SusieQ
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'62 Shasta Compact
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Post by SusieQ on Jul 6, 2014 18:13:22 GMT -8
I use 00 steel wool and I sand by hand if it is pitted. After the steel wool, I use Mother's polish and have done it all by hand so far. I have all the Dremel polishing, sanding and grinding wheels. I'm a Dremel NUT! I gave my husband a bench grinder for Christmas a couple of years ago and he's never used it but he bought me a polishing wheel for it. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm not completely finished, either. I still have three windows, J rail and awning rail to go. I think I'm going to paint them, since they were painted originally but they still have to be cleaned. Polishing does make a mess. I polished my wing inside and an eyebrow back when there was snow on the ground. I put down newspaper and plastic and polished away. Disposable gloves are a hand saver, too. OT, but I broke a window pane today... instead of one, I now need two
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globestar
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Post by globestar on Jul 6, 2014 18:37:05 GMT -8
I need a pane as well - where do you get them??
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SusieQ
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'62 Shasta Compact
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Post by SusieQ on Jul 6, 2014 19:20:42 GMT -8
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John Palmer
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Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
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Post by John Palmer on Jul 6, 2014 20:51:47 GMT -8
I use 00 steel wool and I sand by hand if it is pitted. After the steel wool, I use Mother's polish and have done it all by hand so far. I have all the Dremel polishing, sanding and grinding wheels. I'm a Dremel NUT! I gave my husband a bench grinder for Christmas a couple of years ago and he's never used it but he bought me a polishing wheel for it. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm not completely finished, either. I still have three windows, J rail and awning rail to go. I think I'm going to paint them, since they were painted originally but they still have to be cleaned. Polishing does make a mess. I polished my wing inside and an eyebrow back when there was snow on the ground. I put down newspaper and plastic and polished away. Disposable gloves are a hand saver, too. OT, but I broke a window pane today... instead of one, I now need two
First let me state that I hesitate to give any advice on how I polish aluminum windows. It's not about any secrets, it's about YOUR SAFETY!
After I sand out all of the pits, craters, and scratches I use two tools almost exclusively during the final polishing step. I buy $10. bench grinders at yard sales and set up the right side (I'm right handed) of each one with a different waffle pad with a different compound. You cannot mix two compounds on the same pad. Just like in the sanding step, you start out with a more aggressive (black) emery and work toward (green) aluminum polish to remove the swirls, and get to the final "color step".
The second tool I use, is a hand held body polisher with a 9" waffle pad. It works better with large pieces when they are screwed down to my work table.
Both the bench grinder, and the 9" polisher are DEADLY TOOLS if you do not have lots of experience using these types of tools. If you catch an edge, "at the wrong angle", you can quickly lose a finger, or lay yourself open, while you destroy the part. You have to have a good understanding of these tools, and also BE CAREFUL!
One other word of advice, when doing the early Hehr windows, do all of the original "rough polishing" WITH THE GLASS IN. You have a far better chance of not catching an edge when the glass is still installed. If you crack the glass during the polishing process the worst case is you loose about a $10 piece of glass, but you saved the frame, and you saved yourself.
PLEASE be very careful
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coloradoan
Active Member
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1959 Shasta Airflyte 16
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Post by coloradoan on Jul 6, 2014 20:59:17 GMT -8
First let me state that I hesitate to give any advice on how I polish aluminum windows. It's not about any secrets, it's about YOUR SAFETY!
After I sand out all of the pits, craters, and scratches I use two tools almost exclusively during the final polishing step. I buy $10. bench grinders at yard sales and set up the right side (I'm right handed) of each one with a different waffle pad with a different compound. You cannot mix two compounds on the same pad. Just like in the sanding step, you start out with a more aggressive (black) emery and work toward (green) aluminum polish to remove the swirls, and get to the final "color step".
The second tool I use, is a hand held body polisher with a 9" waffle pad. It works better with large pieces when they are screwed down to my work table.
Both the bench grinder, and the 9" polisher are DEADLY TOOLS if you do not have lots of experience using these types of tools. If you catch an edge, "at the wrong angle", you can quickly lose a finger, or lay yourself open, while you destroy the part. You have to have a good understanding of these tools, and also BE CAREFUL!
One other word of advice, when doing the early Hehr windows, do all of the original "rough polishing" WITH THE GLASS IN. You have a far better chance of not catching an edge when the glass is still installed. If you crack the glass during the polishing process the worst case is you loose about a $10 piece of glass, but you saved the frame, and you saved yourself.
PLEASE be very careful
After watching Larry's video on using a bench grinder, I decided there's no amount of bling worth taking this kind of risk. I will live with the far duller finish I will get using a buffer in a drill. Yikes! Thanks for the warning, John.
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