Thought I did everything right...

[Randelle]

...but it came out like ****.

I am polishing the crankcase cover from an 84 Magna. I did a section with just a spiral wheel and emory compound, then a buff with tripoli and it came up like a mirror, it just had ridges in it. I ordered some stuff from Caswell and decided to try the large area with "Honda" in the center.

I started with 320, then 400, 600, and finished with 1000 paper, all wet using a good sanding block, and I changed directions 90^ after each grit. At this point the piece looked good and had a nice, even finish; quite attractive actually. I then used a treated spiral sewn wheel with emory then a treated buff with tripoli, then a loose buff with polishing compound, Mothers polish and finished with wet corn starch. The part looks kinda cloudy and just doesn't have a chrome like shine. It also looks like there are tiny, miniscule pits and some even look like tiny perpendicular scratches.

The only thing I can figure is that I should have sanded in the same direction each time I went up a grit, but I would think that the emory compound would have taken out the tiny scratches. I have some greasless 240 and a sisal wheel, should I start there? The area beside it came out nice though when done as I described in the begining, other than the lines. Is it just bad metal?

Please help,
-Randy

[marsfrogie]

You probably just missed the pits in the sanding process. You shouldn't have to sand past 320, just use emery. Spend more time with the white on a spiral sewn or loose cotton wheel. White will remove the haze.