Hi all,
I have to polish the inside of a cylinder of I.D. 20mm to (ideally) a mirro r finish - or at least something approaching it. The material is mild steel . I've got about as far as the dull matt grey you get from using fine valve grinding paste and now I need to go finer still. So I've me Dremmel ready with its cloth mop attachment and just need a steer on a suitable cutting c ompound so I can end up with the desired outcome. Any suggestions?
cheers.
ror finish - or at least something approaching it. The material is mild ste el. I've got about as far as the dull matt grey you get from using fine val ve grinding paste and now I need to go finer still. So I've me Dremmel read y with its cloth mop attachment and just need a steer on a suitable cutting compound so I can end up with the desired outcome. Any suggestions?
Oh well. I got a tiny tub of waxy, green coloured s**te that came with the Dremmel so I'll kick off with that and hope for the best. :)
I have to polish the inside of a cylinder of I.D. 20mm to (ideally) a mirror finish - or at least something approaching it. The material is mild steel. I've got about as far as the dull matt grey you get from using fine valve grinding paste and now I need to go finer still. So I've me Dremmel ready with its cloth mop attachment and just need a steer on a suitable cutting compound so I can end up with the desired outcome. Any suggestions?
cheers.
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There's always Solvol Autosol. Don't know about anything else, but I'm sure there are a few other things out there.
Cerium oxide probably the fastest but Brasso is stuff off the shelf.
irror finish - or at least something approaching it. The material is mild s teel. I've got about as far as the dull matt grey you get from using fine v alve grinding paste and now I need to go finer still. So I've me Dremmel re ady with its cloth mop attachment and just need a steer on a suitable cutti ng compound so I can end up with the desired outcome. Any suggestions?
Nice one! I'd overlooked that. Autosol is *way* too fine, though. It would take a month of sundays!
Fastest way is to get a small bar that fits in the dremel chuck, slot the end with a thin hacksaw and wrap a strip of 1 inch wide wet & dry paper round it until the o/d is a loose fit in the tube. With progressively finer grades you'll get a very good finish that could if needed be polished further with compound.
I'd just use Brasso or similar on a polishing mop if you go that route. You can even use toothpaste.
T-cut and a buffing mop
Solvol is good though.
I usually use wet & dry ... get to 1200 grit then swap to autosol, that gets me to mirror finish Mild steel won't hold that finish well
This should do better than normal as it'll be oil-immersed.
I have to polish the inside of a cylinder of I.D. 20mm to (ideally) a mirror finish - or at least something approaching it. The material is mild steel. I've got about as far as the dull matt grey you get from using fine valve grinding paste and now I need to go finer still. So I've me Dremmel ready with its cloth mop attachment and just need a steer on a suitable cutting compound so I can end up with the desired outcome. Any suggestions?
cheers.
Tcut (For cars) Also Windowlene Any of the "Cream cleaners" Brasso metal polish
All have very mild abrasives in them.
Were I polishing steel with a polishing machine, I would start with Carbrax on a sisal mop, move onto green compound on a white close stitched cotton mop, then blue polishing or Hyfin white compound on a white wide stitch or loose cotton mop and finish with chrome green compound on a white loose cotton mop. For a really good finish, the final polish would be with whiting on a loose leather mop. Not sure how you would translate that to your available equipment though. I don't know of suitable mops smaller than 1" diameter.
Colin Bignell
A piece of scotchbrite pad mounted in an arbor with a longitudinal slit. Lots of lube either water or oil. Fastest drill speed you can get.
Sounds extremely thorough!! But I've read somewhere that the green goo is only for stainless steel (although I can't see why it wouldn't work for ordinary mild steel).
I used to make mirrors for diverting laser beams through 90 degrees, to deal with abdominal adhesions. They needed to have a really good finish.
Admittedly I've only ever needed to polish stainless steels, but I also don't see why it wouldn't work on any hard metal.
Colin Bignell
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