Polishing brake levers

Quoted message said:

A Muzi opined, in re scratched brake levers:
The aluminum ones are also simple to remove, file, wetsand
and polish on a cotton wheel. You could barely tell they
were on the ground after.

Brian Plaugher wrote:

Brian Plaugher asked for more info but his post was
configured so as to not appear in the "reply" form. ??

File out any deep scratches, wetsand with 400 paper then use
a buffing compound on a cotton wheel. Change direction
frequently when polishing and wear eye protection.

Buffing compound is sold at hardware stores and comes in
sticks about the consistency of a crayon in cardboard tubes.
Press the stuff firmly against a spinning cotton wheel to
impregnate the buffing paste into the cotton.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Brian, You could start at perhaps a slightly coarser grade than 400
grit, depending on how bad the damage was on the lever. The Aluminum
Parts such as these levers are a bit on the soft side, so they
shouldn't take too much sanding with coarse grit to get out the
damage.

Then go finer, and finer in grit, being careful not to remove too much
stock, as you might wind up with a pair of toothpicks. Sand Paper
grades I would try would be 320-400-600-800-1000, and even on to
perhaps 2000, or 0000 Steel Wool. If Parts have Knurling, or stamped
emblems, try to stay away from these with any paper, until perhaps you
get to the steel wool, or metal polish

By perhaps using a metal polish from a tube after (Flitz, or 200MPH
Polish, or something similar), you may be able to forego the use of a
Cottom Buffing Wheel. Trick is to take your time, and it's best to
start out as fine as you can go with the paper to see if the damage
can be removed without removing too much stock. With a little time,
certain parts can be polished to a chrome like luster if you so desire
without the use of a Buffing Wheel.

Plating shops will use Professional buffing wheels, and various, and
different types of buffing abrasives dependent upon the metal. in the
interest of time, and results. (They can't take all day to buff/polish
one part)

Try to find a mom+pop Hardware store where you can buy just a couple
of sheets of each grit paper, this way, your not spending tons of
money on entire packs of paper to accomplish your tasks.

Always having a tube/bottle of all metal polish on hand is a good
thing to have, as you may find other uses for this on a bike, or
around the house.
Hope this helps, Somehow I couldn't follow up on your post, so I had
to start another? Weird. Mark

[email hidden] (Brian Plaugher) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

A Muzi opined, in re scratched brake levers:
The aluminum ones are also simple to remove, file, wetsand
and polish on a cotton wheel. You could barely tell they
were on the ground after.

A Muzi said:

Brian Plaugher asked for more info but his post was
configured so as to not appear in the "reply" form. ??

It's because his post was below two dashes (and a space?);
"-- " is the standard signature divider and your newsreader
is smart enough to avoid including the signature of the
post you are responding to.