mirror polished titanium: how is it possible?

[DiTBho]

full mirror polishing

Yup, as far as I know, in the early 90's, it was a Litespeed exclusive.
The first Classic frame they offered with a full mirror polishing was in 1994, and it was *very* expensive.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

full mirror polishing

Yup, as far as I know, in the early 90's, it was a Litespeed exclusive.
The first Classic frame they offered with a full mirror polishing was in 1994, and it was *very* expensive.

Worth noting that all Ti frames can be changed, even if it's the full contrast of opposites a, 'bead bast finish' can be changed into 'full mirror'.

[Tiberius]

Worth noting that all Ti frames can be changed, even if it's the full contrast of opposites a, 'bead bast finish' can be changed into 'full mirror'.

How is that done please? Is it something that could be done by an owner using easily available bits N bobs?

[mister_ed]

I don't understand how you can get mirror polished titanium.
It looks very similar to chrome plating on steel.
But chrome plating is a chemical process of coating a steel product with chromium.
And the result is a light color and can be polished to a mirror finish.

And, if you have a mirror polished titanium frame, can you restore the original color, i.e. a bare titanium frame?
If so, how? Just brush?

I've never mirror polished titanium (I have mirror polished other metals), but mechanical polishing generally involves going over the surface with progressively finer and finer abrasives. The coarse ones remove more material and even out any larger imperfections. The finer ones remove the scratches from the coarser layer, and on and on until no visible scratches are left.

Coarse abrasives can often be sandpaper or scotchbrite pads or polishing compound. Finer ones are usually polishing compound. Polishing compound is an abrasive suspended in a medium, liquid for the spongy polishing pads, and a solid wax for the kind of compound used on fast buffing wheels on polishing machines.

You can get very very deep into the weeds of different types of polishing abrasives, and trying to find the perfect series of polishing steps, involving exotic and hard to acquire materials. But there's generally no need to do that. Maybe pick 4, coarse, medium, fine, very fine.

If I was to start, I'd probably go for the fast cotton buffing wheels on a polishing machine, because otherwise your life will suck trying to polish that much and especially those awkward corners, and machines with a lot of power are rather more forgiving of not having the perfect polishing compound compared to going by hand. Then have a go on some scrap if you can get it, or an out of the way bit of the frame if you can't. Use a separate wheel for each polishing grit, because the coarsest grit you put on a wheel will kind of dominate.

What I have heard though from people who have worked with titanium in other contexts is it's a really annoying metal to work with. It's got a low thermal conductivity (1/4 of steel and 1/20 of aluminium) so it heats up really, really fast.

With all that info dump, having polished some things, I think I'd nope out of one bike frame, never mind several! Sounds like a huge amount of rather tedious work, and if you don't already have a polishing machine, a moderately expensive setup too.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

Worth noting that all Ti frames can be changed, even if it's the full contrast of opposites a, 'bead bast finish' can be changed into 'full mirror'.

How is that done please? Is it something that could be done by an owner using easily available bits N bobs?

It's pretty much what mister_ed has referenced; I'd also not dismiss his last paragraph. Even with a facility that wants for nothing watching the 'Enigma' team polish a Ti frame you could see it was really hard work, very time consuming and labour intensive. Add to that these people knew what they were doing yet I was still exhausted just watching them do it; there was literally a pool of sweat on the floor, it really is that kind of effort; they had my full respect and admiration.

[Brucey]

note that it is fairly easy to convert a mirror finish to brushed or bead blasted, whereas going the other way requires much elbow grease.

[DiTBho]

note that it is fairly easy to convert a mirror finish to brushed or bead blasted, whereas going the other way requires much elbow grease.

Yup, just expensive ... 200 euro

[Tiberius]

It's pretty much what mister_ed has referenced; I'd also not dismiss his last paragraph. Even with a facility that wants for nothing watching the 'Enigma' team polish a Ti frame you could see it was really hard work, very time consuming and labour intensive. Add to that these people knew what they were doing yet I was still exhausted just watching them do it; there was literally a pool of sweat on the floor, it really is that kind of effort; they had my full respect and admiration.

Hmmm, I was hoping that there was some magic jollop, pad, thing that you could put into a drill etc, that would sort the whole job in ten minutes. PREDICTABLY, this is obviously not the case.

Many thanks for the reply.

[Brucey]

not as expensive as going the other way...

AIUI it is usually appreciably easier to convert a brushed (rather than bead-blasted) finish to polished, since the prep for a brushed finish is roughly equivalent to the first stages required for a polished finish. I happen to own both polished and bead blasted Ti frames and the fingerprints on the polished finish are terrible.

[PH]

I did once have the idea of polishing the chainstays and dropouts on my bead blasted frame, by hand, it didn't go well. About three hours in and could hardly notice the difference.
Over time the bead blasting took on a pleasant used look to break the uniformity, cable rubs, a few bright scratches a slight gaze, the sort of things you'd protect against on a steel frame.

[Brucey]

I did once have the idea of polishing the chainstays and dropouts on my bead blasted frame, by hand...

to do this, you would first have to go over the surface with abrasive paper, probably 400 grit or 600 grit would do it. Finish with 1000 grit paper, then start polishing with a polish eg. Solvol Autosol. At each stage, the objective is to remove the scratches from the previous stage. If all trace of the bead blasted finish is quickly removed by (say) 1000 grit paper, there is no need to use 400 or 600 grit paper at all. Whenever using abrasive papers, it is recommended that copious water is used as a cutting lubricant. Siawat make good abrasive papers.

[PH]

I did once have the idea of polishing the chainstays and dropouts on my bead blasted frame, by hand...

to do this, you would first have to go over the surface with abrasive paper, probably 400 grit or 600 grit would do it.

I was following the advice on a website where some had done the same with other XACD frames. I started with wire wool, followed by their recommended grade of Scotchbrite. I could see how it worked, just wasn't prepared to put that much effort in! Paul Smith's tales of pools of sweat, has convinced me I was right to abandon the idea.

[Brucey]

there are any number of slow, labour-intensive methods that 'work', but using abrasive papers as I have described is one of the best methods and it is certainly the fastest. Where I used to work, they did a lot of metallography and got through a lot of high quality paper. I found that used paper (which had been rejected because it was a bit worn and would no longer cut metal quickly) would be good enough for lesser tasks such as rubbing paintwork down. For a good while, I had an inexhaustible supply of good quality paper that was basically free.

[freiston]

Well it took me b****y ages to get the rough feeling off my spoon bowls! They're still not shiny

Can't remember what I used - probably a green scotch pad with smurf poo. I wasn't after a mirror finish, just something a bit less pleasant to put in my mouth.

[Brucey]

..... I wasn't after a mirror finish, just something a bit less pleasant to put in my mouth.....

eh?

- takes all sorts....