[atticus36finch]

Originally Posted by NeXt DeGree

I was talking to the owner of PbCustomz about anodizing my gun from dust blue to gloss blue. He stated that all he had to do was polish the gun and parts and it would look as if it were gloss blue. I would like the color to come out like the le gloss blue dm4 color, that is what I am aiming for. He said, yes, he could do that without anodizing and just by polishing. So, my questions are, can this be done? And if so, how would you go upon doing so? I already have a dremel, I can go buy a polishing head and mothers mag polish, but is that all I would really need?

Thanks,
Kyle

Yes, it is possible. If you want a near perfect finish, you should just have him do it.

[NorCal Einstein]

0000 Steel wool

[RamDragon]

Couple ‘a things:

For the discriminating polisher, you will notice a huge difference and much longer life in your polishing wheels if you use a different wheel for each type of polish and never, never polish Steal and Aluminum parts on the same wheel. As I said, over time you will notice a HUGE difference.

For Sanding: Best and Fastest results will be obtained if you sand across the grain left from your last grit. That means if you sand lengthwise down the barrel with your 800 grit paper, sand in a twisting motion, around the barrel, with your 1000 grit paper. That makes it easier to see the big valleys and ridges left from your last sanding so you know when to stop and where to concentrate. You will obtain that mirror polish in much less time.

For Anodizing: Always remember that your part will have the same finish after it is anodized as it had before. Mirror finish>anodize>anodized with mirror finish. Anodizing also improves the wear resistance and hardness of your aluminum surface, so that fragile bead-blasted look will not be so fragile after ano. If you like the raw aluminum look, consider a clear ano.

Use a block when sanding flat surfaces and do those last if you can. You will eliminate the "warped" look than can happen when using your fingertips.

For polishing barrel bores: You can get away with a rough buffing sometimes. This is most easily accomplished with an old stick squeegee (oddly enough, they are almost always long enough for this kind of work) with the insides removed. With a hacksaw, cut a slit about an inch and a half long down the length of the tube trying to stay perfectly centered. You can chuck this in most drills. Using a Brillo pad, cut a triangle approximately one to one and a half inches on a side and slide it into the slot so that the point is away from your drill. The point will help feed it into the barrel. For finer polishing, use about five layers of an old 100% cotton T-shirt and some Rouge.

[orionz06]

Originally Posted by RamDragon

Couple ‘a things:

For the discriminating polisher, you will notice a huge difference and much longer life in your polishing wheels if you use a different wheel for each type of polish and never, never polish Steal and Aluminum parts on the same wheel. As I said, over time you will notice a HUGE difference.

For Sanding: Best and Fastest results will be obtained if you sand across the grain left from your last grit. That means if you sand lengthwise down the barrel with your 800 grit paper, sand in a twisting motion, around the barrel, with your 1000 grit paper. That makes it easier to see the big valleys and ridges left from your last sanding so you know when to stop and where to concentrate. You will obtain that mirror polish in much less time.

For Anodizing: Always remember that your part will have the same finish after it is anodized as it had before. Mirror finish>anodize>anodized with mirror finish. Anodizing also improves the wear resistance and hardness of your aluminum surface, so that fragile bead-blasted look will not be so fragile after ano. If you like the raw aluminum look, consider a clear ano.

Use a block when sanding flat surfaces and do those last if you can. You will eliminate the "warped" look than can happen when using your fingertips.

For polishing barrel bores: You can get away with a rough buffing sometimes. This is most easily accomplished with an old stick squeegee (oddly enough, they are almost always long enough for this kind of work) with the insides removed. With a hacksaw, cut a slit about an inch and a half long down the length of the tube trying to stay perfectly centered. You can chuck this in most drills. Using a Brillo pad, cut a triangle approximately one to one and a half inches on a side and slide it into the slot so that the point is away from your drill. The point will help feed it into the barrel. For finer polishing, use about five layers of an old 100% cotton T-shirt and some Rouge.

also, go up to like 2000 grit...makes a huge difference

[JoshGrrrr]

You can use dingleberry hones to polish the inside of the barrel. They come in the right size and are very easy to use. They are just a round nylon bristled brushes with really fine grit balls of stuff on the end of the bristles. We use them at work all the time. They leave a great finish.

[boarder2k7]

^^ Where can you buy those?

