Wheel Polishing

[CAD]

Hey dood's...this is my first attempt at wheel polishing... thought i could save myself $500 i havent quite finished yet.....just need to buff it now...as you can see a small part on the bottom has had a quick buff...what ya think? or should i cut my losses now and take em to a pro?

[Nick7r]

it dont look to bad

how u get it this far budda?

[CAD]

Well.....1st things 1st...you remove the wheel.....to make things easier....remove the tyre too (good mod to do in between fittin new tyres) Then depending on what you wanna do (i wanted to remove ALL paint) i attacked it with selly's quick strip paint stripper....nasty shit...works very well....DO NO bget it on yer skin...wear yer PPE... once you removed a mojority of the paint (a wire brush can help alot) then wash it down with water to remove paint and stripper.... then just go over the wheel with wet-and-dry sandpaper (while wet, works better) start with a coarse grade.....and work your way into a finer grade to iron out the scratches... take a while...but you see result very soon..... then once you down to something like a 600 grade sandpaper....then its prolly time to buff.... i just have a drill with a buffing wheel attachment... not the best for gettin into hard places....but should be ok for now..... you'll have to invest in a bit of autosol...works wonder's in bringing the rim to a shine...you'll have to use a bit during the buffin process.... and before long...WWAALLAAHH!! the more time you spend on it...the better the results.....dont rush it...otherwise it'll just come out crap....its prolly taken me in all around 2-3.5hours to get this far.....with prolly another hour to go or so..... but then again this is my first time now i just gotta start the front wheel :cry:

[gpx_gal]

$500 ouch.. sounds like ur being ripped off there. Wanted to get my cage's done a while ago and don't remember my jaw dropping too far and they need serious work.

This place is/was in Maddington, they had a display at motorvation 1-2 years ago, forget the name. Ring around for a few more quotes dude.

P.S. They do it by hand as well so if yer careful you may get the same finish anyway.

[Campo]

Man, I will never in my life polish again after having this baby, it's such a pain in the ass to keep clean!!
I had a polished swing-arm and wheels....damn what a pain!

[CAD]

gpx_gal wrote:

$500 ouch.. sounds like ur being ripped off there. Wanted to get my cage's done a while ago and don't remember my jaw dropping too far and they need serious work.  

This place is/was in Maddington, they had a display at motorvation 1-2 years ago, forget the name. Ring around for a few more quotes dude.  

P.S. They do it by hand as well so if yer careful you may get the same finish anyway.

The company your probally referring to in Maddington is called Bagby polisher's.....and they do all the custom shows etc and are very good.... also one of the cheapest polisher's in Perth.... the quote of $440 for both rims was from them =) the worst was $600 8)

[Scum-Bag]

......then just go over the wheel with wet-and-dry sandpaper (while wet, works better)  start with a coarse grade.....and work your way into a finer grade to iron out the scratches... take a while...but you see result very soon..... then once you down to something like a 600 grade sandpaper....then its prolly time to buff....

If you went straight from the 600 to polishing,you're going to leave scratches behind,it will be shiney,but you will be able to see the scratch marks.Finish sanding with 1200 or even 1500 and once you've finished polishing and you can still see the polish swirl marks,the only way to get rid of them is to finish off with cotton wool(with autosol),depending on how far you want to go with it

[Nick7r]

Campo that bike is sweeet lookin .. dont know y u sold it for half an engine

[CAD]

scum-bag wrote:

If you went straight from the 600 to polishing,you're going to leave scratches behind,it will be shiney,but you will be able to see the scratch marks.Finish sanding with 1200 or even 1500 and once you've finished polishing and you can still see the polish swirl marks,the only way to get rid of them is to finish off with cotton wool(with autosol),depending on how far you want to go with it

Thanks for that dood.... ill do dat

[CAD]

Campo wrote:

Man, I will never in my life polish again after having this baby, it's such a pain in the ass to keep clean!!  
I had a polished swing-arm and wheels....damn what a pain!  

too true dood...but thats the price you pay for havin a shmick bike! Im getting the frame, swingarm, heel protectors and pillion peg's polished too...professionally tho...by bagby...best quote...best job

[Dubs]

i got mine done for $425 gst incl..

most of you seen mine...

deej has the schmicko photos tho and aint had time to upload em

:-----(


see gary at northside kawasaki and send ya rims to aldo...i thin his name is, does em at his place in like giggiiiigannnup? ish..


does most of the bike shops work

DUBDUB

[zipdrive]

nice job CAD!

