Main > Main Forum

Polishing Bolt Heads. A tip for builders and restorers.

(1/5) > >>

spacies:
On the Gauntlet cab I am restoring it has the ugly standard coach bolt heads with the raised lettering telling you the sizes.

So I thought I would polishing them out.

Things you need:

A Drill.
A water tray.
Some standard P80 Sandpaper.
Some Wet & Dry P400, P1200 Sandpaper.
Something soft that shapes to the head when you push the bolt into the sandpaper. I used some old bubble-wrap packaging and doubled it up.
And some clear coat (not necessary but recommended).



1st step is to put the bolt into the drill:



Then press it onto the P80 grit and spin it till the raised lettering is sanded off. Then you should have something like this:



Note the harsh scratching.
Next step is to dip it in water ready for the 1st wet and dry:



Then press the head into the P400 and spin it up on a medium speed:



Should be getting a better finish:



Repeat the above step on the P1200 and go for a high speed and slowly release the downward pressure until you lift it off and you should have a nice shiny bolt head:



I like to seal them to prevent rust and oxidization so I dip them in a Lacquer clear coat:



The final results:



Before and after:








Cheers,
Spaceman :D

leapinlew:
freakin awesome.

Nice 1!

opt2not:
**Snap**

That was the sound of my mind being blown.

Awesome tip!

Xiaou2:

 Actually, if you want them to Pop even more... after you sand as shown above,
you can use a buffing wheel and polishing compound sticks.   I usually use a coarse and fine grit stick.  It will look chrome/mirror perfect when done.

pinballwizard79:
Awesome!

I bet I know what your favorite TV show was.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

Go to full version