Gotti J55b polished lip problems.

[Mr. Tasty]

So I am refinishing my J55b's, and I have worked from 400-2000 wet sand. I have this kit http://www.pjtool.com/aluminummetalpolishingkit.aspx and I am using the white compound. It is doing nothing but marring my already smooth finish. It is basically leaving sanding marks all over my lips and only provides a mirror finish when light is not shining on it. Any help?

[mbonanni]

I may be wrong, but I remember reading somewhere you need to use some kind of compound...

Goodluck, I like your wheels.

[Mr. Tasty]

they are turning out sexy. Yes, I am using the white rouge compound that it comes with, along with the softest buffer. The finish is extremely mirror when turned how they will be mounted, but when I lay them down, the light reveals about 2000ish sand marks. Can aluminum ever become completely mirror like, like my car's clear coat?

[sayed ali]

I think it can be completely mirror, this is my bbs wheels

Before



After

[Mr. Tasty]

Mine is way way way more clear than that, but put it in the light and there is micro marring

[Mr. Tasty]

here are the pictures, you can see the last one where I try to show the marring.

Shitty iphone 3 pics

[Mr. Tasty]

nothing?

[csermonet47]

Aluminum is very soft and it is very difficult to get a completely swirl free truly mirror finish. I gave up on it a while back :p Looks good to me!

[Mr. Tasty]

just fine polish it with some mag polish? Man, it really is tough.

[Vivek]

I've used this stuff on a customer's car but it's okay. I'm not sure if it'll get you the absolute mirror finish you're looking for. Have you tried treating it like paint and using a paint compound on it? That may be the best for light marring. It seems like the polish is meant for metal in worse condition and isn't fine enough for what you're trying to achieve.

[LJ851]

OP- judging by your comments i'm guessing you are fairly new to polishing metal. You can get aluminum to a perfect mirror finish but it will take the right products and technique.

The whole concept is to use progressively finer and finer products removing the scratches from the product before. 2000 grit is damn smooth if you have sanded all the previous grit marks out with it, but to take it to a mirror finish by hand from there is still a long way to go. You will need at least a couple different rouges and ideally a powered buffing wheel to speed things up. I think the compound you are using is bringing out enough shine to expose your sanding marks, you need to keep using the compound until the sanding marks are gone and then a finer product.

I am a perfectionist and every single time i polish something i swear i will never do it again because it is such a pain in the ass to get it perfect. Maybe thats why i have developed such a love for satin/flat finishes, hmmm...


Nice Wheels by the way!

[Mr. Tasty]

OP- judging by your comments i'm guessing you are fairly new to polishing metal. You can get aluminum to a perfect mirror finish but it will take the right products and technique.

The whole concept is to use progressively finer and finer products removing the scratches from the product before. 2000 grit is damn smooth if you have sanded all the previous grit marks out with it, but to take it to a mirror finish by hand from there is still a long way to go. You will need at least a couple different rouges and ideally a powered buffing wheel to speed things up. I think the compound you are using is bringing out enough shine to expose your sanding marks, you need to keep using the compound until the sanding marks are gone and then a finer product.

I am a perfectionist and every single time i polish something i swear i will never do it again because it is such a pain in the ass to get it perfect. Maybe thats why i have developed such a love for satin/flat finishes, hmmm...


Nice Wheels by the way!

Thanks!
I am new to polishing metal, I am used to clear coats/paint. I have the kit listed in the first post. So you are saying I need to use the brown tripoli, then white? It recommended the white rouge for anything over 2000 grit.

[Mr. Tasty]

maybe I should use my PC 7424xp and some fine polish to eliminate the micro marring.

[reelizmpro]

That's pretty common actually. I've seen very minute scratches even on professionally polished wheels. My wheel guys do a perfect job and polishing is their specialty. My time is pretty limited so I don't bother with doing it myself. We're talking mirror finish with no visible micro scratches. The problem is, it's so clean that even the slightest abrasion will scratch/blemish the barrel. At least it can be polished out and isn't all over the wheel.

[Mr. Tasty]

this is my plan, the centers are still at 400 grit, but I am going to get them mirror.



with black inlets