"polishing your keg" is more than a clever euphemism

Is there a media that actually polishes? I'd think you'd end up with a nice looking, but matte finish that way.

So I am hoping these are the swirl marks that the polishing compounds will remove?

I didnt read this entire thread before jumping into it and bought some wheel polish at advanced auto. Wrong stuff I think, didnt really work.


And I couldnt really tell from your pics but Im guessing you didnt get in between the letters imprinted on the keg? I couldnt get in there with the pad on the grinder.

dmbnpj said:

So I am hoping these are the swirl marks that the polishing compounds will remove?

I didnt read this entire thread before jumping into it and bought some wheel polish at advanced auto. Wrong stuff I think, didnt really work.


And I couldnt really tell from your pics but Im guessing you didnt get in between the letters imprinted on the keg? I couldnt get in there with the pad on the grinder.

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wheel polish is has almost no abrasive property. Polishing metal is similar to refinishing clear coats on a car (buffing). You want to start with the least agressive rouge that you can to take out scratches while not making more.

Black (most agressive) then brown/tripolie and then white. I think they even have a blue for stainless.

Another time saver are greaseless compounds. They come in different grits and will get you a nice matte polished finish without creating large scratches that some of the methods here can leave. All in all it saves you time in the long run. Then you follow up with polishing rouge like mentioned above.

Bobby_M said:

Is there a media that actually polishes? I'd think you'd end up with a nice looking, but matte finish that way.

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Glass bead. This will take all of the rough edges on metal and align them mostly one direction. Will not be polished, but way closer than sand blasting will get you.

I found the correct stuff at lowes today and got the #2 cleaning compound and the #5 polishing compound. I used the compounds on the polishing pads on my grinder and they really didnt do the trick? My keg still looks the same as in that picture. Looks better in the picture than it really does looking straight at it. It looks like it is dented all over, which it isnt. Just the way the grinder made it look. I thought the polishing compounds would remove those and make it mirror like. Not the case. Maybe I am doing something wrong? Also, the cleaning and polishing compounds are very hard out of the tube. How are you guys using it, rubbing it on the pads first or turning the grinder on and pressing the compound against the pad so it fills the pad?

dmbnpj said:

I found the correct stuff at lowes today and got the #2 cleaning compound and the #5 polishing compound. I used the compounds on the polishing pads on my grinder and they really didnt do the trick? My keg still looks the same as in that picture. Looks better in the picture than it really does looking straight at it. It looks like it is dented all over, which it isnt. Just the way the grinder made it look. I thought the polishing compounds would remove those and make it mirror like. Not the case. Maybe I am doing something wrong? Also, the cleaning and polishing compounds are very hard out of the tube. How are you guys using it, rubbing it on the pads first or turning the grinder on and pressing the compound against the pad so it fills the pad?

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Yeah you have to load a wheel while spinning. You should be using a sewn cotton wheel, then a loose flap cotton wheel to finish.

I think the dude who started this thread only used the polishing pads that are associated with a grinder that are 4.1/2" in diameter. Those sewn ones you are referring to are 4" and I think go on a drill or something. I am wondering how he got it looking so good with just the grinder?

You need to push the compound stick into the pad as it spins. I think from there you just need to spend some time. The polishing step takes a while. Let the machine do all the work. I start with a medium pressure for a while then lighten up to buff it smooth. Then you move to the finer grit and repeat. Check out post #18 where I show a spot going from the fine gator grit finishing pad to the #2 polish.

Question for all you keggle rockers. What did you use initially to remove past tape residue and other materials from the keg? Did you just start with an abrasive pad or is there something better to use? I just got mine back from my father in law's machine shop and I'm hoping to keep this show moving.

Thanks

Flananuts

I used Xylol, which is a solvent available at most hardware stores. I wet down the area with a rag soaked with Xylol and then lightly scrape with a razor blade. Once the bulk of the residue is off, I use a light scotch brite pad to get the remainder off.

Bobby_M said:

You need to push the compound stick into the pad as it spins. I think from there you just need to spend some time. The polishing step takes a while. Let the machine do all the work. I start with a medium pressure for a while then lighten up to buff it smooth. Then you move to the finer grit and repeat. Check out post #18 where I show a spot going from the fine gator grit finishing pad to the #2 polish.

