How to polish a Panda action?

[noload]

My kid polished up a Bat 3L,,, SS is much harder to do than aluminum. The guy who owned the New Bat 3L never used it and sold it to me. I did my share of polishing SS and alum in the metal fab trade.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Youd be surprised as to how itll look just polishing with a cloth and a good metal polish. Its not like theyre rough to start with

 

[jonbearman]

I think polishing is easy. I have done all kinds of metals and aluminum is pretty easy if you don't rush it. I use a harder muslin wheel and a looser one for final polish. Steel is simple. I did a type 38 jap that someone started a sporter on and I got it for next to nothing. I polished everything and turned the bolt down and had Doug Turnbull blue it. He offered me a job polishing but after 12 years of polishing ay Eastman Kodak I didn't take him up on the offer.Practice on raw stock and call one of the companys that sells the polish blocks to get the right stuff which helps a lot. I bought a 5# bar of gray medium and it works real good.

 

[jonbearman]

I'll try the polishing methods that have been suggested, and will practice on scrap pieces of aluminum of different grades, which I have in my shop, as I don't expect to receive the new Panda action for several weeks. Right now I need to really concentrate on the matches I will be shooting this year with my F-T/R rifle; yes, with a polished Panda action, which shoots as great as it looks... I think.

Thanks again! By the way that stock looks outstanding, I almost have to like it because I am Irish.
Nando (Alex)

 

[desparr]

Youd be surprised as to how itll look just polishing with a cloth and a good metal polish. Its not like theyre rough to start with

Dusty is correct - I have polished a pair of Stolle Polars to a mirror finish, simply by doing as Dusty says - plus plenty of 'elbow grease'.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I polished a brushed pc s&w a while back with flitz and it looked way better. If your cloth is turning black its doing some good keep goin.

 

[Tim Singleton]

Alex,

If you're afraid to use a buffer, you can produce a mirror like finish on your action using a very fine Japanese whetstone. Be prepared to spend a number of hours on it.

GSXR, what happened to the pics of the knives you posted?

 

[JRS]

Read #34, Tim. I also removed the polished overflow tank.

 

[wwbrown]

Read #34, Tim. I also removed the polished overflow tank.

The question is: Why did you post them in the first place?

 

[JRS]

To help Alex, and show him what one can do with a buffer and the proper grade of Rouge. He did ask for ideas and suggestions! I also forwarded to him a very good article dealing with buffing and polishing. The photos were simply to show Alex just how well the finished product can look, and the difference between hand polished, and machine polished.

 

[dmoran]

GSXR, what happened to the pics of the knives you posted?

Tim -
I'm betting he may have taken them down so that they do not get pirated like those welding pictures of his did. Those have all been found on other websites, and are said to be the work of other people/companies. If be part of his reasoning, thinking he is smart by taking them down from here, to protect his knife pictures from popping up on other sites as well and protect against further piracy of his work and talent.
Donovan

 

[Alexander-M]

To help Alex, and show him what one can do with a buffer and the proper grade of Rouge. He did ask for ideas and suggestions! I also forwarded to him a very good article dealing with buffing and polishing. The photos were simply to show Alex just how well the finished product can look, and the difference between hand polished, and machine polished.

Yes, you did; and the information is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again!

When I receive my action and start polishing it, I will report back with the method I use and results (and pictures).

Alex

 

[BenPerfected]

I did polish one a while back, it was bead blasted so I had to take care of that. What I did was use a 10x14 piece of flat granite (you can get one from a woodcraft store) and used progressively finer sand paper, the granite allows you to do one of the flat sides at a time and not worry about rounding edges, after I got it down to 2400 (or 2500, I forget) I then used a buffing wheel with Mothers aluminum wheel polish, it came out nice but was a ton of work.

Just wanting a fresh sandpaper finish on a Panda I just bought, how many hours did it take you to achieve the finish you ended with using the 2400-2500 paper?...anybody have an estimate?
Ben

 

[Clavius-Walker]

Just wanting a fresh sandpaper finish on a Panda I just bought, how many hours did it take you to achieve the finish you ended with using the 2400-2500 paper?...anybody have an estimate?
Ben

I'd say while doing it I watched quite a few football games...college, pro, monday night, thursday night....

 

[Joe R]

Ok Guys,
I stumbled across this on YouTube while looking for something else and it will show you how to polish your Kelbly action. IMO Iosso bore cleaner may make an excellent action polish.

enjoy,

Joe

 

[JRS]

Those rims were originally polished from the manufacturer. Polishing a raw aluminum action with a machined or blasted finish is a different ballgame, entirely.

 

[Patch700]

Something to consider... If you are going to polish something or prepare metal for blueing.

Nothing looks worse than a rifle thats been reblued and the metal work has more waves than the north atlantic during storm season..
If you want crisp lines and a flat mirror finish it would serve you well to get an assortment of small flat files and cover them with quality masking tape so as to use them as a sanding board for the appropriate grit paper you are using.

And remember.. If you have a scratch or a blemish (such as a bead blast finish) the depth of those imperfections dictates where to start grit wise with paper... If you try sanding out an 80 grit scratch with 200 grit you better pack a big lunch lol.

Being that you may not be going for a mirror like finish that does not mean the surfaces shouldnt be flat as glass... Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Alexander-M]

I received (picked up) the Kelby's Panda-F Action last Friday. I was very pleasantly surprised with how well it looked; and honestly, there would really be no need to polish it for it to look just fine on any rifle. Very slight machining marks could barely be seen on the action as received, and I wondered if Kelbly had done any extra finishing to make it look so nicely, so I emailed Ian. He emailed me right back and said, "That is what we call the raw finish. It looks similar to polishing, but doesn’t cost an additional $150 lol."

But, since I already had the buffing compounds (bought them at Sears so many years ago that the price sticker on the box of four compound sticks reads $1.49!), and several buffing wheels for my 6" bench grinder, I went ahead and spent about an hour polishing it. When done, I used metal polish and a rag for the final polish, and the new action looks about the same as the old.

Here are some pictures of the new action as received and as polished.

New action shown next to the older action on the rifle

I am very happy with the new action!

Alex

 

[JRS]

Congrats on a nice job, Alex There is nothing at all unacceptable about a nice machined finish. Pick up a can of MetallWerk Concours Aluminum Polish (available under the Wolfgang name) and you'll maintain that shine indefinitely.

 

[Joe R]

Really nice job Alex. Thanks for posting the pics, I'm sure many people here will benefit by you having done so.

What did you use to polish the action?

Joe