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Removing excess polishing compound from metal parts

September 15, 2009

Hi,

I work in a CNC shop & we are polishing intricate metal parts. We have an issue in removing the excess polish from all the difficult to reach areas. Is there an easy way to dissolve the excess polish without tarnishing the part?

We had thought about dipping the parts in a solvent or such - has anyone tried this?

Thank you

Richard Bateson
CNC shop - Belfast, Ireland

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Hi, Richard. Solvents are usually considered the wrong approach because they can leach out the binder and leave the abrasive attached to the parts. Ultrasonic cleaning is probably a better approach. This can range from an [on eBay or Amazon] for a few tiny parts to a large industrial scale installation. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 15, 2009

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September 17, 2009

I use boiling water to clean off polish-O-ray polish from 320 to 600 weight. The grit is held together in the cake with something that resembles a type of gelatin. I seem to recall asking the manufacturer what it was and as one might guess they told me they could tell me but then they would have to kill me. They did however clue me in to the boiling water to remove the excess and it works simply tickety-boo.
I use lacquer thinner [on eBay or Amazon] to remove excess wax base polishes, common rouge, Matchless and brown tripoli rouge (polishing/buffing compound) [affil links], etc. The good old boys at Matchless Metal Polishes gave me that tip years ago.
Best thing to do is get the name of the manufacturer off of the wrapper or the polish bar itself and google it to get a phone number. Call the maker up and start with, hi guys! How the hell do I remove any of your compound that is remaining after the polishing. It is quite possible that you may be the one millionth customer to ask them that question and you will not only get the information you need but might also win a cookie for being the one millionth person to ask them that question lol. I'm almost %100 certain this is your best solution! :o)

Rod Henrickson
gunsmith - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada