polishing forks

stonemaster wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

Glass bead it or Soda blast it.
Air grinder with Schotch wheel, takes out the rough stuff
Wet sand it.
Only way to make it shine is with a machine buffer.
Here is set of 35 yr old legs I just sold to Australia.

great picture:woohoo:

Guess I have to practice!

z1kzonly wrote:

stonemaster wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

Glass bead it or Soda blast it.
Air grinder with Schotch wheel, takes out the rough stuff
Wet sand it.
Only way to make it shine is with a machine buffer.
Here is set of 35 yr old legs I just sold to Australia.

kzrider.com/media/kunena/attachments/leg...es/buff_aluminum.jpg [/img]

great picture:woohoo:

Guess I have to practice!

This was a set I rubbed by hand with ammonia and baking soda in 2006

RonKZ650 wrote:

I can't see the picture good enough to tell, but there were two versions of forks used on Z1/KZ1000. From 1973 to 1978 they used aluminum with a plastic finish similar to what's on your clutch and brake levers. This plastic is easy to remove with paint stripper, then the forks can be sanded and polished as advised. In 1979 they switched to black forks, at least on the MKII and ST, the LTD probably still had aluminum as they reused old parts to build LTDs, but the black forks were an extremely tough finish that can't be removed without a lot of work. It does come off, but isn't going to happen with paint stripper and the like. Takes manual sanding or blasting then they can be polished up. No anodized forks ever on on old Kawasaki.

maybe not stock but, mine had been

z1kzonly wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

stonemaster wrote:

z1kzonly wrote:

Glass bead it or Soda blast it.
Air grinder with Schotch wheel, takes out the rough stuff
Wet sand it.
Only way to make it shine is with a machine buffer.
Here is set of 35 yr old legs I just sold to Australia.

kzrider.com/media/kunena/attachments/leg...es/buff_aluminum.jpg [/img]

great picture:woohoo:

Guess I have to practice!

I pulled this off of my ebay add, these polished Z1 legs have Harley fork oil in them! :woohoo: I hope their not prejudice!

The ZX-7 forks you have in the picture do have a gold anodizing on them. The best way I have found to remove it is easy off oven cleaner, just spray it on them, when it starts turning black thats when you know its taking it off ,let them set for about 15 min or so and then wash them down real good. Then the fun part starts, 220,320,400,600,800,1000,1200 start wet sanding at 400 then when you go all the way to 1200, start buffing with a polishing rouge then finish buffing with a semi chrome polish or something like it.

This bike is all polished (frame,swingarm,wheels,forks) no chrome at all


Here is a polished swingarm

It is a ton of work to do and to maintain.

didnt know bout the oven spray trick, thats a good one+

z1kzonly wrote:

...these polished Z1 legs have Harley fork oil in them! :woohoo: I hope their not prejudice!....

rubbed by hand with ammonia and baking soda --- will have to try that mixture.

Was the ammonia diluted?

Even prettier, unprejudiced.

yea but the fork oil wants u to pay more for it because of its special name, LOL

The technique of polishing metals has not really changed since its first conception….

As alloys oxidise their will most certainly be a coating on your forks from new, what you have now can only be guessed upon…
First strip the old coating if any, paint stripper is the best I feel, as you are polishing then any other form of removal, mechanical or blasting, will only create more work for you in the long run by pitting/scratching the surface which ultimately requires a mirror finish.

To achieve a mirror finish from polishing it is like a good quality paint job…. the smoother the surface the better the finish
I use to polish by hand and it literally took for ever, now I have 2 bench grinders and assorted polishing wheels to make the job far less labour intensive and a more practical processes (doesn’t frustrate me anymore by taking so long and getting Popeye arms to boot :blink: )

Someone mentioned a scotch brite pad on a die grinder, with this I first shape, smooth and blend the alloy surface (no compound used), you are trying to remove the cast marks/pitting etc with the pad and get it as even as possible, I use this also to remove the casting lines and shape the job (damaged etc). You will be left with a rough surface looking like 220g sanding. This should, for forks take about 10mins from here I go to the first wheel on a bench grinder which is a hard stitched calico wheel and appropriate polishing compound, this stage is to remove the scratches the die grinder pad left behind… another 10mins.
From here I go to the next wheel and compound, which is like a pressed soft felt style pad, this is to level/smooth again to take out any remaining pits/scratches etc (finer pad)… then the last wheel is a normal soft polishing pad and appropriate polishing compound to bring it to the final lustre…. Forks should be about an hour or so all up… next!
As well I must mention, if you use a mechanical method it will generate a lot of heat , I mean a lot to the point of burning me through the leather gardening gloves that I have on… so be careful when doing forks, if complete make sure you remove the oil and vent them (leave the drain plug out) while your polishing….

Seriously I would never go back to manual polishing again it takes so long to do a small job that I lost interest in it, that’s why my mate showed me a mechanical process in the first place… now I polish everything :woohoo: …. Well within reason

Remember, the smoother the surface the better the finish….

Having spent some years polishing metal for a living,I can say with some confidence that subby's method is the surest way to a mirror finish. Those various miracle polishes do little more than remove dirt and light oxidation. Some will remove very light scratches, none in my experience will leave a show quality shine without MANY hours of fierce hand polishing after many more hours of hand sanding with a wide variety of grits.

well perhaps u guys could help the less skilled in the area with a youtube video howto, I;m sure the members here would greatly appreciate it