Polishing update

[William]

My Rawland (sacrilege!) sports a used Nitto S-83 seatpost that I got on uber-cheap because it was really badly scratched.  I have built up a fair bit of confidence sanding and polishing aluminum parts.  I put this part off to the last because it was by far the most scratched.  I finally decided I was done working on it.  The very deepest scratches are still visible, but only barely.  I'm pleased with the results.  The laser etched Nitto S-83 logo part is gone now, but honestly I think that's a good thing.  

Before:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/6774581859/in/photostream/

After:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/6837661145/in/photostream/

The process was:

tape off below insertion line

disassemble everything and set aside clamp jaws and bolts

easy-off the post for ~3 min

handfile deep gouges

sand with 400 wet-dry until the file marks and deep scratches are gone

sand with 600 until the 400 scratches are gone

sand with 1000 until the 600 scratches are gone
sand with 1200 until the 1000 scratches are gone

simichrome polish with a t-shirt

remove tape, reassemble and install

[Kieran J]

Thanks for this! I've been wondering about an alloy polishing process
recently, as I have some parts that could use a rehab.

[Amit Singh]

Thanks TapeBubba! Great information here.

[William]

You're welcome.  Now I've got my eye on the blades of my Tektro brake levers, and maybe doing some work on a set of silver shifters.  I might even go after it on a rear derailer.  

[PATRICK MOORE]

Someone much more talented and with much more patience than I did a
wonderful polishing job on a pair of old Dura Ace centerpulls* he sold
or traded to me (they look identical to Tourneys except for the model
name stamped in them). They really looked good, especially compared to
the very rough original finish.

*I've been told that Shimano offered these for about six months in
1976, then decided to copy Campy instead of Mafac.

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--
Patrick Moore
Albuquerque, NM
For professional resumes, contact
Patrick Moore, ACRW
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