metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
hello everyone,
this is my first tutorial ive written so this is a learning experience for me also :up:
well lets get this started..
as a modder, there may be several things you will want to have a mirror finish, from your blingin side panels to the bottom side of your heatsink, or even the top of your processor!
Lapping is a simply process of giving metal a mirror finish, like so
So here we go..
WHAT YOU NEED:
the obvious, what you are going to give your finish, for this i used a side panel(with metals that are coated like this panel you will need to sand through the coating):
Next you will need sandpaper, ranging from about 600 grit to 1200 or even 1600, in intervals of 200:
a sanding block:
Next you will need rubbing compound:
then you need your metal polish (i use a special mix that i got from my work's polishing company):
Paper towels for clean up and polishing:
And finally a polishing cloth:
First i sanded the area i was going to polish with some heavier grit sand paper(about 200) to get it down to bare metal:
then slowly worked the surface with my sanding block and sand paper:
(i only had 800 and 1200 grit around to do this)
After sanding with the 800 grit i had a surface that looked like this:
Then i moved onto using 1200 grit, leaving a finish like this:
see the sanding lines even after 1200?
this is the point where the rubbing compound comes in handy. Rubbing compound,along with polishing compound, is like a SUPER high grit sandpaper.
Using my paper towel and rubbing compound i ran over the surface again, bringing it to this finish:
Now i added some of my polish compound:
And using your polishing cloth begin to rub away
When polishing you will see your compound go from its original color to a dark grey, this is the metal getting worn, which is what you want:
then using a clean area of your polishing cloth, wipe away the polish and rub it a bit more to get it all clean and you will be left with a mirror finish:D
i hope this is informative to some of you and hope you will try it out!
thanks for looking in!
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
Great info, thanks for posting. Question, what is in the polish you use and what would be a substitue?
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
honestly...i dont know what is in the compound...but i do know it works hella awesome... its something that our polishers mix in house...all i have is a small sample of it
when in machining we used Mothers metal polish....it works very well.. it comes in a tub like turtle wax...
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
Nice addition to the Modding Arsenal that is accumulating here!
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
if you going to lap processors, heatsinks and waterblocks you must (if you want it to work best) use a flat surface. looking through the internet i have learned you should use a 1/4" thick sheet of glass or thicker. like b4i7 said above you should use from 600 - 1200(i would go to 2500, but you don't have to) grit sand paper. i also read on some sites that marking an X or lines on the processor, Heatsink, Water block will tell you if there are any low spots. here is a picture of a scrap processor i lapped then polished.
Links to some sites
PCViper UltraKit - Heatsink Lapping kit Review
EasyPCKits Lapping Kit Review
my thread about lapping my processor
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
yeah....marking it will help show where you are low and such...just like hitting a bondo job with a light coat of paint would...thanks for adding info spawn
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
I would +rep you, but it says I have to spread it around again. Nice tut d00d!
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
thanks, ill try to write a few more tut's for you guys on metal finishing
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
See if you can find out what's in that polish at work unless it's a trade secret. I'd love to know.
Re: metal finishing: lapping to a mirror finish
yeah...im pretty sure its a trade secret..sorry