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  #21  
Old 09-22-2021, 02:34 PM
Nate S Nate S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Overkill View Post
Nate,

For polishing my bar top epoxy bar tops I have purchased a Buffpro polisher, but I have yet to test it out. What I liked about the product was the linear polishing, similar to the SCT, so that swirls aren't an issue. But it uses a slower speed, wider wheel, and has the handles in a better position for polishing.

https://buffpro.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw4...RoCSuQQAvD_BwE

One of these days I'll give it a try on aluminum.
Thats pretty cool. I am so out of touch when it comes to polishing hardware. I really appreciate the help!
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  #22  
Old 10-05-2021, 10:31 PM
Nate S Nate S is offline
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Originally Posted by crystallographic View Post
" I'm going to test a section and see how polishing goes. "
.................................................. .........................................

Very nice project, Nate.
Good shapes and your wheel looks like it is making good true surfaces.


Polishing? That will be an .edu.
"Do not touch" usually follows.


I'd recommend something reasonable and effective for this job:
maroon scrub pads soaked with 70% isopropyl - applied with elbow grease.


You may actually like the surface afterwards - and it is easy to blend, along with usage happening.

Attachment 61353
I think I’ve altogether ditched the polishing idea in favor of this. Seeing as this is my first metal shaping project I think polish would highlight some areas that I wish I could do completely over. And I like the “easily blendable” part as I hope this gets raced hard by some toddlers haha.

Just out of curiosity what does the alcohol do?? Is it just a clean lubrication? I preclean weld areas with acetone at the moment, will that work the same?
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  #23  
Old 10-06-2021, 06:51 AM
dwmh dwmh is offline
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I think that's a good decision Nate. I admire the dedication of those that go for a polished finish, it takes a huge amount of effort as you find the work is not as perfect as you hoped.

I too used to use acetone for cleaning before welding, until Kent posted on the harmful fumes from acetone, at his recomendation I switched to iso-propyl alcohol.
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  #24  
Old 10-06-2021, 06:21 PM
Charlie Myres Charlie Myres is offline
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Both of those chemicals are hazardous to health according to the MSDS,

Cheers Charlie
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  #25  
Old 10-07-2021, 01:00 AM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate S View Post
I think I’ve altogether ditched the polishing idea in favor of this. Seeing as this is my first metal shaping project I think polish would highlight some areas that I wish I could do completely over. And I like the “easily blendable” part as I hope this gets raced hard by some toddlers haha.

Just out of curiosity what does the alcohol do?? Is it just a clean lubrication? I preclean weld areas with acetone at the moment, will that work the same?

Hi Nate,
We've tried a number of "cleaning lubricants" with the aluminum surface thing, over the decades. I won't list them here ...
But..... 91% isopropyl is very ideal for our uses - and as the two PhD research chemists who have popped in have told us, " Excellent solvent, Mr. White: Clean. Cheap. Available. Non-toxic."

And for us, "the lubricity is ideal."


(psst: "chlorinated hydrocarbons," acetone being one popular type, actually create phosgene gas when wet within a high-frequency electric field (tig welding aluminum, anyone??). For those who do not know about WW1 gas attacks, thousands upon thousands of troops were gassed with "mustard gas" aka "phosgene gas" - which either killed them outright or rendered them completely helpless and permanently injured.



Acetone is not recommended near any type of electric welding, no way, no how....!!!!

--- that is all ---
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Last edited by crystallographic; 10-07-2021 at 01:12 AM.
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  #26  
Old 10-07-2021, 01:21 AM
Jaroslav Jaroslav is offline
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Nate. Nice work. I see the discussion about polishing. In some cases, for example, I used fiberglass to clean aluminum crankcases. I disassembled the glass cloth for lamination, straightened the individual fibers side by side. He wrapped it in paper like a cigar and tied it with soft wire. This simple thing can reliably clean all the details that are needed. After a fine pre-sanding, it unifies the surface. I made an attempt for about 5 minutes for an example.
Very fine lime can be used to clean stainless steel surfaces. Removes all traces of hands and stabilizes - protects the surface. Until further cleaning. Maybe it will work similarly for aluminum.
People don't like to give their handprints, but when they see something shiny, they have to touch.
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  #27  
Old 10-07-2021, 08:37 AM
Nate S Nate S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crystallographic View Post
Hi Nate,
We've tried a number of "cleaning lubricants" with the aluminum surface thing, over the decades. I won't list them here ...
But..... 91% isopropyl is very ideal for our uses - and as the two PhD research chemists who have popped in have told us, " Excellent solvent, Mr. White: Clean. Cheap. Available. Non-toxic."

And for us, "the lubricity is ideal."


(psst: "chlorinated hydrocarbons," acetone being one popular type, actually create phosgene gas when wet within a high-frequency electric field (tig welding aluminum, anyone??). For those who do not know about WW1 gas attacks, thousands upon thousands of troops were gassed with "mustard gas" aka "phosgene gas" - which either killed them outright or rendered them completely helpless and permanently injured.



Acetone is not recommended near any type of electric welding, no way, no how....!!!!

--- that is all ---
I picked some 70% IPA up from the hardware store (they didnt have the high test stuff) and tried a sample piece last night.

Safety aside, the IPAs slower evaporation made it a LOT easier to work with. And it was certainly cheaper. I think I will transition from acetone to IPA for general cleaning and weld prep for those reasons. I'll keep the acetone for the really tough stuff.

The IPA and scotch brite pad finish is really cool! It'll show plenty blemishes just the same but hey... I'm proud of those. I spent dozens of hours and gallons of sweat on those blemishes haha.
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  #28  
Old 10-11-2021, 02:27 PM
Nate S Nate S is offline
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Here is some recent progress. Fitting and welding the headrest nacelle was probably one of the most nerve racking parts of this so far. I'm so happy with it though!

nacelle tacked.jpg

nacelle welded.jpg

nacelle blended.jpg
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Last edited by Nate S; 10-11-2021 at 02:30 PM.
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  #29  
Old 10-12-2021, 06:11 AM
dwmh dwmh is offline
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The fit of the headrest looked spot on. As did the finished job.
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  #30  
Old 10-26-2021, 03:02 PM
Nate S Nate S is offline
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Some of my early mistakes continue to creep up! I was 75% done with welding the panels together when I learned that I probably should be using 1100 filler with the 3003 panels. I fused the back side of all the welds but I have been battling the occasional crack none the less. Especially when doing the wire edge! They aren't too bad to fix but they definitely slow me down. Maybe you all have a better idea, would 1100 filler have prevented some of this?

Its also worth noting that I learned to tig aluminum on this project so skill could be to blame.

crack.jpg

weld crack 2.jpg
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