[originalspyderxtra]

well i have something that u can vertually skip sanding. its called Renaissance Wax. its a micro crystiline wax that is micro abrasive. by using this you really dont have to sand at all. i used my dremmel and polished the hammer in my cocker. i notived a big difference in smoothness. unfortunaly it is rather expensive and i have because i do lots of turnings on the lathee and it does wonders to wood.for 2.5 oz it will run you 15.50 and 7oz is 25. i get it from www.woodturnerscatolog.com

[04kocker]

To get all your stuff professionally polished you could send it to my work High-Tech Laser and Polish.

www.htlaser.com

[leed]

Originally Posted by boarder2k7

^^ Where can you buy those?

Any firearms store, even Wal-Mart and Dicks Sporting Goods should have them. They're commonly used with rifles and pistols and such to clean the rifling.


As for what 04kocker said, I'm curious, how much would it cost to do a little engraving? say.. a max of 20 characters? or maybe even some chinese characters?

Thanks,
David

[Blindincolor]

If anyone has some free time and wants to try another polishing agent try Aluminum Oxide mixed with water. Place it on a dry pad like you would any other abrasive. Just a though, it's about the equivalent of a 50,000 grit (watch out this gets really hot).

[Spinal]

how does turtle wax work?

[orionz06]

Originally Posted by Spinal

how does turtle wax work?

its a wax, it protects the finish of the object applied to...


to polish

work w/ sandpaper, fron 200-2000 grit, and then a polishing wheel with metal appropriate compound (i use white rouge mostly)

[Spinal]

turtle wax is the company lol they make a polishing compound and scratch remover for cars, i was wondering if it'll work.

[orionz06]

it will remove scratches in paint...


if that answers the question, and it will not work on metal, plus, screw turtle wax, go meguiars

[Spinal]

Originally Posted by orionz06

and it will not work on metal,

whats a car made out of

[orionz06]

Originally Posted by Spinal

whats a car made out of

well...when you wax it, you are waxing the layer of paint on the metal, and the scratch remover removes the scratches on the layer of paint, which again, covers the metal....

[swolkid_76]

Where can I get 2000 grit sand paper. The best I've found was 600-800 at lowes and home depot...

I think someone mentioned you can get it at an autoparts store. I just wanted to be sure.

[orionz06]

Originally Posted by swolkid_76

Where can I get 2000 grit sand paper. The best I've found was 600-800 at lowes and home depot...

I think someone mentioned you can get it at an autoparts store. I just wanted to be sure.

auto finish store...

advanced auto has multi packs, i failed to mention though, wetsanding is optimal

[swolkid_76]

Originally Posted by orionz06

i failed to mention though, wetsanding is optimal

Yeah, I wet sand for everything above 450 grit.

[chrisawes]

okay jfyi, about the whole "dont use steel on aluminum it will cause corrosion"
or "using steel wool on aluminum will rust"
Corrosion is caused by mainly 2 things
1. Oxidation
2. Electric current in an electrolytic solution (aka battery)
now.
for the oxidation part... if you remove the material well enough after sanding that, its gone... there will be 0 oxidation
2. now as for 2 metals in an electolytic solution (anything that can carry positive or negative ions) make sure it is once again... CLEANED UP

follow the cleanup rule.. and you'll be fine
btw... dont belive me?
take a very fine voltmeter and put a zinc plate on one end and copper on the other stick them in your mouth and read the dial
over a long *** time it could turn the Zn into ZnCuO
however i am not good at chemistry so the above formula may be off
but i'm saying that 2 metals (different) in anysolution that can transfer ions, is susseptabble to the nice properties of a battery... thus why car batteries
Pb and Pb02 (lead oxide) eventually die... the SOH or so4oh or some other formula undergoes a chemical change (from sulferic acid) into another 2 chemicals.... and then almost electroplate the lead... causing corrosion
eh basically make sure you guns clean.. LMAO my .000000000 1 cent

[gamerndm]

I just thought I would throw this out there as discaimer: if you are using a wire brush or steel wool on aluminum, be absoulouty sure that there is NO rust on the brush or wool. if the friction builds up, and they get hot enough, the rust and aluminum could react in whats called a "thermite" reaction. just google "thermite" and youll see what I mean. this reaction produces molten iron, so it is very hot, and there is no way to smother the reaction, as the oxygen is in the rust, not the surrounding air.

Quoted from Wikipedia-
"Thermite is impossible to control or contain once lit. USE EXTREME CAUTION.

WATER WILL NOT EXTINGUISH A THERMITE REACTION. IT WILL CAUSE A STEAM EXPLOSION AND POSSIBLE PERSONAL INJURY.

The same applies to almost all other liquids - they simply cannot draw heat away from the reaction as quickly as it is produced, and the oxidizer is already present so they cannot smother it."