or got involved in a very laborious task. I would turn the wheel over and find a few spots that have "pits" and see if the pits will sand out. Use what ever grit paper you have to see if the pits will sand out. Try not to gouge it when you sand the pits. If the pits won't sand out on the back of the wheel, chances are that you will have the same luck on the front side. If thats the case then have it media blasted and powder coated. There's no reason to waste time and money on something you won't be happy with!

I have polished aluminum pieces with a lot of pits in them, and from afar they look nice. BUT close up they look like "Do Do", especially rims.

A good powder coating will come "close" to the look of polished aluminum. You should be able to find pictures of powder coated rims on this site.

John

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by jrow

A good powder coating will come "close" to the look of polished aluminum. You should be able to find pictures of powder coated rims on this site.John

Hey JR, how do you fill the holes? Or is the PC thick enough to bridge and level 'em? Multiple coats? Just asking, never tried it myself.

[CASBEN]

i heard that greaseles can quickly level cast aluminum but these rims aint as bad as cast aluminum i am going to try sanding them like yall said and try to post pictures along the way. Do yall think caswells sandig disks can do it faster?

http://caswellplating.com/buffs/mini_discs.html

By the way i also want to polish some fuel tanks on a truck they arent as bad as the wheels but have a few medium scratches. whats the best way to get them out

[alabama_lowlife]

a small palm sander would probably help alot and beat the heck out of hand sanding. you just have to spend the time to make sure you get all the scratches out that are left from the first grit of sandpaper before moving on to the next. and it's a little harder to tell with an orbital. my buddy's front wheels looked like that. i started with about 150 or something like that on his and worked my way up. then used emory on a spiral sewn and emory on a cushion buff. every time i tried to use tripoli or white, it got really hazy. and i had less than a day to do this one so i just left it as it was.

[Lt_Dan]

CASBEN,

Take a look at this site and scroll down. Mrclean58 answers a question from mcaswell.

http://forum.caswellplating.com/phot...php?photo=1279

Lt_Dan

[CASBEN]

Originally Posted by alabama_lowlife

a small palm sander would probably help alot and beat the heck out of hand sanding. you just have to spend the time to make sure you get all the scratches out that are left from the first grit of sandpaper before moving on to the next. and it's a little harder to tell with an orbital. my buddy's front wheels looked like that. i started with about 150 or something like that on his and worked my way up. then used emory on a spiral sewn and emory on a cushion buff. every time i tried to use tripoli or white, it got really hazy. and i had less than a day to do this one so i just left it as it was.

I have though about sanding with a palm sander but i have been to the local harware store and cant find a small enough sander to fit in do you know where i could find one

[alabama_lowlife]

oh yeah, you can use greaseless, but it has been my experience that it will probably leave it somewhat uneven. but if this isn't gonna be a show truck, it might be preferable to have it uneven than to have a polished gouge or scratch.