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j p smith

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Glendale, Arizona
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jimgood

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Marshall, VA
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j p smith

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May 22, 2013
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1,213
Location
Glendale, Arizona
Thanks Jim! I think I will order some of the roloc pads & a mandrel instead of trying to cut the pieces out. Only thing the pads might not be as aggressive as the rolocs
 

Guster

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Mar 11, 2012
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Location
Auckland, New Zealand
My favourite tool for producing a very fine grained ornamental finish has always been a hardwood dowel that had the end sanded to a very fine finish and then using valve lapping or other fine cutting compound. Others use a tool that takes a leather disk 'insert' along with an abrasive or lapping compound which is probably better for softer materials or compound curves.

TBH when I first tried my hand at this as a teenager I used a brass wire cup brush and even that worked just fine. I even think my stainless postbox front was done this way. It wasn't meant to be fancy or anything, just looked better than any other finish I could manage in the time with tools on hand.
 

jimgood

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Aug 4, 2014
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Marshall, VA
I haven't tried it yet but I would imagine the biggest challenge is in achieving uniformity and preventing the tool from walking.
 

Bobf

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Feb 16, 2012
Messages
308
Location
Poway, CA
I made some aluminum dash panels years ago with a wood grid set up on a drill press, and I used some round rubber abrasive sticks made by a company name of Cratex. Chuck a short piece in the drill chuck, run it down on a piece of fine sandpaper (280, 320, 400) to square up the end then start across the panel following your grid guide.
 

HoosierBuddy

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May 9, 2006
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Southern Indiana
Seems like a milling machine would be the hot ticket for this. Especially if you could establish a pattern with, say 1 complete turn of the table feed (on my mill that would be .200 inches)

Phil
 
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j p smith

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May 22, 2013
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Location
Glendale, Arizona
Thanks Phil. This morning I picked up some Roloc fine scuff pads to try on a sample piece of aluminum tomorrow. I have planned to use the mill, I just need a better way to support the length of the backsplash that is not on the mill table.
 
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ilovevocs

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Jun 26, 2009
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Location
Toledo, Ohio
I saw this a while back and thought I'd share. God only knows how long it took






Wow...

Possibly a Maintance guy with too much time at work, no smart phone or computer, and Some drugs.

Would like to know more about who and why! Crazy time investment for something no one sees.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

APEowner

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Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
4,164
Location
Sunny, New Mexico
Wow...

Possibly a Maintance guy with too much time at work, no smart phone or computer, and Some drugs.

Would like to know more about who and why! Crazy time investment for something no one sees.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When my guys do stuff like that I can never decide if I should praise them for taking pride in their work and going the extra mile or criticize them for wasting time. Since they generally work had and get done what needs to be done I usually just shake my head, smile and walk away.
 

Guster

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Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
1,543
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Wow...

Possibly a Maintance guy with too much time at work, no smart phone or computer, and Some drugs.

Would like to know more about who and why! Crazy time investment for something no one sees.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A touch of OCD maybe. Either that or started doing it to hide some bad scuff marks or something and realised that now you've started you cannot really stop till it is all done.
 

ilovevocs

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Joined
Jun 26, 2009
Messages
1,966
Location
Toledo, Ohio
APE, it's nice to have guys who like to stay busy. For a real worker it's hard to sit idle at work.

GUster,

Seems like a touch of special either way. My friend named corncob would be so proud of something like that. A left handed cigarette and some classic rock and he would spend days on it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

homebuilt burner

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Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
1,763
Location
central Wisconsin
I did it on a dash panel for my boat. On aluminum with a scotch lock disk and a buddy's knee mill using the digital readout. I didn't have the aluminum polished enough to start. It looks okay but not great.
 
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