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Technical & Reference Section => Tech and Restoration => Topic started by: theRuler on September 27, 2005, 02:33 PM

Title: Polishing a ripper
Post by: theRuler on September 27, 2005, 02:33 PM

i want to strip the black off my pk ripper and polish it.

how do i polish it?

will it stay polished or do i have to laquer it?

sorry if they are stupid questions but i havent done much ali polishing!

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: oberonspacefruit on September 27, 2005, 03:29 PM

this thread has been asked before. nitromors will obviously strip it...

ally reacts with the air so it will dullen if exposed to the elements. it does on the parts on my bike anyway. but it takes only a bit of work to polish it back up.

i used polishing mops and paste, drill mounted..available from frost restoration.   you get a bit carried away tho......you start gettin the mirror effect and the next thing you know your shoutin from the shed to the missus to unbolt every bit of alloy on all the bikes.....all is right with the world....you want to stay in the shed and polish for ever....

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: Steve P on September 27, 2005, 03:53 PM

Patience is the key !!!!

I stripped my Mini Ripper with Nitromors then used a greeny cloth with plenty of soapy water to remove excess paint, etc

Then I used fine wire wool (grade 000) again soaked in hot soapy water to leave a fine finish ready for polishing with a good alloy / metal polish

I prefer not to use mops or drills, etc, If the pre-polish preparation work is done well enough then hand polishing is very quick and simple with excellent results

(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/a217/steve167690/frame.jpg)

(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/a217/steve167690/headtube.jpg)

(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/a217/steve167690/rrdropout.jpg)

If you want a low maintenance polished frame I recommend getting it ball-burnished

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: theRuler on September 27, 2005, 04:29 PM

that looks superb.

i will do just that.

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: weston on September 27, 2005, 05:31 PM

try your local school & ask the metal work teacher to polish it up for you for a small donation,it will come up looking like new,saves you alot of hard work.... i did this in my school years as my metal work project, i know it you can still do this as i have just taken a job at a school helping bad lads so they dont end up like me

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: Steve P on September 27, 2005, 06:03 PM

Do todays schools have that sort of liability insurance then

Nice thought but I reckon the next time Ruler sees his Ripper, it will be up for auction on the bay :'(

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: Waxintaxin on September 27, 2005, 06:06 PM

I would get it ball burnished , as this was the original finish from the factory
look on the interwebby thing and find a local metal shop
It is a low maintenance way of keeping it looking new

Rich

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: theRuler on September 28, 2005, 08:58 AM

Quote from: weston on September 27, 2005, 05:31 PM

try your local school & ask the metal work teacher to polish it up for you for a small donation,it will come up looking like new,saves you alot of hard work.... i did this in my school years as my metal work project, i know it you can still do this as i have just taken a job at a school helping bad lads so they dont end up like me

not sure my old metal work teacher would be charitable.
at school in metal work all we used to do, was get in the arc welding booth, weld the door up, turn the extracter fan on and smoke ciggies.
whilst welding up the vice, welding the welder to the bench etc

i got excluded from that lesson right at the start of the last school year, and wasnt allowed to take the exam.
that was because of an "incidient" where i put a hilti gun cartridge in the forge and buried it with hot coals.
the explosion shortly after sent hot rocks all around the workshop.

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: showtime on September 28, 2005, 06:52 PM

did you ever turn the big lathe up onto full speed & start it with the chuck key still in?
thats always worth a laugh ;D
we did a welding course on the YTS & turned the biggest Arc welder you've ever seen up to full current while the guy who was using it was on his tea break.....................

well when he got back & struck up an arc you should have seen it!
it was like he was waving a light sabre around! he blew the piece he was making straight through the hole he'd just burnt in his thick metal bench :o

the sound & the light off it was amazing!& he came out literally shaking with freshly soiled Keks a few moments later, he caught us for it though as we were laughing so much we couldn't breathe so escape was impossible ;D

they were some funny times :D

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: lazychubs on September 28, 2005, 06:59 PM

Quote from: showtime on September 28, 2005, 06:52 PM

did you ever turn the big lathe up onto full speed & start it with the chuck key still in?
thats always worth a laugh ;D
we did a welding course on the YTS & turned the biggest Arc welder you've ever seen up to full current while the guy who was using it was on his tea break.....................

well when he got back & struck up an arc you should have seen it!
it was like he was waving a light sabre around! he blew the piece he was making straight through the hole he'd just burnt in his thick metal bench :o

the sound & the light off it was amazing!& he came out literally shaking with freshly soiled Keks a few moments later, he caught us for it though as we were laughing so much we couldn't breathe so escape was impossible ;D

they were some funny times :D

man thats the funneist thing ive read in ages tears running down me face

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: theRuler on September 28, 2005, 07:21 PM

