dressing back polishing wheels?

[RODeo]

Good to meet you and thanks Cabman!.........Cabman came over to my place today to show me how to polish Aluminium.Gave me loads of advice and tips.  Must resist trying to polish everything in sight now! ..Note I said 'trying to polish'  as thats all I'm capable of....theres a lot of skill and experience involved,and Cabman knows his stuff! Thanks once again Dave!
        Rod
 
 ps ,Of course none of this would happen without the power of the Manky Monkey Motors site pulling people together.Thanks must go out to Andy and Taz for their hard work!

[Cabman77]

It was wonderful to have the chance to use old skills again, I was surprised how much I can remember. Glad to have been of service Rod. Besides that had a lovely ride through the Essex countryside today...Bonus!!! 

[Manky Monkey]

We're just a dating service for shed dwellers. Glad you two kindred spirits got it together. Not met a Monkey I haven't liked yet. 

[RODeo]

Empowered by Cabmans advice,Ive now got all adventurous and stripped the alternator to polish it.

[Cabman77]

Much as I hate my picture being taken, I wish we`d taken the camera over to the workshop Rod 
The alternator body may be a challenge for you. They usually have ridges running all round them and a backstand/linishing belt is the only way to get rid of them. May be best to just polish over them because you`d need so much more stuff than you`ve got, and another lesson in building scurfs which can be time consuming. Best of luck with it and show us some pics. 

[RODeo]

We should have at least taken some before and after shots! I'll try to do some with the alternator casing.

[Bus Boy]

ah ha......i've bin doin most of it right! only by trial & error have i found the best way of polishing metals. i managed to aquire a pedastal polisher,mops & soaps out of me unc's workshop when he died ,very clever bloke him that could do all sorts of engineering practices! it came with a load of hard felt bobs & mops but i've never figured out how to use them correctly.....any advice?

[Cabman77]

the hard felt ones you cover in glue like stuff, can`t remember the bloody name at the moment but it`s called a cement. you leave the first layer to dry in a warm oven and then flatten it off, an old grinding wheel is good for this. Then apply another coat and roll it in 220 grit carborundum powder and let it dry as before. You now have a bob. Very useful for taking out scratches in all metals ali, mild steel and stainless. always flatten it off with the old grinding wheel before you first use it and plenty of tallow, and be gentle with it. When it wears down, give it a good running over with the grindstone to get the grease out of it then re coat it with cement and grit. You can always do this with stitch mops too and make scurfs which give a slightly rougher cut to take out more serious scratches.

[Bus Boy]

cheers cabman!