| Author |
Topic: Emmons pedal bar restoration |
Danny Harrell
From:
Livingston, Louisiana, USA
|
Posted 21 Feb 2024 2:52 pm |
|
| My pedal bar on my LeGrande II has a lot of scratches and scuffs, can it be sanded down and reworked with sandpaper and then re-polished? I would appreciate any suggestions. |
|
|
 |
Steven Black
From:
Gahanna, Ohio, USA
|
Posted 22 Feb 2024 12:23 pm Pedal Bar reply
|
|
| Hello Danny, yes you can sand the aluminum but you start with 400 Grit Black sand paper, if it is deep you sand until the scratches go almost away and your arms get tired, this may take a few days, then you use mother's auto polish in paste form, put a cut towel on your oribatal square sander like sandpaper, turn it on and apply mother's to pedal bar and move the sander back and forth, use a bath towel that is old but not contaminated with anything or have rough contamination in it, you may have to cut more bath towel with sizzer, keep polishing it then go to 700 Grit black sand paper, finish until you get the desire finish back. |
|
|
|
J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
|
Posted 22 Feb 2024 1:52 pm
|
|
Aluminum is dificult to file, grind or sand because it will gum up any abrasive tool, which then leads to new scratches from residue collecting on the tool.
IF indeed you must sand, apply very little presure and sand S-L-O-W-L-Y and use lubrication. I’ve come to like dishwasher-soap water.
Polishing aluminum is also different than most other metals… it’s closer to “micro melting”… it’s more about heat from friction than actual polishing, and some would argue that it is am art-form. Most steel guitar manufacturers would likely agree after having had to fire several “polishers” until finding “the one”.
But, with patience, time and the hands’ touch of a only steel guitarist, and following above answer’s advice, it can be done.
… JD.
_________________
__________________________________________________________
Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"
A Little Mental Health Warning:
Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.
I say it humorously, but I mean it. |
|
|
|
Ron Funk
From:
Ballwin, Missouri
|
Posted 28 Feb 2024 10:55 am
|
|
Danny
I've taken my Emmons pedal racks to St. Louis Plating ......a Chrome Plating company that also has commercial buffing equipment to just 'buffs things out.'
Great mirror like results on both pedal rack and pedal rods too.
You might look for similar local resource (motorcycle shops, car restorations, etc)
Ron |
|
|
|
J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
|
Posted 29 Feb 2024 3:56 am
|
|
| Ron Funk wrote: |
Danny
I've taken my Emmons pedal racks to St. Louis Plating ......a Chrome Plating company that also has commercial buffing equipment to just 'buffs things out.'
Great mirror like results on both pedal rack and pedal rods too.
You might look for similar local resource (motorcycle shops, car restorations, etc)
Ron |
Yes, plating shops (while they still exist) are specialized in buffing and polishing and thu MAY have the know how to polish aluminum. However, that would not be “a place that “just buff things out”.
I have a SuperCar RestoMod factory, and we deal with plating amd restoring, including the dreaded “PotMetal” parts so prevalent on clasic US cars. And ignorance and destructive inability are rapant in that industry too.
So, when ever you use somebody who’s RECENT work in the particular field you haven’t seen, have a sample worked on before handing over potentially irreplaceable parts over to a guy who “just… “!
Older steel guitars tend to have a mix of cast and mashined billet and/or extruded aluminum parts. Cast vs. billet/extruded aluminum act like different materials with their own sets of advantages and problems and risks! The fact that one fuy polished a mirror out of an extruded profile, does not forcebly mean they will have the knowhow to do as well on cast parts! So have each material sampled first, because goofedup set of endplates which -if needed replaced- will need to be custom machine fittet, or a purdy neck can be awfully costly to replace, IF at all available.
... JD
_________________
__________________________________________________________
Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"
A Little Mental Health Warning:
Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.
I say it humorously, but I mean it. |
|
|
|
