[IGeeky1]

OK, I know the oddity is me but...

1-airplane stripper
2-400 grit
3-800 grit
4-1200 grit

sanding always in the same direction
all sanding scratches inline, none other noticeable

then polish with jeans wheel and tripoli
then cotton wheel with yellow (forget what its called)

oddity is this...while it shiny pretty well there appear to be scratches in the finish, scratches in a rather roundish manner like you were sanding in oval circles

its odd because I know i didn't sand or polish in that pattern. It also odd because with the 400 grit it put plenty of lines in, but they were very straight, these orbitals were not to be seen,

The real oddity is there is some some sort of water pattern on it. Don know how else to explain it. I've attached a pic and the red on there is my drawing to attract your attention to the water spot issue.

I've got the funny feeling I've been sanding & polishing the clear coat for hours, if so how the heck do you get that stuff off?

Anybody else experience this?

 

[Mr.Wilson]

It is from the jean wheel. Where you either stopped and reversed direction, or were dealing with an change in the level of the material. Most of my polishing I do at 90 degree difference of direction of sanding to avoid the ovals you are seeing. Or with odd shapes I will start with the unlevel spots first then work the rest as normal.

 

[IGeeky1]

I added more, probably shouldn't have entered post until I got the pic.

Darn, I thought I was supposed to do everything in the same direction...live and learn- thanks

Any idea on the "water stain" look? Am I still playin on top of the clear coat? I've used paint stripper and acetone on it, nothing seems to budge it.

 

[big poppa pump]

Yep, those stains are clearcoat. Looks like the paint stripper did not remove everything. How long did you leave the paint stripper on? How did take off the paint stripper?

Additionally you are supposed to alternate directions when sanding. So basically, you do this:
400 up-down
800 left-right
1000 up-down
1500 left-right
2000 up-down

 

[7xclm]

Wet sanding also helps.

 

[Mr.Wilson]

That is clear coat that you been polishing over. There may be an issue due to a unlevel surface. Meaning you may be working a low spot. This is common to see when using a block to sand with. I suggest a thin flexable plastic or metal ruler, cut to fit your sand paper width. This way you get into the imperfection without leaving grooves from your fingers. After you get done reapply thin coats of clear, just as the factory did, to fill the low spots and hide the imperfection.

 

[IGeeky1]

Well I was leaving it on for 5-10 and brushing of with a brass wire brush- i admit i wasn't really scrubbing.

So left i on for 15- 20 and it was pretty dried by the time i brush it off. no change..so i poured MEK on (after drying) and went at it with a green scotch brite pad.

So after i dried that and hit it with some simple green to clean the water and dried again, i put on some eastwood aluminum cleaner. This stuff cleans and brightens aluminum...it just dulled my panel, pretty certain that means I'm still dealing with clearcoat

What the heck is this stuff and if it is this stuff why am i messing with it? ...oh well to late.

 

[CSRoad]

I don't know what you are polishing.

If aluminum maybe rather than clear coat you are dealing with clear anodizing or an oxide surface treatment, this is done to a lot of Aluminum parts to stop tarnish and make the surface harder.
If that's the case you are best to use Anodize Stripper to remove it. Something like this:
Search results for: 'anodize stripper' - Caswell Inc

The thin anodized surface is the same as the stuff AlO sandpaper is made from so it is hard.

As the anodize is sanded off it will look like your water marks as one part is raw aluminum and the other part is still anodized. Raw aluminum is a lot softer and will polish up fast with simichome or whatever and the other will just sit there and slowly be worn away.

Playing this game you can actually change the contour of the part as one piece is softer than the other.

After anodize is removed and all is polished you are left with the choice of re-anodizing in clear or colors, clear coating, or having to repolish with Simichrome, Mothers or similar regularly.

If left alone unprotected aluminum will oxidize on it's own and will eventually build up enough of a layer of AlO to behave like this naturally.