[oblivion]

stolen from www.r1-forum.com

The Rules for Starters.  

For anyone that is interested in polishing.. You need to know this.. You do it once.. you'll do it again.. It's kinda a drug..  

Ready?  

First you will need to get a wide arrangement of sand grits. Starting with: 220, 320, 400, 600, 800. 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 (some people even go up to 3000 but it's not needed). If at all possible buy wet sanding paper (black), using the sand paper with water will make the shine more and more mirror like.  

Paint stripper (airline works best.. But also your normal everyday stripper works well.. MAKE SURE! it's in a thick form that way it won't run and be compleatly messy.  

If you decide you want to polish more and more.. Investing in an orbital, 1/4 sheet sander, or Dremel Contour Sander (good for hard to get places) will be a great investment. Using a power sander will greatly cut your sanding time. I usually only use the power tool for only the first grit (220).  

Now that you have all your tools lined up. It's the stripping process. It is VERY important to get rid of as much paint at possible, because the paint will \"goo\" the sand paper making you burn through paper like a wildfire.  

Once stripping is finished. Move onto sanding.. make sure you sand in one direction. (try to follow the metal's grain) I know I know.. It can sometimes be hard to tell the grain's direction... But when yer hand sanding with 220.. One direction will shine better than the others. That's your grain. THE FIRST GRIT IS VERY IMPORTANT!.. any lazyness in missing pits or leaving scratches will result in a bad apperance.. I can not stress enough the 220 grit is single handedly the one thing you CAN NOT RUSH!.  

Once you finish the 220 grit.. the rest is a breeze.. I recomend using wet sanding now. Start with 220 wet (if you have a large tub or shower throw the stuff in there and do this sanding). when you have finished with that grit wash entirely, and move onto 320 to remove the scratches the 220 left. Wash again... use this same system with the 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000 grits.  

When you finish the sanding.. polish the entire thing down with a buffing wheel and White then Red Rouge compound. Then finish it iff with an ally/mag polish. I reccomend \"Mothers Incredible Billet Ally Polish\" ($11 retail 4oz can). Make sure to buff very well.. The better you buff the better it looks.  

Now take a shave in your newly polished part.  

I hope this all helps. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd times of polishing are the hardest... Once you become seasoned at it.. It'll become a piece o cake  

and

Auh... I've been asked by some guys what's the best tool to use to cut down the time in getting the rough casting out.  

Here's my reply:  
Well... to get the rough casting off the wheel... you can buy a die-grinder (smallest disk you can find) with a 80 grit disk. Be careful because at the high speeds a diegrinder goes at.. it'll take your metal off quickly.. use that to get the rough spots smooth.. and then buy...  

\"Dremel Contour Sander\".. this is an awsome tool... work from the 80 \"hook-n-lood\" up to their 120 grit (80&120)... Then cut peices of sand paper.. and use their custom molds to sand with 220 grit... untill everything is smooth... then wet sand the whole thing down (by hand) from 220-2000.. Hope that helps!  

The rest of the thread is here... http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread....&threadid=29216

the guy that wrote that has a very bling bling shiny bike

cya

[Campo]

Campo that bike is sweeet lookin .. dont know y u sold it for half an engine  

Didn't sell her mate, thats the baby I lost when that bitch hit me reversing out of her driveway.

SKANK!!!!!!

[CAD]

fark it...... im gonna stop being a cheapskate and part wif da $$$ :cry: