Polishing Tips

[Para]

I noticed a couple of threads where their new Penelope arrived with a few scratches.....stuff happens in production and nothing is perfect. Here's a few tips to fix the problem with the least amount of work.

1. Always start with the finest grit FIRST. 4/0 steel wool.

I'd rather take 20 minutes with it than starting with something more coarse that removes it quickly. Then you CREATE more work having to work back up to the finest grit and polish. The scratch will be gone, but you'll spend 20x the work getting it to the steel wool polish. If steel wool won't do the job, go to 1500 and then back to steel wool. You should never have to go below 800 grit ever. If you do it's a major scratch and will take quite a bit of work to get it back looking great.

2. Always cover the threads and any engravings with tape before polishing.....you don't want to touch those areas with abrasives.

3. Final polish with a good polishing compound to a mirror finish. If you've got it to the steel wool condition, the polish will be easy.

4. Don't rush it.....work a while and put it down; come back later. Hand fatigue leads to "oooops" and that means extra work.

The problem I've noticed with some suggestions is they use too coarse grit to start and try to skip a step to get through fast. All you do is polish over scratches; the goal is to eliminate them all.

Hope this helps

 

[Huffelpuff]

Thanks, Para.. I love to read your tips.

 

[imeothanasis]

Thank you very much para for your polishing tip. Its always a pain when I hear that people have problems with this issue and they search for info about this stuff. Great post!

 

[Ezkill]

Para couldn't be more right. I haven't polished any GG items yet but I have spent a lot of time polishing cars, including stainless steel parts, and the same rules apply. Most cars come with fairly messed up clear coat from the factory because of the way they are cleaned and then "detailed" when they get to the dealership. Even a bad drying towel will swirl your clear coat.

- Never cheap out on the products you use. You can cause yourself massive grief and a lot of re-work by trying to save a few dollars.
- Don't use anything more rough then you need to. If you only have light surface scratches a light polishing compound will do the trick. The general rule is if you can't feel the scratch with the back of your finger nail you can use a light compound. Patience is the key. They will come out. Work in circular motions.
- Always practice on something else. Test all compounds and procedures on a part you can't see. I watched a friend of mine take a buffer to his red 458 Italia hood before I realized it had some bugs on it. Instead of buffing out two light scratches he created about 50 more. It took us 4 hours to undo what he did in 30 seconds. This was not good practice.
-That leads into the next point, make sure everything is clean and free of debris before you start any polishing. If there is any debris on the item you will rub it around when you start and possibly create more scratches.
-Smooth means shiny. The smoother your finish the more shine you will get. That's true for anything clear coat or metal.
-Patience, patience and more patience.

Picture of the panel on one of my vehicles with no wax. It's this reflective because it's been polished properly and it's smooth. Wax is good for protection and hiding small imperfections but the true shine comes from having a smooth finish before waxing. This applies to stainless steel as well. Putting a shine on it with a protectant is fine but the true deep shine comes from having a smooth piece before adding anything to it.

 

[jbglenn]

Para couldn't be more right. I haven't polished any GG items yet but I have spent a lot of time polishing cars, including stainless steel parts, and the same rules apply. Most cars come with fairly messed up clear coat from the factory because of the way they are cleaned and then "detailed" when they get to the dealership. Even a bad drying towel will swirl your clear coat.

- Never cheap out on the products you use. You can cause yourself massive grief and a lot of re-work by trying to save a few dollars.
- Don't use anything more rough then you need to. If you only have light surface scratches a light polishing compound will do the trick. The general rule is if you can't feel the scratch with the back of your finger nail you can use a light compound. Patience is the key. They will come out. Work in circular motions.
- Always practice on something else. Test all compounds and procedures on a part you can't see. I watched a friend of mine take a buffer to his red 458 Italia hood before I realized it had some bugs on it. Instead of buffing out two light scratches he created about 50 more. It took us 4 hours to undo what he did in 30 seconds. This was not good practice.
-That leads into the next point, make sure everything is clean and free of debris before you start any polishing. If there is any debris on the item you will rub it around when you start and possibly create more scratches.
-Smooth means shiny. The smoother your finish the more shine you will get. That's true for anything clear coat or metal.
-Patience, patience and more patience.

Picture of the panel on one of my vehicles with no wax. It's this reflective because it's been polished properly and it's smooth. Wax is good for protection and hiding small imperfections but the true shine comes from having a smooth finish before waxing. This applies to stainless steel as well. Putting a shine on it with a protectant is fine but the true deep shine comes from having a smooth piece before adding anything to it.

Awesome tips ezkill. Now that you have polished the GGTS, what else have you learned?

 

[Ezkill]

Awesome tips ezkill. Now that you have polished the GGTS, what else have you learned?

Dremel 520 bit is pretty awesome for these small stainless steel jobs. I have so many compounds and wheels for my vehicles but the dremel 520 wheel is more then sufficient for getting medium to very light damage out of these pieces. Finish with Flitz or Cape Cod cloths.

The 520 bit is a wheel impregnated with silica carbide(cutting agent) and a lubricant so you don't have to mess with compounds. I think they are about 4 dollars a piece and last quite a while. They do an awesome job.

DISCLAIMER: Don't take a dremel 520 bit straight to your GG stuff. Instead get a scratched up stainless steel butter knife or spoon out of your drawer and practice for a minute or two until you have the feel of it. Tape off half the spoon, polish one side and look at your results against the taped off side. Just so you know how much damage you are removing and how long it's taking.

 

[c8h10n4o2x2]

Any of you ever us a product called Nevr-Dull on the brass parts? When I was in the Navy, we used it religiously on any piece of decorative brass, belt buckles, hand rails, ect .