Bad people have been known to use lye or Heavy Duty Easy Off Oven cleaner to remove anodizing. It is really dangerous stuff, it will melt meat.

I used carefully it can work, results can be nasty on some alloys, try a hidden test piece first.

If you must use it wear full protective clothing and do it in a well ventilated area.
Me I'd buy the Caswell Stuff instead.

As to the sanding and polishing advice given it is very good. So thumbs up for that.

 

[IGeeky1]

I don't know what you are polishing.

If aluminum maybe rather than clear coat you are dealing with clear anodizing or an oxide surface treatment, this is done to a lot of Aluminum parts to stop tarnish and make the surface harder.
If that's the case you are best to use Anodize Stripper to remove it. Something like this:
Search results for: 'anodize stripper' - Caswell Inc

The thin anodized surface is the same as the stuff AlO sandpaper is made from so it is hard.

As the anodize is sanded off it will look like your water marks as one part is raw aluminum and the other part is still anodized. Raw aluminum is a lot softer and will polish up fast with simichome or whatever and the other will just sit there and slowly be worn away.

Playing this game you can actually change the contour of the part as one piece is softer than the other.

After anodize is removed and all is polished you are left with the choice of re-anodizing in clear or colors, clear coating, or having to repolish with Simichrome, Mothers or similar regularly.

If left alone unprotected aluminum will oxidize on it's own and will eventually build up enough of a layer of AlO to behave like this naturally.

Bad people have been known to use lye or Heavy Duty Easy Off Oven cleaner to remove anodizing. It is really dangerous stuff, it will melt meat.

I used carefully it can work, results can be nasty on some alloys, try a hidden test piece first.

If you must use it wear full protective clothing and do it in a well ventilated area.
Me I'd buy the Caswell Stuff instead.

As to the sanding and polishing advice given it is very good. So thumbs up for that.

The part I'm currently working on is the left crankcase cover off a 1987 vt1100c

 

[Wombatair]

Wow 400, 800 & 1200 grit.
fake - Aircraft striper and MEK(nervous system).

The amount of time and money spent here, I would just get it re-chomed might be cheaper.

 

[CSRoad]

I would bet that the cover is clear anodized as the factory finish.
I sincerely doubt a clear coat would have been used on such a part in 1987.

 

[Labswine]

Oh, I don't know...call it Ghost Water marks?

 

[IGeeky1]

So

15 minutes with EZ Off followed by green scotchbrite prior to washing off- nada
30 minutes with EZ Off followed by green scotchbrite prior to washing off- nada
45 minutes with EZ Off followed by green scotchbrite prior to washing off- maybe something?

The last time I got a few nasty black spots to clean off- I'm guessing those are where the EZ Off met aluminum

Well tomorrow get a 90 minute trial

 

[soonerman]

Kinda hard to tell from your pic, but I'm thinking you have sanded/polished through the anodize coating in certain spots and not others. I could be wrong.

As mentioned anodize is very hard but not very thick. The good news is that you can sand/polish the rest off and buff it out, but it may not match the other side. One way you can check is to use a voltmeter and check for conductivity. If anodic coating present there it won't conduct, whereas bare spots will. If you have a plating shop close they can strip and re-anodize them. Of course if that's chrome we are looking at, this whole post just went out the window except for the previous sentence... lol

 

[IGeeky1]

Kinda hard to tell from your pic, but I'm thinking you have sanded/polished through the anodize coating in certain spots and not others. I could be wrong.

As mentioned anodize is very hard but not very thick. The good news is that you can sand/polish the rest off and buff it out, but it may not match the other side. One way you can check is to use a voltmeter and check for conductivity. If anodic coating present there it won't conduct, whereas bare spots will. If you have a plating shop close they can strip and re-anodize them. Of course if that's chrome we are looking at, this whole post just went out the window except for the previous sentence... lol

Voltmeter!?! duh why didn't I think of that! Thanks