My frame is a mirror but now I can't touch it. advice?

[anthony_m_999 New User Find all posts View Profile Close anthony_m_999]

I polished my frame and had absolutely no difficulties polishing it, at all. I sanded from 120 grit (60 on sand-cast sections) to 2000 grit without a hitch. After 2000 grit, I hit it with a 10 and 5 micron suspension powder and had a flawless finish. I then used a white rouge compound from Eastwood, I didn't know about Caswell , and it shines like no tomorrow and is an almost flawless finish. On the other hand, finishing it is a problem.

As soon as I touch it with any type of towel, it scratches. I put on mother's using a terry bonnet and it scratched. I put on mothers with a micro-fiber towel, it scratched. Tried it with a loose flannel towel, it scratched. I can't even clean it.

So, I tried coating it with a clear coat but to clean the piece, I had to use a towel, which of course, scratches it. Cleaned it with straight water and acetone, applied the clear, and despite trying three different methods to achieve a "light" coat, it looks like **** compared to the original shine. It shines but it doesn't SHINE.

I don't mind having to wax the bike and repolish to keep it nice, but I can't even wax it without scratching it. Does anyone know where I went wrong? I love the way the bike looks but, I have to do something about this. Is this normal?

[marsfrogie Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close marsfrogie]

Those are handling scratches. They will happen. Take into consideration that you are probably less than 2 feet from the bike when you are buffing with the towel, so you see everything. Try some of Caswell's flitz polish. That should be able to cut most of the handling scracthes out.

[tbloss001 Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close tbloss001]

So you're polishing this frame to mirror brightness, but once you get it perfect, you can't touch it without losing all the work and time you spent polishing it.

If the thing you want is a mirror finish, you should think about plating it with nickel or Copy Krome. It will keep the same finish as what it's applied to, so all that polishing wont go to waste. If it's mirror when you plate it, it will be mirror when you're done. Plus, you'll have the added benefit of a tough, scratch and corrosion resistant covering.

You could probably do the whole frame in one night with a small pen plating setup. I know doing a whole frame with a pen plater sounds like a lot of work, but it looks like you've already done more work than that already and still not gotten what you wanted.