Polishing Price

[ronron2112]

Does any one know an estimate price for polishing a spyder body?

Cphil inspired me

[bond1313]

Most people just do it them selves.

[Mossman]

I saw the light today!

A guy named FoxCustomizing on AIM does some REALLY incredible work. He polishes stuff and you think its chrome. Talk to him, it would probably be 25-30 bucks I would guess, well worth it if you ask me. Ask to see his pics!

[ronron2112]

how would i go about doing it myself?? i have the tools, i just dont know how, cause i dont want the swirls that you can see in some guns..

[MagDog68]

That is a fantastic question. How do you polish Aluminum to the point that it appears to be chrome? MagHog would be a good person to answer this.

~Fred

[tysonmachado]

Most people who polish their guns themselves do it by hand or dremel. Both methods can produce a very nice finish but will thend to leave small lines or swirls.
If you want aluminum or steel polished to a chrome finish you need to use something more powerful than a dremel or you need to spend a LOT of time polishing it by hand. I use a bench grinder with a buffing wheel and different grades of polishing compounds. MagHog uses a polishing lathe. I haven't seen it but from the descriptions I have heard it is basically a larger scale version of my bench grinder.

[rx2]

It isn't hard to get a professional mirror finish by hand, but it does take a while. Polishing wheels with the appropriate compounds will work. In tight spots I use a polishing stick. You don't have to work that hard, but again, the less force, the longer it will take.
Now, if you polish aluminum, don't expect it to stay that way. It will oxidize and pit pretty quickly. As such, you have to have a protective finish, such as ano or chrome.

[MagDog68]

Is there any type of sealant you can use to keep the glossy finish?

~me

[ronron2112]

haha ok so im aluminum dumb.. what else is there to put on the body to stop the pitting and still keep it glossy?

[magatron]

if your looking to remove th ano, use the heavy duty oven cleaner, just soak the out side of the gun, let it sit and it will strip off by just whiping it. get it down to the bear silver aluminum, and polish it up on a polishing wheel, and i'm thinking if ppl get imperfections doing that themselves, it's most likly they havent had much expeiriance with a whell and they will hold it on spot for a long time, which can mess up the finish as well as burn that object being polised. i'm sure, long as your using the right polish it should shine like chrome, and im sure if you just polish it with out deanoing it it would still be shinin if thats what your looking to do

[Croix71]

Originally posted by rx2
It will oxidize and pit pretty quickly. As such, you have to have a protective finish, such as ano or chrome.

Like rx2 said, removing anno via any method (lye, nitric acid, or even oven cleaner ) will remove the protective finish. Most places that anodize will remove the ano, polish it, and have it clear anodized.

After doing some research and speaking to several business that do anodizing I don't see aluminum being polished to a point where it matches the mirror finish of polished stainless or chrome. Something close but if you put the peices together they won't match.

[ronron2112]

would the color look that different against all chrome parts? or would you have to look to see the difference?

clear ano would be good.

[rx2]

Polished aluminum has a slightly different coloration. In is sort of greyish, perhaps, more so than chrome or SS. It is hard to describe.
I haven't had any experience with clear-coats on aluminum. However, most coats are still semi-porous, and will let some oxidation occur, and are more likely to chip.
I am going to chrome up some aluminum this weeked. I'll see what sort of prices there are.

[magatron]

if you look at the pics on the spyder forums, www.kingmanusa.com there a few ppl who have do it and it looks realy nice to my surprise. i think if you take a wire wheel to it vary vary lightly it may make it shine some more i'm not 100%, and posabley get like a clearcoat sealant? i remember in a past issue of action pursuit games that there some kinda paint made by what i belive to be dupont, but not forsure, that was like $40 i think