Post by HeadHunter on Jul 11, 2022 13:14:59 GMT
I've been asked by a few members (ar77 & TalinMoracius ) to do a step by step guide to polishing the 1911, like in the picture below....
Unfortunately as I've already done mine and the results are what you can see, so all I can do is give some advice, pointers and pass on the knowledge that I gleaned from doing mine.
Don't say I didn't warn you !
The whole process is very time consuming, it's not a five minute job and it's not even a 5 hour job, in all honesty it'll take nearer the 5 day mark to successfully complete and be warned, unless you're better half is okay with you sitting at the dining room table for hours on end, polishing parts of your 1911 until they catch the light like a mirror then I wouldn't bother as it's a labour of love but the results are worth it in the end.
With that in mind, knowing that it's going to be a long and slow process, resign yourself to it ! Don't try to rush, take your time with every part, make sure that it is as near to perfect before moving onto the next step. Rushing will only cause you to continuously take 'one step forward and three steps back'. There is only one thing that I learned from doing mine and its that to get a good finish you do need to take your time !
By far the worse part is the frame, it's the largest part, has more nooks & crannies than a wrinkly old person, has some very difficult areas to get into (trigger guard, slide release tension spring housing, etc.) but a lot can be accomplished at the polishing stage with a buffing wheel fitted to a handheld rotary tool (that's a 'Dremel' to you & me). The whole process can be completed by hand but having a few useful tools can speed up the process immensely, especially at the polishing stage.
Parts list
Brass wire wheel (optional),
240/320 grit paper,
400 grit paper,
600 grit paper,
800 grit paper or rubbing compound,
1000 grit paper or (the preferred option) 1000 grit polishing compound,
rags,
An old toothbrush,
Flat boards for using with the emery paper for getting a completely flat finish on the sides of the slide,
Elbow grease,
And a bucket full of determination
Step one
Decide EXACTLY what you want to do to the gun before going any further, there are many ways the gun can be finished (painted, polished or a matt stainless steel like finish) and is there anything else that needs to be done while the gun is stripped down (lowering the ejection port, polishing the internal parts, etc.) ? Once you've decided want you want to do move onto to step two.
Step two
Strip the gun down completely to all of it's component parts, stripping the gun is very, very easy, the difficult thing is putting it all back together correctly afterwards. So take a load of pictures with your phone as you go, that will help you when it comes to reassembling it later on.
Step three
Do ALL the necessary adjustments that you wanted to do now eg. lowering the ejection port, polishing the trigger face, reshaping the hammer, removing the lanyard ring, etc.. As it's far easier to do them prior to polishing than afterwards where you'll stand a good chance of marring the finish and having to redo certain steps over again.
CAUTION - Between each of the following steps you need to clean each part down completely, making sure to remove any left over grit (from either paper or powder), otherwise you'll end up marring the work as you go. Use thewife's toothbrush and rags to clean each part as you finish it and place it away from the work area to stop any further contamination of the work piece with loose abrasive particles.
Step four
Sanding - Starting with either 240 or 320 grit paper remove the paint/lettering/finish from each part, one part at a time. Don't try to do 3 or 4 simultaneously as this will only serve to work against you rather than for you. Each piece needs to be free of its original finish before moving onto the next step. You can alternatively use a BRASS wire wheel (not STEEL), this makes light work of removing any painted finish on the gun and is great for getting into chequered sections and the slide serrations. A good combination of a brass wire wheel and emery paper will make light work of removing the finish in no time at all.
WARNING - At this point you are only trying to remove the finish NOT the metal of the gun, only do as much as needed to remove the finish and NOTHING more.
Step five
Polishing - starting with a 400 grit emery paper polish all the parts again, once done do exactly the same again with some 600 grit. Remember that the art of polishing is to remove all the previous signs (scratch marks) of the last grade you used.
Step six
More polishing - take some 800 grit paper (or polishing compound) and polish all the parts.
Step seven
Even more polishing - Using some 1000 grit polishing compound go through all the parts again, this is the final polish so any marks left after this may require you to go back a few steps to rectify (to steps 4, 5 or 6).
Step eight
Once you are happy with the finish coat the part with Renaissance wax to stop it from oxidising (going grey) unless that's the finish you are looking for.
Step nine
Reassemble the gun and it's normally at this point that you realise that you forgot to do the magazine ! (damn & blast)
Step ten
Take a copious amount of pictures and upload them to this thread using your favourite online picture hosting site.
NOTES
Abrasive powders can be mixed with oil to form a paste which can then be rubbed on the gun with a rag to polish it up nicely. DON'T use jewellers rouge, it leaves a hard to remove film that requires removing and cloggs up emery cloth and can't be easily removed. Rubbing compounds like Autosol can be used but I'm not sure of what grade of grit they are but they will work, the same can be said of certain stainless steel cream cleansers but it's easier and cheaper to just buy grinding powders off the 'bay' and at least you'll know what grit they are too.
Unfortunately as I've already done mine and the results are what you can see, so all I can do is give some advice, pointers and pass on the knowledge that I gleaned from doing mine.
Don't say I didn't warn you !
The whole process is very time consuming, it's not a five minute job and it's not even a 5 hour job, in all honesty it'll take nearer the 5 day mark to successfully complete and be warned, unless you're better half is okay with you sitting at the dining room table for hours on end, polishing parts of your 1911 until they catch the light like a mirror then I wouldn't bother as it's a labour of love but the results are worth it in the end.
With that in mind, knowing that it's going to be a long and slow process, resign yourself to it ! Don't try to rush, take your time with every part, make sure that it is as near to perfect before moving onto the next step. Rushing will only cause you to continuously take 'one step forward and three steps back'. There is only one thing that I learned from doing mine and its that to get a good finish you do need to take your time !
By far the worse part is the frame, it's the largest part, has more nooks & crannies than a wrinkly old person, has some very difficult areas to get into (trigger guard, slide release tension spring housing, etc.) but a lot can be accomplished at the polishing stage with a buffing wheel fitted to a handheld rotary tool (that's a 'Dremel' to you & me). The whole process can be completed by hand but having a few useful tools can speed up the process immensely, especially at the polishing stage.
Parts list
Brass wire wheel (optional),
240/320 grit paper,
400 grit paper,
600 grit paper,
800 grit paper or rubbing compound,
1000 grit paper or (the preferred option) 1000 grit polishing compound,
rags,
An old toothbrush,
Flat boards for using with the emery paper for getting a completely flat finish on the sides of the slide,
Elbow grease,
And a bucket full of determination
Step one
Decide EXACTLY what you want to do to the gun before going any further, there are many ways the gun can be finished (painted, polished or a matt stainless steel like finish) and is there anything else that needs to be done while the gun is stripped down (lowering the ejection port, polishing the internal parts, etc.) ? Once you've decided want you want to do move onto to step two.
Step two
Strip the gun down completely to all of it's component parts, stripping the gun is very, very easy, the difficult thing is putting it all back together correctly afterwards. So take a load of pictures with your phone as you go, that will help you when it comes to reassembling it later on.
Step three
Do ALL the necessary adjustments that you wanted to do now eg. lowering the ejection port, polishing the trigger face, reshaping the hammer, removing the lanyard ring, etc.. As it's far easier to do them prior to polishing than afterwards where you'll stand a good chance of marring the finish and having to redo certain steps over again.
CAUTION - Between each of the following steps you need to clean each part down completely, making sure to remove any left over grit (from either paper or powder), otherwise you'll end up marring the work as you go. Use the
Step four
Sanding - Starting with either 240 or 320 grit paper remove the paint/lettering/finish from each part, one part at a time. Don't try to do 3 or 4 simultaneously as this will only serve to work against you rather than for you. Each piece needs to be free of its original finish before moving onto the next step. You can alternatively use a BRASS wire wheel (not STEEL), this makes light work of removing any painted finish on the gun and is great for getting into chequered sections and the slide serrations. A good combination of a brass wire wheel and emery paper will make light work of removing the finish in no time at all.
WARNING - At this point you are only trying to remove the finish NOT the metal of the gun, only do as much as needed to remove the finish and NOTHING more.
Step five
Polishing - starting with a 400 grit emery paper polish all the parts again, once done do exactly the same again with some 600 grit. Remember that the art of polishing is to remove all the previous signs (scratch marks) of the last grade you used.
Step six
More polishing - take some 800 grit paper (or polishing compound) and polish all the parts.
Step seven
Even more polishing - Using some 1000 grit polishing compound go through all the parts again, this is the final polish so any marks left after this may require you to go back a few steps to rectify (to steps 4, 5 or 6).
Step eight
Once you are happy with the finish coat the part with Renaissance wax to stop it from oxidising (going grey) unless that's the finish you are looking for.
Step nine
Reassemble the gun and it's normally at this point that you realise that you forgot to do the magazine ! (damn & blast)
Step ten
Take a copious amount of pictures and upload them to this thread using your favourite online picture hosting site.
NOTES
Abrasive powders can be mixed with oil to form a paste which can then be rubbed on the gun with a rag to polish it up nicely. DON'T use jewellers rouge, it leaves a hard to remove film that requires removing and cloggs up emery cloth and can't be easily removed. Rubbing compounds like Autosol can be used but I'm not sure of what grade of grit they are but they will work, the same can be said of certain stainless steel cream cleansers but it's easier and cheaper to just buy grinding powders off the 'bay' and at least you'll know what grit they are too.