Quote from: showtime on September 28, 2005, 06:52 PM

did you ever turn the big lathe up onto full speed & start it with the chuck key still in?

yes and the lathe key hit the roof and dug in

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: showtime on September 28, 2005, 08:04 PM

Quote from: theRuler on September 28, 2005, 07:21 PM

Quote from: showtime on September 28, 2005, 06:52 PM

did you ever turn the big lathe up onto full speed & start it with the chuck key still in?

yes and the lathe key hit the roof and dug in

when i did it the key went through a crowded classroom & straight through the hollow walls (both sides) including a corridor & ended up in the physics lab ;D

metalwork was also good for making throwing stars too! we were like the playground Ninjas LOL ;D

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: showtime on September 28, 2005, 08:06 PM

Quote from: Lazychubs on September 28, 2005, 06:59 PM

Quote from: showtime on September 28, 2005, 06:52 PM

did you ever turn the big lathe up onto full speed & start it with the chuck key still in?
thats always worth a laugh ;D
we did a welding course on the YTS & turned the biggest Arc welder you've ever seen up to full current while the guy who was using it was on his tea break.....................

well when he got back & struck up an arc you should have seen it!
it was like he was waving a light sabre around! he blew the piece he was making straight through the hole he'd just burnt in his thick metal bench :o

the sound & the light off it was amazing!& he came out literally shaking with freshly soiled Keks a few moments later, he caught us for it though as we were laughing so much we couldn't breathe so escape was impossible ;D

they were some funny times :D

man thats the funneist thing ive read in ages tears running down me face

the white light coming from his welding booth was so bright it looked like he was being abducted by aliens ;D

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: billstup on September 28, 2005, 09:22 PM

LOL we had a good idea in the plumbing class at school, put a bottle in to the furnace to see if it would explode, it would have if the tutor hadn`t of caught us first, how he laughed as he tore up my hard earned merit marks for the whole year  :(

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: showtime on September 30, 2005, 07:47 AM

i work in the motor trade now & the favourite thing for us to make used tobe Acetylene bombs :o
you use to fill up a rubber glove as gig as you could get it with a mix of oxygen & acetylene from the welding bottles, then stick a short length of masking tape on it as a fuse, light it & run........

Fook me we nearly blew the roof off a couple of times ;D

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: muttley on September 30, 2005, 08:57 AM

Man this is some of the funniest stuff i have ever read  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: ORB on September 30, 2005, 01:46 PM

Amazing what you can learn just by wanting to know about how to make a Kipper shine...

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: SAND N DIRT on September 30, 2005, 05:01 PM

nitromors > where can I buy this brand? (I mean it!)

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: ORB on September 30, 2005, 07:23 PM

I thought it was an international brand.

Have you tried an Auto Store or a DIY store?

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: theRuler on September 30, 2005, 07:34 PM

Quote from: SAND N DIRT on September 30, 2005, 05:01 PM

nitromors > where can I buy this brand? (I mean it!)

at your local hardware store!!

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: showtime on September 30, 2005, 08:50 PM

you could try burning the paint off with an Acetylene bomb, or even try the large industrial arc welder to "lightly char" the paint from the frame :-\

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: sam hudson on October 21, 2005, 06:55 PM

So,two (probably stupid) questions....where do you get ball burnishing done? I cant find a place to do it,locally ,they all look at me like i'm asking them to invent Fision >:(
 And is it ok to get the old paint blasted off as you would do with a normal cro mo frame? For the sake of £15 ,it saves paying for the Nitromors and then all the getting covered in Sh#te whilst cleaning the Nitromors off  :-\

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: lazychubs on October 21, 2005, 08:07 PM

be carefull who does the blasting as my mates place has just crushed me top tube
on me fbm frame told him im now £300 out of pocket
lol

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: superbikedan on October 21, 2005, 10:26 PM

stove enamel laquer, not power laquer that is the way to keep your frames from fading and chipping and dulling, powder laquer is to hard and will chip and flake under alloy that has been polished because it bakes at  a high temperture, (just think of super glue laying on top of plastic)   stove enamel is soft, more restistant  and when you polish you never have to do it again, it will last for  years and never fade. :)

Title: Re: Polishing a ripper
Post by: sam hudson on October 22, 2005, 12:41 PM

 ;D Thanks for that.Now i'm terrified to take my frame to the blasters.He has done stuff before though and it was ok.  ;D

Would i have to find a specialist to stove enamel? Is it under stove enamellers in the yellow pages?  ;D ;) Seriously though is it something that powder coaters would do or a paint shop?
Ta