Polishing wheels

[Marshall936 0]

Hi all wondering if anyone is a pro at polishing wheels as i have a couple of questions.

 

I'm going to be polishing up the faces of my vw Estorils although im waiting for my local spray shop to strip the paint for me first.

 

I had a go on a part of the wheel as a test to how good i could get the finish and after 80, 120, 240, 400 grit abrasives and then black then blue polishing compounds it turned out pretty well.

 

I did have a problem at the final stage of polishing with the blue compound on a felt rotary disc, basicly after applying the compound to the disc and polishing for a bit the surface of the wheel became a sort of black sticky film that only came off with more polishing and it also clogged up the polishing disc so that the only thing i could do was sand it to get it off the disc...

 

The only theory i can come up with is that i havent been cleaning the surface very well between sanding and polishing. would this effect it that drastically?

 

Appreciate any help/guidance.

[sexybourbon 0]

I think you have the right idea but when i did mine before i used sand paper all the way up to 2500 grit wet sanding

And as far as im aware the metal will always be dirty even if you wipe it

Try not putting as much polish on there and if it gets a bit sticky put a bit of brasso on there to wet it , after you have done it with the blue/brown polish use a polish past like the stuff in the tubes you can get from halfords , once you have got a finish your happy with use some lime powder ( i think thats the stuff ) as it will bring out more of the dirt ( again i think ) and then once the wheel is done wax the **** out of it with a really decent was like collonite to keep the **** out other wise they will dull off and pit very quik especially in this weather and the **** amount of salt they put on the roads

[BILLCOR 1]

I think some of this will help >> http://www.abrasivesformetal.co.uk/Vienna-Chalk.aspx

I've used it after polishing small parts on my bench buffer

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

im no pro but iv done metal polishing before , if the surface is already smooth dont go down to 80 , your only creating more work for yourself, only use the coarser grits to remove imperfections, and as above you need to work up the fine/polishing grits ,1000, 1500 , 2000 ect wet .

[Marshall936 0]

Top advice guys, knew i came to the right place!

[g0ldf1ng3r 14]

good luck!!

 

id be keen to hear how you get on as ive been considering doing similar with some 15" speedlines i have :)

[Marshall936 0]

Thanks mate, theres some pics on my wip thread of progress so far:

 

http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?51716-The-16v-Project

 

Waiting on my spray shop to have an opening so that they can strip the paint for me before i crack on with the rest (although may finish off the one ive started)

[g0ldf1ng3r 14]

Thanks mate, theres some pics on my wip thread of progress so far:

 

http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?51716-The-16v-Project

 

Waiting on my spray shop to have an opening so that they can strip the paint for me before i crack on with the rest (although may finish off the one ive started)

 

Thanks Steve i will take a look & have a read :)

[Marshall936 0]

After all that, i think im going to take a u-turn with the estorils and get them painted. I had a word with someone from a refurbishment company and they said that even if i get them polished that it would be alot of maintenance and that if i did lacquer them then it would only last a few months due to stone chips and the lacquer having nothing to grip onto! Did get one looking half decent though: