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Re: [TCML] Polishing Metal (ie Brass) after machining . . .

i use 400 wet/ dry sandpaper and sand the entire surface of the shape to be polished. It is slow and a lot of work. You will find the paper goes "soft" after a bit and will not cut as fast. Makes it like using a finer paper in the final stages. 

Then I go direct to red rouge and a cotton wheel for the final polish.
NEVER use a different compound on a wheel. Once you charge the wheel, it must always use that compound as Daniel mentioned.
Steel or stainless needs a different compound, usually white. It is more abrasive and cuts faster. 
Plastic uses blue.
The best plastic polish I have found is Merguiar's Mirror Glaze clear plastic polish, it is really great and has been around a long time. One place you can find it at boat dealers.
As mentioned in other posts, do not press too hard while polishing or it will actually melt the metal and you will see small wavy marks in your metal and will have to sand them smooth and start over. Plastic is even more sensitive to this.
For steel or SS, I usually do not polish with a wheel but use crocus cloth to do the job. A lot of hand work but worth it! 

Now the final polish.

I wash the metal with warm soapy water, this removes any compound.
Over many years of restoration, I have found Brasso the best to shine up the metal. I use old cotton T shirts as the rag. You can use the Brasso as a compound as well as it will remove scratches if rubbed hard enough. 
I use Brasso on steel, brass, nickle and even aluminium.
As a final polish, I found Flitz will make a mirror like surface.
I found you need the 2 step polish, Brasso then Flitz to get the best surface. If you only use one polish, then use Brasso. I found Flitz alone will not get the surface as shiny as Brasso.
Brass will tarnish if the surface is left unprotected. It will tarnish faster in if there are a lot of pollution fumes, especially coal or diesel and cigarette smoke will really speed up the process. 
If you used brass near a Tesla coil, the ozone will also speed up the tarnish.

Frank

At 01:16 PM 2/20/2008 -0600, you wrote:

Dan;

I use a three-step polishing compound with three cotton buffing wheels on
a bench grinder. Each buffing wheel is 'married' to it's compound so that
the coarse compounds don't contaminate the fine compound wheels. Sears and
Ace hardware normally carry a good selection of compounds and cotton
buffing wheels. Don't recall if I've ever seen these at building supply
stores but they might.

I start with Tripoli (brown) move up to white rouge (white) and finish
with red rouge (red). The brass looks like solid gold when I finish. Sears
sells a 4-compound package for around $6.00 that also includes emory cake,
but the emory is to aggressive for anything as soft as brass or aluminum.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00902896000P?keyword=polishing+compound

BTW, as an aside; You wouldn't believe the amount of static that charges
up in me while polishing. Every time my hand contacts the bench grinder's
metal shield get a nasty discharge! I finally attached an ESD strap to my
wrist as a remedy.

Daniel Hess



"McCauley, Daniel H" <daniel.h.mccauley@xxxxxxxx>
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02/20/2008 11:45 AM
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Subject
[TCML] Polishing Metal (ie Brass) after machining . . .






Another machining question . . .

What is the best way to finish and polish metal (such as brass,
aluminum), once it is machined?

Thanks
Dan
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