Polishing pipes

[kooldino]

Most of the products I offer are made from stainless or aluminum tubing. Many customers prefer a polished finish, which results in us spending a LOT of time on the polishing wheel in order to get that mirror shine.

Other items are too large to hold, so we use a 6" polishing wheel on a drill on the part.

I didn't know if anyone had any better tools or maybe techniques that could help speed things up.

We usually do the entire item with a fast cut and go over it again with a high polish.

 

[lawfarm]

Who's gonna be first with the **** response?

 

[BigE]

Not to further lawfarm's question, but have you thought about using a ********? If you look up ammo reloading, they use large bowls, usually filled with corn bits, on a vibrating plate to polish the brass. Dump in the corn, a small amount of lubricant, the shells and let her run for an hour or two. I know you said you deal with some large parts, but a custom built oversized model might save you a lot of time. And as we all know, time is money.

 

[CamarosRus]

Look into (SEARCH) buying a commercial Vibratory tumbler to polish your parts, pcs

 

[kooldino]

Would the vibration tumbler result in a high gloss mirror finish? If so, I'm on it.

 

[LoneGunman]

If a part is too large to hold then a drill is totally the wrong tool for the job, not enough RPM. I plate and polish as a side business that will hopefully grow into full time so I polish a LOT. If the parts are too large too hold a vibratory polisher that big is going to be BEYOND expensive.

I don't know what you are using for a buffer but I wouldn't run anything below 1hp with 8" wheels, I'd prefer a 2hp range Baldor in the 12" range. For large parts they make a hand held buffer, it is HEAVY but it works.

I use 3/4" or 1" aluminum EMT for my samples, I can polish a 6" piece of it to a mirror finish in under a half an hour.

Are you using different wheels for the different polishes? What compounds are you using and what grits for the aluminum and stainless?

Join the site below and post your questions in the link, you'll get a lot more help with specific answers there.

http://forum.caswellplating.com/metal-polishing-questions/

The link below shows some pics of a rotoset and rotostar, that's what I would use on large parts.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...&sa=N&start=21&um=1&ei=0-JHS7GLNene8AaS6LSCAw


http://www.artcotools.com/suhner-rotostar-flexshaft-kit-c-464-p-1-pr-16951.html

 

[Monte]

Fein, Flex and Suhner make the tools you need.

www.flexnorthamerica.com www.fein.de www.suhner-abrasive-expert.com

 

[LoneGunman]

Suhner makes the rotoset and rotostar I mentioned above, NICE stuff as I'm sure the Fein and flex is.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I know people that do it on a lathe, but not sure what you're trying to do.

 

[kooldino]

If a part is too large to hold then a drill is totally the wrong tool for the job, not enough RPM. I plate and polish as a side business that will hopefully grow into full time so I polish a LOT. If the parts are too large too hold a vibratory polisher that big is going to be BEYOND expensive.

I don't know what you are using for a buffer but I wouldn't run anything below 1hp with 8" wheels, I'd prefer a 2hp range Baldor in the 12" range. For large parts they make a hand held buffer, it is HEAVY but it works.

I use 3/4" or 1" aluminum EMT for my samples, I can polish a 6" piece of it to a mirror finish in under a half an hour.

Are you using different wheels for the different polishes? What compounds are you using and what grits for the aluminum and stainless?

Join the site below and post your questions in the link, you'll get a lot more help with specific answers there.

http://forum.caswellplating.com/metal-polishing-questions/

The link below shows some pics of a rotoset and rotostar, that's what I would use on large parts.

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...&sa=N&start=21&um=1&ei=0-JHS7GLNene8AaS6LSCAw


http://www.artcotools.com/suhner-rotostar-flexshaft-kit-c-464-p-1-pr-16951.html

Thank you!

After reading this page I found on that forum, I've come to realize that while I have been using the correct compounds, I have been doing my rough cut with a spiral sewn wheel instead of a SISAL wheel. Hopefully this will cut down my rough cut time considerably.

As for the large stuff, I currently use an ~8amp drill.

Direct link to polishing PDF:

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/Buffbook.pdf

 

[kooldino]

Fein, Flex and Suhner make the tools you need.

$700!

http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com/servlet/the-181/Flex-Boa-Sander-LRP/Detail

Too rich for my blood, but nice.

 

[Monte]

yeah i know... but 700$ is pretty good , over here you pay around 870-900 but Euro and thats around $1300.- .............

A lower price alternative is to buy this "wheel" and attach it to a normal polisher or angle grinder....should be around 50$- $60... available from "Flex"

 

[TA^Guy]

For large items like wheels or intake manifolds, etc I use my high speed polisher with a wool bonnet after sanding. Like already stated a drill doesn't have the RPM you need and would require a lot longer/more work to get the shine you are looking for.

 

[Ign]

Yeah I do mine on the lathe, but only messed around w mild steel thus far. I use a Scothbrite pad on my angle grinder. Tried stainless but couldn't get a good pattern 'cause stainless is so tough. In hindsight I shoulda just used an abrasive sanding disc on the stainless, probably would have worked well.

For the best pattern I first use a slow spindle speed, around 40, and then kick it up to 120 or so and go again.

 

[kooldino]

The abrasive sanding discs leave a lot of marks in my experience.

 

[Ign]

The abrasive sanding discs leave a lot of marks in my experience.

Even if the work is spinning?

 

[kooldino]

Never tried it on a lathe, but when i did it on a valve cover with an airtool it looked nice, but you could see the "swirl" patterns it left.

 

[russlaferrera]

I use a 6" scotchbrite wheel on my buffer. It gets the rough stuff quickly, then to a polishing wheel.