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The compounds I found included a #2 which was a cleaner. The #5 is the polish. The way I tried was the blue gator grit (fine) sanding pad, then, went to the #2 cleaning compound, then tried the #5 polish. Really isnt working. I want that mirrored finish but it is hard to get. Even spending time with the cleaner and polish it isnt taking away the "dented" look. Granted it is shiny all over but it looks like those stainless steel countertops that you purposely put swirl marks on with a grinder.

Did you use an angle grinder the entire time or did you switch to a drill with the correct buffing pads you are supposed to use with the compounds?

dmbnpj said:

The compounds I found included a #2 which was a cleaner. The #5 is the polish. The way I tried was the blue gator grit (fine) sanding pad, then, went to the #2 cleaning compound, then tried the #5 polish. Really isnt working. I want that mirrored finish but it is hard to get. Even spending time with the cleaner and polish it isnt taking away the "dented" look. Granted it is shiny all over but it looks like those stainless steel countertops that you purposely put swirl marks on with a grinder.

Did you use an angle grinder the entire time or did you switch to a drill with the correct buffing pads you are supposed to use with the compounds?

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In order for you to get a mirror shine on stainless you need to use progressively finer sanding pads . When I restore dented stainless steal moldings on older cars I have to work the dent with hammers and dolly then use a file to flatten the SS. Then start with 100 grit dry paper on DA sander set to not orbit there is a locking tab that makes it work like a grinder. Then progressively work up to 400 dry paper after that start with cotton buffer pads on the bench grinder. Work the SS with cutting rouge then polish rouge.

Its a goddamn pain in the ass and one molding can take several hours. A set of wheel opening molding for my fathers 64 Studebaker took 2 full days and they are relatively small and were in good shape to start with . I am sure a keg to look like chrome would take two 8 hour days to do not for me.

lehr said:

I have more time polishing those things than I do in the whole system.
First I grind them with a 3-m scotch bright deburing pad and then I go over them with a DA-grinder with 80 grit and keep working my way down until I get to 400 grit then I polish it with a big air polisher and buffing rouge.

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lehr uses the same approach .

I used the medium (burgandy color) gator grit pads first, then the fine ones (blue color). The majority of the keg in the picture of post #18 is after the fine pad except for right in front of the tube of #2 compound which was a spot after using the compound on the buffing wheel also shown in the picture for about 3 minutes. I don't know what the magic formula was but it worked fine for me using an angle grinder with the rubber backing pad and the wheels shown and described in the thread. You ARE using a rubber backing wheel under these right?

Yup I bought that $12 yellow rubber backing pad for the grinder along with the gator pads.

I only used the fine gator grit pad. (blue)

Bobby_M said:

It does suck after a while. I broke the 3-4 procedure down to spaced out 30 minutes sessions to let my back recover.

I just got my Caswell order in the mail Saturday with a bunch of sisal and cotton 4" wheels and two grades of polishing compound.

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Bobby,

Did you ever finish your kitchen and try out the Caswell stuff?
I'd curious what pads and compounds worked best.
Thanks,
JD

To my wife's dismay, I'm just now starting to hang the cabinets in the kitchen. I have the caswell stuff sitting on a shelf but I'll definitely get to it in the next two months or so.

Remodeling seems like it takes forever. It takes me 6 weeks to gut and rebuild a bathroom.
I did three bathrooms last year in my house. 1 shower, 1 bath, 1 powder room.

Worked like a charm. I used the "fine" pad, then #2 and #5 polishing compounds on two different polishing pads.

Nice. It's not easy but frankly, it makes me feel a lot better brewing on something that doesn't look like a scrap yard find.

Anyone try to keg into a 5 gallon cylinder (Sierra Nevada) ? I think it has a Sanke type bung on top. They just look so cool, better than a corny keg and I have access to a few if I can make it work. I also sanded the one corny keg I bought, it looks great. Am working on a Guinness 1/2 barrel, dent removal, vibratory polishing and graining with sandpaper by hand, lots of work but worth it.

lb81larry23 said:

Anyone try to keg into a 5 gallon cylinder (Sierra Nevada) ? I think it has a Sanke type bung on top.

