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.