polishing technique

[kaiser]

Can anybody explain me the part of the 'elbow grease' :?: Looked it up on the web and find that it is a sexual lubricant :shock:
I am liberal of mind, but this is interpreting my 'hot rod' a bit to literally

My old tech teacher at school would tell us to see the assistant for some elbow grease, really helped the finish of my spice rack no end.

 

[kaiser]

Started polishing a pair of ritchey brake levers last night and used a scotch brite wheel with an arbor mounted in a pillar drill. This took out alot of the elbow grease work. The only thing is I bought these for decorating years ago and can't find them anymore, also the one I had was a medium and the jump to brasso was a bit big. Still quite pleased with the finish as the alloy casting was a bit pitted could be better though if I can track down the wheels in different grit strengths. Going to give polishing mops a go too.

 

[Crell]

A guy at my work is a bike collector of the level where I've heard the Smithsonian Institution has contacted with an interest in some stuff he had who told me to avoid metal finishing shops like the plague. He said that they generally use pretty heavy-duty equipment that doesn't sit well with the thin-walled material and it really is best to finish it yourself. That's his opinion and I suspect he knows more than I do.

Likewise I'm no expert but you'd never "sand blast" a bike. You can blast it with different "media" types (e.g. grades / density of beads), each for a particular application. The point being a good shop will advise on the correct media / process for the application & material at hand.

 

[guybe]

I have just bought myself second hand cranks from here, after cleaning the arms off dirt and grease, I use Autosol on the arms which it improve a bit, but still have a cloudy and dull finish on the top coat, would Brasso is worth a try to get it back to shining finish? Any tips please before I buy new polish stuff, cheers.