by Hawkeye » Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:52 pm
I have had a few questions about sanding so I thought I would go through the steps I do when preparing my frames for paint. After doing frame mods my frames look like they have been dragged across a gravel driveway. They are full of scuffs and scratches that need to be removed. Depending on the type of finish you are looking to end up with determines the step taken to prep you frame for paint or polished finished. The easiest way is to sandblast after doing frame mods. When you blast you are putting a texture finish on you frame that will give you texture that will hide scuffs and most scratches as long as they are not deep. This type of finish is more for flat paint in my opinion. If you are looking for a gloss looking finish with a shiny look even if it is a flat paint, you have to take a different set of steps to achieve your goals so we will talk about this type of finish because of all the different steps.
What you have to do to achieve your goals for a polished frame is to remove the original texture off your frame. Let go through some steps for this process. 1} polishing buffer wheels and sanding barrels, one for first steps in mods and one close to the last step in polishing your frame. The barrel sanders are great for rough-out work in the beginning, but they have a tendency to put deep scratches and sometimes gouging when not controlled with a steady hand. Polishing wheels al used during and end for the process in polishing frames. Both come in different grits. Course grits in the beginning with finer grits at the end of the process. One thing I do during the process of sanding is to use the buffing wheels to do some quick passes so I and see if I am removing scratches, I don't use any type of liquid at this point just blowing off with air. I should mention that with sanding wheels I use 400 grits for the ruff cuts and 600 for cleaning up but be careful these things can gouge. 2} Ruber cera wheels. https://www.gesswein.com/search/?search ... era+wheels I know they are costly, but I use these a lot. They come in all grits from 80 (I use this one a bunch), 320 (I use to clean up after using the 80 grit). There are more grits, but these are the two I use all the time. After you do ruff-out sanding with a barrel sander I go to these for cleaning up edges and they will remove the original texture that is on a frame but be careful not to burn or melt polymer, keep them moving without stopping in one spot. I have not found another place to get these so if anyone finds a place let me know. At this point all you have to do is go over your frame with a polishing wheel, then sandblast and you're ready for paint but if you are looking for a gloss finish you have to move on to some wet sanding, use K1, WD40. 3} Diamond burrs, I use these for shaping around the curves and corners around the trigger guard. A set of jeweler's files with a curved end, I find work best. These come in course and fine grits. I like the fine for what we do because I have more control and are less likely to gouge. When I use diamond burrs, I like to use a sanding stick in 400 and 600 grits, this seems to flatten out the high point left by the diamond burrs. https://www.amazon.com/Sanding-Detailer ... NT6W&psc=1 you buy extra belts in a wide range of grits. You use these in tight spots. 4} just some bits in a hand vise for cleaning out pin holes. Sandpaper} I buy sandpaper in sheets of 400, 600, 800, and 1000 grit. I find that I can achieve the same finish with polishing buffing wheels after 800 grit paper and using a polishing buffer wheel saves a lot of sanding time. At this point I would wet sand using K1 or WD40, let it set for a half hour or so then polish with a plastic restore polish. I like to buff it in with a fine brushing wheel leaving excess polish to soak in then wipe off with a clean cotton rag. Now you're ready for painting with a gloss paint for a shiny color.
Ok after all that this is what is my goto sanding steps now that I have found the Micro Sander, #5 in the picture in above post. https://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-Micro-Sander Amazon is where I got mine but it looks like they are out of them now. All of my cleaning up sanding after ruff-in work is done with my Micro Sander, it has saved me hours of work. You can a verity of grits. I use 180 grit and 400 most of the time and then go over with a polishing buffer wheel. This is the best tip I can give you; I call it a must have tool that has changed the way I sand my frames. they come with four different tips, most work on flat surface but one tip is a barrel that can be used on cueves and radius, I use this one most of the time. There is a triangle shaped one the is good for small flat spots. The other two I don't use that much, a square and a circle. I use the sandpaper pad for these on the barrel tip to stretch out sandpaper. Here is something I use now when wet sanding frames, https://www.amazon.com/DITKOK-Contour-P ... NrPXRydWU= I cut them in half for using on frames, but they are great for wet sanding. The reason is you can hold an inner or outer shape for sanding. How can I put this? When you sand by hand the sandpaper has a tendency to follow the surface you are sanding. This means that if you have dips on the surface, you are sanding you are just sanding down into the dip you are trying to blend in and it never really goes away. But when using a sanding pad, it holds the flat surface without going into the dip so when sand down far enough you can blind away the dip. I hope you understand what I am trying to say, this is a big reason some people have a hard time removing dips and scratches. Checkout https://www.ftq80.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=725 Using the Micro Sander, following up with buffer wheels and wet sanding using sanding pads have saved me hour of sanding time. I hope these tips help but if anyone has any question just ask.