Polishing my body

[drx975]

Hey...ok well heres what I did. I had the standard gray body, then I had it painted (airbrushed) black. It looked really good, but after one game, wierd things were happening to it, and the paint started to come off altogether. So, thinking that if the paint is going to start to come off in one game, I might as well take it off now. So I pulled out a nailfile (yes a nailfile lol ) and sanded it for like an hour and a half. Over the next few days i kept sanding it with that same nailfile, and got the body looking pretty shiny. I did put it under water while I was sanding. But I still have scratches of course, and its not quite as shiny as I want it to be. So, what could I do to make it shinier, and minimize the scratches? (i am getting a "sanding sponge" for the powerfeed area and some really fine sand paper to try shining it up more)

[RATM]

Going with the fine grit sandpaper should do the trick.

[drx975]

About an hour ago I pulled out one of those soft-scrub things, with a soft spongy side and a coarse, plastic-like abrasive side. I used this for 20-30 min and it did not completely rid the body of scratches, but it helped some. They are still very noticable. I dont expect to get rid of every single scratch, but it would be nice if i could blend them in a little bit more.

I will try the sandpaper tomorrow, when i get the real fine stuff from my friend. Any other ideas?

[drx975]

One other thing, I used a nailfile, and one of the sides is really fine. For those who have sanded with 2000 grit, is a 2000 grit finer than the nailfile? The nailfile I used was pretty fine on one side, about twice as fine as most files. And, the wet/dry paper, does that make a difference to using regular sandpaper underwater (like does it make the body shine more)? Or does it just hold up underwater, allowing you to sand under the faucet?

Im curious if my body is finished or not. It looks pretty good, but im just wondering if it can get any better. I'll post a pic sometime soon.

One last thing, does the Mother Mag Polish or some chrome polish make the body actually shine more(i have silver polish, would this do the same)? Thanx.

[Autotrigger]

600 grit sand paper!

Get yourself some 600 grit wet/dry sand paper like they use in body shops! Keep it wet and try to go in one direction while sanding. After you get the scratches out take it to a nice cloth buffing wheel with polishing compound. It will come out pretty good. Of course you can get a special polishing compound especially for stainless and it comes out really good! Good luck and have fun!

[FrAuStY]

600 grit wet/dry will still show scratches even when used wet. You should go to an auto body store/shop and see if they have any 1200-2000 grit CLOSED abrasive wet/dry sand paper. All you have to do is get the paper wet (put it under running water and put some on the article to be sanded (mainbody) then you want to sand in orbital motions.. this will minimize the appearance of scratches. Once you sanded the whole body this way it will look really nice.. but you can go further if you have benchgrinder access. Go to autozone or discount etc and get a buffing wheel (white furry looking wheel) Also pick up some jewlers rouge (Grey/Black/red sticks look like giant stick of chalk). I'm not sure which color to start with, but if you use like 1200 grit or higher sandpaper then just the red is all you'll need. Start the benchgrinder with the buffing wheel on it.. now hold the red stick of rouge on the buffing wheel to get some to stick on the wheel.. now slowly polish the main body with that. Its kind of a long process but real easy once you get the hang of it. Be careful though.. if you hold the buffing wheel in the same place for too long with the rouge on it.. it will buff away a low spot... so just keep it moving and let the wheel do the work.. don't use excessive pressure. Good luck.:o