De-Knurled and Polished AGA-T

[Bad_Habit]

Just finished doing 1 of my 2 aga-t's

I think it turned out awesome - you may think I only did the knurled areas but to keep it uniform I sanded the entire unit down then polished it back out what do you think of this sweet baby

And this is on my provari used to be satin I took it apart and sanded and polished it all the way back to like chrome finish and they go together very well now

Pretty much a mirror finish took about 30 minutes to do this only using a drill to hold it in place I never even had to touch my wood lathe - Not bad for 30 minutes and 12$ for the AGA-T

 

[Bad_Habit]

Here are both side by side just finished the 2nd in a brushed finish

Think Zmax brushed stainless I got it almost identical to it

 

[Bad_Habit]

On the Zmax

 

[Soulfree]

Very nice. I'm getting a couple in a coop that's still live. Interested in doing this as well. Did you file it down before sanding? Also what polish did you use. Looks great.

 

[Bad_Habit]

60 grit to get rid of the knurls then I went to 120grit with the top cap back on the aga-t and went all the way up to 3000 no polish used -

The brushed was as simple a 60 grit to take down the knurl which took about 10 minutes and then I just used 120 grit for the brushed look just keep the sandpaper still and let the drill do the work - no up and down just sand the entire piece at one time and switch to newer paper as needed to keep the whole aga-t brush look consistent -

 

[Bad_Habit]

a 8/32 x 2" screw and nut to hold them together and the extra bit of the screw into the chuck to hold in place


Just use a clamp to keep the drill going and clamp the drill down to keep it in place while you sand away - a lathe would be easier but didn't feel like messing with it today

 

[Soulfree]

Very nice I'll try this when I get mine. What polish did u use?

 

[robocog]

Looks fab- you should be well pleased with the result
Esp like the brushed (less of a finger print magnet)

Regards
Rob

 

[Bad_Habit]

I did not use any polish -

 

[horton]

Beautiful work, Bad_Habit. You are a true artist. I can't get over the fact you got that beautiful finish using no polish.
I'll look forward to seeing more of your creative modifications in the future!!

 

[asdaq]

Looks great and I like the methods too. Is your 3000 grit well worn? I've got a piece of 2000 much used that puts on nice shine as well. Are you using wet/dry or emory cloth for certain grits?

 

[orion7319]

Wonder if this will work on a vivi nova mini... Don't know if they are solid aluminum or just plated.

 

[dsy5]

Just finished doing 1 of my 2 aga-t's

I think it turned out awesome - you may think I only did the knurled areas but to keep it uniform I sanded the entire unit down then polished it back out what do you think of this sweet baby

Nice! That was the first thing I wanted to do when I got mine - the knurling is pretty damn ugly. How is it to screw/unscrew without the knurling? My cap is quite a beast to get on.

I thought that since it was stainleess, you would need to put it on a lathe, but aparrently not. Maybe I will try it using my drill press.

 

[dsy5]

Ok, here is my deknurling project so far...





Pictures are from my web cam at work, so they are not that great. The top one is the Birkshire(Rev 2 of the AGA Tiamat) and the second one is the original Rev 1 AGA-T from Discount Vapors.

The top cap on the Rev 1 has coarser threads and no recess at the o-ring, so it is difficult to screw/unscrew the top cap from the body; therefore I left some knurling on. You can also see that it has a much larger knurling pattern and the domed top cap is not as tapered. I 'framed' the tank with knurling and just removed a portion on the bottom.

I have 1 more Birkshire to do and I think I will try the satin finish to more complement my Zmax. The polished ones do look nice on my chrome Provari.

I did not take any stock off the caps - the Birkshire cap is already fairly thin walled and I didn't want to overdo it. The look is still pretty fluid.

 

[Lentulusbatiatus]

Nice work they look really good, this is something on my to-do list.

 

[Bad_Habit]

yea looks nice

 

[dsy5]

yea looks nice

Thanks, I owe you one for the technique! I didn't think I would be able to do a very good job without using a lathe, but...

I finished my third one and put the satin finish on it to match the Zmax stainless - I used a Scotchbrite pad instead of 150 grit emery and it came out pretty nice.

 

[Bad_Habit]

post a pic of the brushed / satin finish

 

[dsy5]

Here's the satin finished one.



Keep in mind my camera isn't great - can you see that the center post is a bit on the yellowish side? Seems that this is the only part (aside maybe from the pos post) that isn't stainless. I tried polishing it on my wheel and that faint glow of brass started to peek through. I stopped polishing as soon as I noticed it. It's chrome plated brass.

 

[sllanham]

That is really cool, very good work.