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Yes, they work well. search for the techniques on removing and replacing the stem. "clutchdude" will tell you how to replace the spiral ring here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/installing-retaining-ring-sanke-keg-64128/#post656875

Did anyone have any problems with the buffing compound sticking to the keg? It mostly occurred as as a sticky black mess in all the uneven corners on the keg. The buffing compound package said that to prevent sticking, warm the metal first... so I let the keg sit in the California sun while at work and tackled the project at night. I found the keg cooled off very quickly. Perhaps I was using too much buffing compound? After every 1-2 square feet or surface I would apply the compound to the spinning buffing pad. I was able to remedy it by scrubbing it off with BKF and a plastic brush at first and as I got more frustrated a stainless steel brush which did not hurt my finish too badly. Do people apply the compound directly to the keg? I was using compound #4. thanks for your advice.
cheers
Mike

I had a little of that. I just went over it again with the pad and a little more compound and it came off.

You might be burning the back of the pad off onto the keg. I had that problem until I learned to keep the pad flatter to the work. If it were just the polishing compound, it would wipe off with a rag.

Don't use much pressure either, or if you have the means, slow the buffer down. Sounds like you are melting the pad onto the keg. Working on a hot keg will cause this to happen as well.

Ok, good thoughts. My pad definitely looks black and mangled when I am done with it... it sounds like i am asking too much of one pad. I will keep all that in mind on the next keg. One down, two to go!
cheers!

That's cool too. I wanted to re-fill these 5-gal cylinders with my brews, not convert corny kegs to sanke bungs. Then how would I pressurize them for pouring ? I dunno.

You'd need sanke taps of course.

So, I set up my kegorator with a sanke fitting and a CO2 shutoff valve to dispense "factory" beer. I would like to re-fill and pressurize the Sanke 5-gallon cylinders with my own beer.

So I went to Lowes today to grab some of those Gator Grit pads and the blue pads y'all are talking about were labeled "medium", not "fine" and the burgundy pads labeled "course". They were out of the "fine" pads. So did I get a medium pad or a fine pad being that it was blue? After finishing the keg it looks alot better but definitely has swirl marks on it that I'm hoping the polishing will take care of........or do I need to tangle a** with it again with a fine pad as what I bought was labeled medium? Any thoughts? Thx!

I started to polish one of my 3 kegs a couple of weeks ago. I started with the Gator Grit pads and got an OK finish. To me the steps from one grit to the next were to big. While I was at Rockler woodworking I found a pack of 5" sanding discs for a random orbital sander that start at 1500 grit and then goes to 1800, 2400, 3200, 3500, 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000. Seems like alot of steps but I did one this past Saturday and took me about 3 hours. I will post a photo later this week. It turned out like chrome. I still need to take a buffing pad to it to give it the final shine. Here is the link to the discs...
Details for Micro-Mesh™ Cushioned Abrasives - Rockler Woodworking Tools
The directions do say you can use them wet or dry. I used all of them dry.

turtle wax white polishing compound. It sais good for chrome, steel, aluminum. no reason why i can't use it with my gator polishing pads right?

Is there anywhere online I can order the gator grit pads? I've called/searched everywhere around me and I can't find them.

OK i don't get it. I used the gator grit fine pad and i ended up with this



The swrls are so deep the polishing compound did nothing for it.... am i suposed to flip the finishing pad to the other side?

You can see in this pic that the fine pad should get you to the finish on the right.


The #2 polishing compound does quite a bit of smoothing from that point.

Hmmm......I have the same problem as Elfmaze in that after using the fine gator grit pad I have those wavy swirl marks as well. I haven't made it to the #2 and #5 polish compunds yet but it sounds like that made no difference in removing the swirls for Elfmaze

You're not going to get a mirror finish out of it, but the polishing steps shined mine right up.

You might want to finish up with the fine pads with a lighter touch. I don't think I had many deep scratches at that point.

So I began polishing my kegs today and what a workout. Unfortunately it took me 3 fine grit pads and 3 polishing pads. I was having serious problems leaving blackmarks ( yes I used the backing and would shut it down to cool ). The area where the lettering is a pain and so is anywhere else its not flat. I kept trying to get snug on the two thick bands that are 1/4 and 3/4 of the way up. What a pain in the back! I kept using the edges too much and the pad would wear out way too quick.

At any rate, thanks for this thread Bobby! I got one keg done today and it took me all day. Not quite the three hours as advertised but good things come to those who wait.