[pete]

A while back I chipped both of my hinges - the paint came off just a little bit. I ordered a set of new hinge covers and decided to experiment with the old ones. Turns out they look pretty cool without paint - nice shiny titanium or aluminium underneath. I've used very fine sand paper to take off all the paint and now would like to know how to make them even better, i.e. how to remove the tiny scratches from the sand paper....

What grid paper? Or is there something else that is good for this kind of work?

Thanks

[macxtal]

Sand, sand, sand. Get some automotive sandpaper and use "wet" sand; basically dump water over everything.

Start with a 600 grit
then a 1000-1200 grit
then 1500 grit
then 2000 grit
then rubbing compound (automotive works fine)
then polishing compound or scratch remover (automotive works fine)

Final buff and you have polished metal.

[pete]

Thanks! That's exactly the tip I needed! I'll get it later and post pictures. It already looks pretty cool and I've only used 200 grit to get the paint off....

cool!

[a holck]

be aware that raw titanium will get a grey dull surface over time as the oxigen in the air reacts with it....

[pete]

I'm wondering how to determine if the hinge covers are actually titanium....does anybody know? I suppose it would be logical given the rest of the machine, but it's very very shiny and bright, unlike the other parts (are they painted too?) I'm not an expert on metals so I can't say.

What can I do to prevent oxygen from reacting with it? Is there any kind of translucent metal varnish available?

This is kind of fun. Almost look forward to chipping on the carbon fiber frame too....NOT.

[macxtal]

IIRC Hinge covers are Ti. I sold mine awhile ago, but I'm pretty sure about this. I had a good chunk of it polished.

To prevent tarnish, put on some carnuba wax (high quality car wax). Problem solved. It looks good tarnished IMHO though.