METAL POLISHING COMPOUND BARS FOR BUFFING WHEELS
We manufacture several different color compounds that are fantastic for polishing metals such as aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel and steel. Our bars such as the no scratch pink can also be used to polishing plastics, woods and other composite materials. These bars are about 10" in length and weigh between 2 and 3 lbs, depending on the bar and formula!
WHAT HAND HELD POLISHER SHOULD YOU USE?
MAKITA 9237C- The best 3,500 RPM polishing machine (PROS & BEGINNERS)
MAKITA GA7021 - The best 6,000 RPM polishing machine (PROS)
WHAT BENCH TOP POLISHER IS BEST FOR 8" AIRWAY BUFFING WHEELS?
POWERTEC BENCH TOP POLISHER - Best polisher that works with 8" airway buffing wheels. $ 149
POLISHING COMPOUND BARS EXPLAINED, WHAT BAR DOES WHAT?
TRIPOLI T-88 (BROWN) - BEST FOR A CUT BAR ON ALUMINUM
SS-77 Stainless (BLACK - BEST FOR CUT ON STAINLESS OR STEEL. This bar is industry standard for cut, typically used with a heavy cut buffing wheel such as our orange or red treat. Also commonly used with a sisal buffing wheel in very heavy cutting operations.
GREEN ROUGE G-16 (GREEN) - BEST FOR COLOR ON ALUMINUM. This is an industry standard color that is relatively the same in grit between different manufacturers. Should be paired with a Yellow or a Pink treat buffing wheel.
BLUE ROUGE SS-800 (BLUE) - VERY FINE POLISH ON ALUMINUM OR STAINLESS. This is an industry standard color bar. If you are used to using a blue compound bar this is the bar you will want to order. We do recommend our PURPLE SS-510 bar however if you are looking for the highest luster.
WHITE ROUGE SS-300 (WHITE) - VERY FINE POLISH ON ALUMINUM OR STAINLESS. This also is an industry standard color that uses the same grit from company to company. This will leave a brighter luster than a green rouge for instance, however this is not our best finishing bar. Our Purple SS-510 bar is the best bar you can get for a mirror shine.
NO SCRATCH PINK (PINK) - THIS BAR IS GREAT FOR PLASTICS . This is for a shine when polishing acrylic, plastics, G10's or wood materials.
HOW BIG ARE POLISHING COMPOUND BARS?
Our polishing compound bars weigh between 2 LBS to 3.25 LBS depending on the color. This can vary because raw materials on certain bars weigh less than others. Additionally, our bars are about 10" in length and about 2" on each side. So roughly 10" x 2" x 2". These bars go a long way and are a great value.
POLISHING COMPOUND BY THE DRUM
We offer all of our polishing compounds by the drum for more cost effective prices. typically a drum would have about 225 bars and can vary in weight between 600 lbs and 750 lbs as some colors weigh more than others. For drum pricing please contact Garrett at sales@maverickabrasives.com
WHAT ARE METAL POLISHING COMPOUNDS?
Our metal polishing compounds are used with our Airway Buffing Wheels to increase the effectiveness of the wheel while being used during the cutting, buffing, and polishing process. Some are of a coarser consistency and are usually used to remove sanding scratches while the others are finer, which lends to them being used to shine and finish your work. They should be applied to airway buffing wheels by coating the edges of the airway buffs like below:
HOW DO I PREP FOR POLISHING?
Prepping is almost entirely all about sanding. While it is difficult to make recommendations as far as what grit to start with an orbital sander, you can always reach out to one of our trained experts for further advice. As a general rule of thumb our black stainless compound or our t-88 brown bar can both remove 400 grit scratch marks, depending on the airway buffing wheel you pair it with.
WHAT ARE THE STEPS FOR POLISHING ALUMINUM?
Tripoli compounds such as our T-88 Tripoli should be used for initial cutting and buffing, with the aim of removing more apparent scratches and blemishes during metal restoration on aluminum. It is the first step on on polishing aluminum and is paired with our orange airway buffing wheels. It is not used on stainless for polishing.
Our G-16 Green rouge is often used as the second step in polishing aluminum. It is paired with our yellow airway buffing wheel. This should produce a fantastic clean shine.
We offer two final finishing compounds—blue rouge and the purple polishing compound. Both represent a show finish and we recommend that you pair either one of these final show finishing compounds with a white flannel buffing wheel. Keep in mind many of our polishers are quite happy with the two-step process outlined above and leave show polishes only to their most cherished pieces.
WHAT DO THE COLORS MEAN FOR METAL POLISHING COMPOUND?
The color of the polishing compound is almost always a byproduct of the natural abrasive ingredients. Tripoli powder, pictured below for example, is an abrasive product that along with the other formula ingredients allows the buffing wheel to polish a metal surface. These abrasives are often pigments as well causing the bar color to take on the appearance of the abrasive.
HOW DO YOU POLISH COPPER OR BRASS?
Brass and copper must first be prepped for polish with sanding to clean and clear any imperfections in the metal before you go into your mirror polishing process. For a lite tarnish, use a scuff pad to break the surface. For a heavier tarnish or oxidized surface, soft sanding with a 600 or 800 grit will smooth this surface out and get rid of any imperfections.
For polishing we recommend a Yellow Airway buffing wheel and a yellow deluxe compound bar as your first polishing step. For your second step we recommend a pink airway buffing wheel paired with our purple high luster compound bar. As far as speed when polishing we recommend 2200 to 2600 RPM.
In situations where similar in color appearances have substantially different abrasive qualities, many manufactures (ourselves included) can add separate pigment or dye to help differentiate the products.
Do you need to wear a respirator when metal polishing?
Yes it is strongly recommended and even suggested it should be required to wear a respirator when polishing. We strongly recommend this respirator as it offers great protection and is affordable. You can buy it HERE its only $ 40 and it will PROTECT you!
BEST Full Face Respirator for metal polishing $ 40
SDS Sheet for the Polishing Compound Bars for Buffing Wheels
SDS Sheet for the Black Magic Bar
SDS Sheet for the Blue Rouge Bar
SDS Sheet for the Green Rouge Bar
SDS Sheet for the Stainless Steel Bar
SDS Sheet for the Tripoli Bar
SDS Sheet for the White Rouge Bar
SDS Sheet for the Yellow Deluxe Bar
SDS Sheet for the No Scratch Pink Bar
SDS Sheet for the Competition Purple Bar