polishing copper

[talldog45]

i don't really know if i'm asking this in the right forum or not but here goes, i am in the proccess of polishing our new line of standing seam copper awnings, we purchased a aluminum and copper polishing kit from caswell and i have already sanded with 800 and 1000 grit, after my initial pass with sisal and black, i am happy with the results so far except that it is a slooooooow proccess. our standard awning is 32" by 48" with 4-12" panels, would it be possible to make a buffing wheel 12" wide made from threaded rod and a bunch of wheels? sort of two fisted machine at a work station. has anyone ever heard of anyone making such a mankiller before? and would it at least eliminate much of the tedious rough work or is it a really dumb idea? any help i can get would be apreciated. i will keep you'all posted on our progress.

[pickleboy]

Re: polishing copper

what you are mentioning is definitely possibly to make. that said keep in mind the wider the surface that contacts the part the more torque or hp is required. also the wider the buff face the higher the heat build up. heat is needed in buffing to get the compound to release the grit but to a point . if you get the surface temp to high especially in the case of copper it will start to warp and discolor the part. lastly as you called it a man killer that it could be if it ever grabbed the part. there are other devises that may be better suited for this task. i have seen (but have no idea where to get) a buffing head on a pole similar to a long paint roller, it was made for buffing the outer skin on aircraft. it uses a ton of air and is not the most maneuverable devise but may be more along the lines of what you are looking for.

[talldog45]

Re: polishing copper

hey thanks,the paint roller idea sounds good, i got many more dumb questions in the very near future, like, i notice that my softer wheels get copper colored very fast, i can clean it and apply more compound and it immedietly turns copper colored, is this a bad thing? and how much liquid white compound is too much/ not enough?

[talldog45]

Re: polishing copper

thanks a lot for your help, if you have any tips on polishing copper i would like to hear them, it seems to me that copper is in a state of constant oxidation and is extremely hard to keep clean during the buffing proccess, but i am learning some of the don'ts the hard way and a few of the do's from here, thanks a million.......ed

[pickleboy]

Re: polishing copper

biggest tip i can give on copper is that as soon as you have a shine you are happy with clean with brake clean or acetone and coat with a good quality wax. this will slow oxidation till the rest is done and you can seal the project as a whole. also i wear rubber/nitrile gloves when working with copper so as not to contaminate the surface with finger oils as this is really corrosive.