Some more polishing/buffing

I'm not 100% satisfied with it thus far,so I think I'll hit it again with some fine grit,and try a softer buffing pad.
It's CLOSE,but not quite.
These are My ZRX fork legs that will eventually be going on the KZ,once I get going on the whole project.
Just slowly picking away at getting as many parts as I can ready for when the time comes...:whistle: ...

Post edited by: Sandy, at: 2006/12/10 18:23

I think you missed a spot on the lower left side of the shiny one.... Ok, just kidding! Great Job!

How did you do it?

Can you recommend a way to polish it back to just stock, without going all the way to diamonds?

thanks

Wait!.....Wait!.....Wait!..... arrrr thats better!

floridamba wrote:

I think you missed a spot on the lower left side of the shiny one.... Ok, just kidding! Great Job!

How did you do it?

Can you recommend a way to polish it back to just stock, without going all the way to diamonds?

thanks

Thanks Floridamba!

Well,"Stock"(ZRX) WAS painted black,and it had very fine "Orange-Peel" marks all through it.Kawasaki knew They were going to be painted,so They didn't make them too smooth prior TO the paint.
That one fork took Me about 15 hours to do...a couple hours here,a couple hours there type thing.
The KZ forks were clear-coated,and they were a lot smoother.MUCH easier to do than the ZRX forks.
If You don't want the "Diamond" finish,You could always just sand Yours and finish off with a very fine grit sand paper(wet-sand with 1200 grit) and then use "Number 000" steel wool.Even THAT looks good!

ambergrismooon wrote:

Wait!.....Wait!.....Wait!..... arrrr thats better!

LMAO!...perdy shiney,eh!:laugh:

I'll give it a try, thanks for the tips!

youre definately getting there!

That lower leg looks awesome brother! Yeah and your right the matte/semi polished finish does look good but what you are going to end up with is going to be really fuckin amazing man.

Peace&Love:ohmy: , Darren

Wooooooeeeeee! That looks good. Why would you want a shiny lower when you can have a purdy one like the one on the left?

Just kidding, That looks spectacular. How did you get into all the little nooks and crannys and bolt bosses?

Vter Bob wrote:

Wooooooeeeeee! That looks good. Why would you want a shiny lower when you can have a purdy one like the one on the left?

Just kidding, That looks spectacular. How did you get into all the little nooks and crannys and bolt bosses?

Ya,it was a hard choice to make,I'll tell Ya!:laugh:
Thanks for the compliments,Guys!

Ya,those little nooks and crannys...what a P.I.T.A.,to say the least!
Thank God for Dremels.
Have You even seen those dremel bits that are made out of rubber,with micro grit embedded into them?That's what I used for getting in the tight spots.
I don't buy individual bits for the dremel unless it's something like a real good cutting bit(way too expensive to buy them one at a time).What I do is wait for a KIT to come on sale...a kit that was put together more for polishing purposes,because those little rubber bits...as affective as they are,they don't last worth a crap.They have just enough abrasive material in them to remove the paint and also to leave a nice smooth finish.They remove just enough metal,and they're nice and flexible as well.
Once I get all that done,then I get in there with the polishing tips and polishing compound.It works great for the areas that aren't QUITE as tight,like along the flat side where the caliper mounts to...in those corners the polishing tips work great.I still had to get in there with sandpaper,and I also had to file out all of the molding marks that run down the length of the fork.Using a small round file,I would roll the file while pushing it through the stroke,to keep it from chewing too much in one stroke,if that makes any sense.Then I would take a small piece of Scotch-Brite and wrap a piece of sandpaper around it,to conform to all the areas such as those ones.
I would run it all through the buffing wheel then,and keep looking it over to see where it neede more wet-sanding.Any,and I mean ANY little imperfections WILL show up once You start buffing.You'll THINK it's ready for the final buff,but then when You look at it up close,You'll see more areas that didn't quite get enough sanding.
Ya...it's tedious,but the rewards are so nice.
It looks the absolute BEST when You're done with washing it off in the kitchen sink with dish soap.LOL...Something about washing a bike part in the kitchen sink...feels so goooooood!:woohoo: :laugh:

Hey Sandy - Nice job on the polishing. Been there done that...even bought the one litre can of Auto Sol.

Do you still need me to get the measurements on the LTD fender? I don't think I wll get the front wheel pulled off until after Christmas as I am swamped with a couple of projects that are keeping me out of my shop.

BTW....I can tell from the little stool you took the pics of the forks on you are a Canadian Tire shopper. I've got a matched set of them myself....$3.95 per chair. Dremel knock-offs are on sale in the flyer this week for only $9.95 if you have a lot of polishing to do over the winter. Buy a couple of them as they aren't the best of quality and are pretty fragile.

Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

Thanks Collin.
I just looked in MY flyer,and there's bits on sale sure,but not for $9.99.Are You looking in the current flyer?
As far as the fender goes,Bud...Ya,send Me the specs for sure.If it can be modified to fit,then at least I'd have something to work with.

Ya man...can't beat the price on those stools...good for beer-drinkin,fall-down drunk Friends!LOL:laugh:(but I don't have any Friends like that,:whistle:)
So what flyer are You looking in Collin?I DO need some more polishing bits.