Project: Make it shiney
#1
Project: Make it shiney
I wanted to learn how to polish different types of metal, and this is a tale of my two cities. This may not be in the right forum, but I'm still considered a newbbb on here and can't start threads in other forums.
History: The piston is from a 16 cylinder quad turbo diesel compressor which produces about 4500ftlbs of torque. I found it in a gas field junkyard about an hour from where I live while working. I took a total of 7 of them, and am willing to hear ideas as to what to do with them all. Each of these things weight about 35-40lbs and are solid cast aluminium. They are a touch more the 9 inchs in diameter, with a 1.5" dish for compression, and 22" tall.
These first 3 pictures are of the top of the piston looking down. This is the original shape of it minus the rings that I took off. The rings were some sort of steel and this explains the rusting.
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5633/piston0012ca.jpg
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5...ston0027gc.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8084/piston0038of.jpg
These next few pictures is what it looked like after I sandblasted it at work. It ate through the oxidation like nothing at all but you can really start to see the large pitting from its years of abuse. The black stuff in these pics is me trying to shortcut and directly buff after the sandblast. It was worth a shot. I later sandblasted again (more thoroughly) and went to work on sanding.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5558/piston0049qv.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1...ston0054zj.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5...ston0060vf.jpg
These next pictures are of the finished product. After sandblasting I used an orbital sander and hit it with 80, 120, 220, 400, wet 400, wet 600, wet 1000. The 2 first steps will determine how error-free your final look is. There is some pitting left but they were very deep and I was worried about messing with the shape of it if I took too much material off. Finally I bought a Mother's Powerball and Mother's PowerMetal. An absolute incredible amount of black **** came out while trying to polish it. I'd really like to know where it came from. But I'm happy with it, and may hit it with a layer of clearcoat depending on what I find out about it. This is my first experience buffing or polishing any metal, any criticism is more then welcomed.
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/3927/piston0070fc.jpg
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/57/piston0084do.jpg
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/8205/dscn04352ew.jpg
History: The piston is from a 16 cylinder quad turbo diesel compressor which produces about 4500ftlbs of torque. I found it in a gas field junkyard about an hour from where I live while working. I took a total of 7 of them, and am willing to hear ideas as to what to do with them all. Each of these things weight about 35-40lbs and are solid cast aluminium. They are a touch more the 9 inchs in diameter, with a 1.5" dish for compression, and 22" tall.
These first 3 pictures are of the top of the piston looking down. This is the original shape of it minus the rings that I took off. The rings were some sort of steel and this explains the rusting.
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5633/piston0012ca.jpg
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5...ston0027gc.jpg
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/8084/piston0038of.jpg
These next few pictures is what it looked like after I sandblasted it at work. It ate through the oxidation like nothing at all but you can really start to see the large pitting from its years of abuse. The black stuff in these pics is me trying to shortcut and directly buff after the sandblast. It was worth a shot. I later sandblasted again (more thoroughly) and went to work on sanding.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5558/piston0049qv.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1...ston0054zj.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5...ston0060vf.jpg
These next pictures are of the finished product. After sandblasting I used an orbital sander and hit it with 80, 120, 220, 400, wet 400, wet 600, wet 1000. The 2 first steps will determine how error-free your final look is. There is some pitting left but they were very deep and I was worried about messing with the shape of it if I took too much material off. Finally I bought a Mother's Powerball and Mother's PowerMetal. An absolute incredible amount of black **** came out while trying to polish it. I'd really like to know where it came from. But I'm happy with it, and may hit it with a layer of clearcoat depending on what I find out about it. This is my first experience buffing or polishing any metal, any criticism is more then welcomed.
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/3927/piston0070fc.jpg
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/57/piston0084do.jpg
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/8205/dscn04352ew.jpg
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bigmackloud
Miata parts for sale/trade
19
01-08-2021 11:24 AM
StratoBlue1109
Miata parts for sale/trade
21
09-30-2018 01:09 PM