I just polished my frame and it took me all of about 8 hours. I didn't get the mirror finish like I had hoped but it is still shining to say the least.  I used a wire rotary wheel attached to a drill to take the paint off, then I dry sanded with 2000 grit sandpaper, then I wet sanded with the 2000 grit.

I am going to continue to wetsand it until I get that mirror finish though 

I bet when you come out tomorrow it's all fuzzy with rust.   

OHHHH HELL!You polished a steel sheet metal frame.That thing will rust thru real quick now.


That's the funniest thing I've seen happen in a long time. 


Seriously, you are planning to paint that?Right? ??

Quote from: ben2go on June 26, 2008, 10:38:51 PM
OHHHH HELL!You polished a steel sheet metal frame.That thing will rust thru real quick now.

GET it done and CLEAR COAT  IT FAST. it WILL rust , but nice so far. im not so sure on shiny frame vs matte tank though. but still nice work so far

Sir, you have no idea what you've just done.   You better find someone to clear that thing ASAP.

 

I think it looks sweet, polish the tank up the same,  then clear both.

Looks good. Rust is so "in" these days.
BTW to everyone who has posted about clear coating it ... you guys have no clue what you talking about. Sand it with 1000 grit and there aint no paint in the world that will stick to it. Its too smooth.
You pretty much have to sand it ... and no, wet sanding will actually give you much better rust than dry sanding. So that is the way to go.
I've see people do stuff like this ... like one guy said, my friend polished his ZX7, so I'm polishing my FZR 600 ... AKA, I am clueless and want to show up my friend.
Test it with a magnet before you start with a sand paper ...
It will have to be done with maybe 400 grit, then sprayed with primer, then sanded with maybe 400-600 and progressive color coats with finer and finer grit each time.
Cool.
Buddha.

I've polished about 15 Frames however, they were all aluminum frames. Besides the instant rust issue with steel, you also never get the true shine that polished aluminum will offer you.

When I polish a frame I do the following:
1.) Use a 3m Medium grit fiber disc on air grinder to remove any factory coatings.

2.) With a variety of sanding blocks I start out with 600 grit sandpaper going all the way up to 1000 Grit.

3.) Begin Wet sanding with 1500 grit followed by 2000 Grit.

4.) With a variety of Buffing Wheels and some Jewelers Rouge I start buffing out the finish, I use the Brown rouge first and finish with the white rouge.

5. I then clean any of the rouge off the frame and apply Zoop Seal.

The Zoop Seal is the real deal and to my disbelieve does not Yellow, Peal Off, or allow any oxidation of the part, simply wash the frame down, dry with a chamois and your rewarded with a bright, polished finish. Until I found this stuff I use to hate my GSXR and it's polished frame, every Sat. was spent using Mothers Mag Polish to remove the light oxidation so that I would be the envy on Sun's ride, way to much work.

Polishing Steel=Bad Idea.

You could hit the rust with steel wool a few times, oil it, and have it all browned like an old blackpowder rifle.

Want a shiny frame?........get it chrome plated...........then you can spend the rest of your life polishing it.

Quote from: sledge on June 27, 2008, 06:22:57 AM
Want a shiny frame?........get it chrome plated...........then you can spend the rest of your life polishing it.

Exactly, thats why "This Time" with my current project, nothing will be shiny, all Flat Dark colors...Riding isn't suppose to be a fashion statement or rather, shiny doesn't always equal cool.

I did that to my grab handle, but I took it to about 320 grit and roughed it up nice and good, and buffed it out a bit and clear coated it with a satin finish clear coat.  Given, thats aluminum and not steel I believe, but it came out really nice, with the satin black paint job and all.  I'm gonna go with a true bar-b-que paint finish for a real matte finish on my chin spoiler and my tank and plastics this winter though.

Whoever said it would rust is a bunch of dumbasses I polished it out with mothers and then put 2 thin coats of carnuba to seal it. The other side has been done for a week and no signs of rust. Dumbass posts ftl.

Quote from: sci_v_ici on June 27, 2008, 08:08:34 AM
Whoever said it would rust are a bunch of dumbasses

Dumbass posts ftl indeed.

heh. I wouldn't be so quick to call people dumbasses here. They are pretty smart.

If it does rust would you post pics?

Quote from: sci_v_ici on June 27, 2008, 08:08:34 AM
Whoever said it would rust is a bunch of dumbasses I polished it out with mothers and then put 2 thin coats of carnuba to seal it. The other side has been done for a week and no signs of rust. Dumbass posts ftl.

Hehehe......we will see 

Quote from: sci_v_ici on June 27, 2008, 08:08:34 AM
Whoever said it would rust is a bunch of dumbasses I polished it out with mothers and then put 2 thin coats of carnuba to seal it. The other side has been done for a week and no signs of rust. Dumbass posts ftl.

Good for you you were thinking ahead with the Carnuba Wax, it may not rust yet it still won't look all that good IMHO.

Though taste is a subjective thing and you are the only one that needs to like the finished product, opinions given will prove this.

Anyway you got a lot of work into that and are happy with it.

Quote from: sci_v_ici on June 27, 2008, 08:08:34 AM
Whoever said it would rust is a bunch of dumbasses I polished it out with mothers and then put 2 thin coats of carnuba to seal it. The other side has been done for a week and no signs of rust. Dumbass posts ftl.

Call me another dumbass then...

Look at your chain... see the rust? Your frame will rust now, more than before. Look at any other GS frame or swingarm, they have rust on them and they are painted. Continuously polishing will reduce the occurrence of the rust but it will happen. Heck even some stainless steel will rust, you would need to go to a tooling steel to eliminate rust. Aluminum will oxide in the form of aluminum oxide which is basically the same as rust, a common term for iron oxide with ferrous metals.

Good luck keeping it looking good.

Quote from: dgyver on June 27, 2008, 09:28:05 AM

Quote from: sci_v_ici on June 27, 2008, 08:08:34 AM
Whoever said it would rust is a bunch of dumbasses I polished it out with mothers and then put 2 thin coats of carnuba to seal it. The other side has been done for a week and no signs of rust. Dumbass posts ftl.

Call me another dumbass then...

Look at your chain... see the rust? Your frame will rust now, more than before. Look at any other GS frame or swingarm, they have rust on them and they are painted. Continuously polishing will reduce the occurrence of the rust but it will happen. Heck even some stainless steel will rust, you would need to go to a tooling steel to eliminate rust. Aluminum will oxide in the form of aluminum oxide which is basically the same as rust, a common term for iron oxide with ferrous metals.

Good luck keeping it looking good.

AHA ! Someone here knows something about tool steels and SEMI stainless ! Caught you ! Now every question asking about 'billit aircraft aluminum' will be directed to your email box ! I'm kidding, but you're so right.

Stainless is interesting stuff. You can polish it to be as beautiful as chrome, or watch it turn to mush in the right environment.

Tool steels = the awesomeness. Surface rust wipes away with a fine stoning and comes back to like new with a little oil. My vises/plates/sines/tooling always gets a very thin layer of rust, no matter the preventative. A quick once over with a stone, and they're as good as new. Still less than .0003" out of square after 12 years.



Man, I'm really sorry you went through the trouble to polish her. She looks great, but the rust is going to be an issue. Not knocking your intention, not making fun, but you'll get better service and less agrevation out of her by painting her again. Black is one of the best looking gs colors, and the darker charcoal is a very close 2nd place.

Just my opinion, please take the comments with a grain of salt. Your bike is yours, enjoy !