How do you get the mirror finnish on barrels

[s100whunter]

I have buffing wheels and have tried all kinds of polish but cannot get that mirror finish also tried spinning in my lathe with 1200 grit I would appreciate some of your methods

 

[dbramley]

Lathe, 400 up to 1200, then McGuire's ultra cut compound, the finish compound.

Dan

 

[GenePoole]

How fast are you spinning the barrel? I spin at about 1200 rpm and use wet-or-dry sandpaper with WD-40 as the wet part. Depending on the finish from the manufacturer, I'll start with 220 or 320, then move to 400. 400 is usually good enough. If I want mirror, then 1200. Cover your lathe parts though. That juice coming off the sandpaper is murder on your lathe.

 

[Ggmac]

Lathe turning opposite the 1-30" or 1-42" belt sander progressively finer belts till last which is a cloth belt ( no grit ) with rouge on it . I use a lathe just set up for polishing , old no cross slide , gouged ways etc .

 

[butchlambert]

Start at 180 and don't skip grit. If I go from 180 and skip to 320 it will never look good. I have paper to 1200 and you can use jewelers rouge after that. I don't polish mine any more.

 

[MClark]

What Butch said is important.
I read how injection molds are polished. The recommendations there are to change direction 90 degrees with each grit. And don't push hard.
I use a barrel spinner and a belt sander. Hand sand the long way.

For a super finish on a blue barrel --polish as good as you can, blue, lightly buff the blued surface(not enough to remove blue) then blue again.

 

[B Nettesheim]

After polishing the barrel in a lathe with progressively finer emery try "Rolite" on an old towel. Cut the towel into strips about 2" wide and use the towel like emery and she'll shine!!

 

[carlsbad]

I prefer a dull finish but I have done quite a bit of astronomy work too. Polished a lot of telescope mount shafts on the lathe. It takes a while. cover the ways and use progressively finer emery paper. Be patient, it takes a while.

--Jerry

 

[WayneShaw]

While a polished barrel looks nice, it seems to attract scratches. I go with a matte finish.

 

[ridgeway]

I like a 400-600 grit finish. Mirror takes a lot of work and lots of worn belts. I use a barrel spinner and a 1x42 belts...

 

[s100whunter]

Thanks all

 

[Jeff A]

And after getting that mirror finish on the barrel, what product would be useful to maintain that finish once you start getting handling marks?

 

[swd]

And after getting that mirror finish on the barrel, what product would be useful to maintain that finish once you start getting handling marks?

I use Mothers Mag polish for the light marks. Deeper marks need to go pack to paper and work it down.

 

[DaveTooley]

Scotch Brite pads for the final polish and hose it down with WD40 before you touch it.