These are some pictures that I took earlier today of some of the axles that I've polished this year. None of them are plated. They are all shown in bare metal. These parts are flat, with no ripples or waves. Doing this kind of work does not involve magic, or any buffing wheels. One of the key tools that I use is emery cloth on a stick of wood. In order to do this, you have to really want to do it. Here's a preview of my contender for the America's Most Beautiful Wishbone award. This afternoon, the pictures shown above were added to my site's page about I-beam axles, which includes descriptions of everything that's shown here. If you're interested in I-beam axles, please read it: http://www.roadsters.com/axles/ Here are a couple of engines I've been working on. The first one is a street 427 for my coupe, and the second one is the race 496 for my roadster. http://www.roadsters.com/cp_bbc_400x366.jpg http://www.roadsters.com/rdstr_bbc_400x406.jpg I'm not online much these days and I try to minimize my time spent typing. If you have any questions about axles or this kind of polishing, please phone me at (602) 233-8400 days or evenings. Thanks. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Those look incredible. They look as good as chrome. After you are done polishing, do you then recommend chroming? Is there a way to preserve the polished surface and just run that?
Without doubt, if I was giving out "America's Most Beutifull..Buetifull..a, Pretty, wishbone, you would get it, along with most gorgeous axles. Amazing!!
As someone who has polished a number of things (big and small) I have to say that's pretty amazing. There's nothing like the warm glow of polished steel...if you can keep it that way. Haven't figured out how one does that yet. Have tried Gibbs, but it clouds the finish a little. Have tried clear powdercoating, but powdercoating likes some tooth to stick to, so it doesn't work out.
polished steel is as beautiful as chrome. Nobody has devised a method of keeping it bright though. That's why we have nickel, paint, chrome and other finishes. Steel is hard too... Iron porous as hell. Takes a lot of polishing. As was said earlier, you have to WANT to do it. Especially stuff like axles. I guess it's a bit like sex !
A friend of mine "Joe the Polisher", did a cast iron fire plug a few years ago. Looked like alum. About 400 hours over a few years............OLDBEET
WOW! Great finish, reminds me of the GP Bugattis from the 1920's, they all left the factory with polished steel suspension, so did most of the Miller Indy cars. Years ago I saw a very nice unrestored DO Fronty race car, when new everything except the body and frame were polished steel.
They are all beautifull! An amazing ammount of work! I gotta ask why though? Couldn't similar results have been achieved by working out the copper a little prior to the plating job?
Thats great looking, you could perhaps clear coat and buff that out. It would lose a little of the luster but it would protect it. Not sure what clear coat you could use, it would have to be chip resistant.
Thanks for the applause. It's appreciated. I was asked if I recommend chroming. I really do prefer nicely finished bare metal compared to plating. Plating adds thickness, obscures fine details, and costs a lot to have done, and you can never be sure that what you get back is what you wanted. I have never walked out of a chrome shop with a smile on my face. I can file, I can sand, but I can't do plating. As for building up low areas by filling them with copper, there's nothing that can be done to ensure that someday a big chunk of copper won't land on the road. Mechanically, applying copper plating is not to be confused with welding. There's no fusion. By the way, on Monday a windshield customer in New Zealand told me that chromed suspension parts are against the law there due to concern over hydrogen embrittlement. "Polished steel is as beautiful as chrome." Polished steel is the actual part. When you look at a plated part, you're looking at the plating, not the part. As far as protecting bare metal, I still prefer Gibbs Brand over anything that I've tried, seen, or heard of. Gibbs is simple, it's quick, it's affordable, and you can redo it whenever you want to, quickly and cheaply. In my experience, the degree of fogginess that it adds seems to depend on the specific alloy that it's applied to. Any clear coat finish, whether paint or powdercoating, adds to the thickness of the part and obscures its little details, not to mention the inevitable adhesion issues, or the fact that plating doesn't "take" (shine) in tight or recessed areas. Plating does nothing to add to the strength of a part, and can reduce it. Polishing adds to the strength of a part, by reducing or eliminating defects and flaws that act as stress points. We polish connecting rods. We don't chrome them. Gibbs Brand: http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/ Dropped Axles: http://www.roadsters.com/axles/ Thanks again for the appreciation. Dave Mann (602) 233-8400 any day or evening http://www.roadsters.com/
Hey Dave, My two sons and I stopped in to see you during Thanksgiving 2004. I don't know if you remember us, but we were there a couple hours before you finally kicked us out. It was a very interesting time, and I'm glad to see you are keeping busy with your AMAZING projects. Keep up the good work.....Dennis
This picture, showing a Chassis Engineering axle and three early Ford axles that I polished, is from the first post in this thread, back in March of 2005. This picture, which I took on April 2nd of 2006, shows both of my original '32 Ford axles which I polished and still have. Now take a look at the images on this site: http://www.mor-dropaxles.com/ Dave Mann (602) 233-8400 http://www.roadsters.com
So dave, you polish axles for Mor-drop??? Just kidding. They look really good and must take a tremendous dedication to make them look that way. Too bad your pics were 'borrowed'. Do you preserve them with Gibbs? Mike
Dave, Your polished axles and whishbone are totally Outstanding!!!!! If my polished aluminum axle gives up the ghost you will be the first person I call to replace it with a steel (forged) polished one.
With the Gibbs, how often do you have to use it? Those look great, but not if I have to repolish every month. Just wondering how long bare steel polished lasts???
I've got to think you have rubbed off the top 1/2 of your fingers, or at least down to the first knuckle.
The Jalopy Journal
