engine turned/ machine turned finish

[Jimmy Wallbanger]

any of you have a how to?I know I've seen a few online but i'd rather here input from a few of you.

 

[bgbrktracer]

I do mine with a drill press and the 3M reconditioning cookies. If you are patient and take your time will turn out great.

 

[rainman]

It is very time consuming!!

 

[sgtpontiac]

lots of work but look cool as heck....

I've seen some turn out super and some not so great.... as was said, patience is the key....patience is a virtue and my list of Virtue's is slightly short....patience is one that is falling off the chart...

 

[rainman]

I'm with you Sgt., Ive done (tried) it, and I do not have the patience needed!

 

[donsrods]

As you have probably seen in the videos, it involves setting up a straight edge and then bringing the drillpress piece down on the work to create a swirl, then you move over (sometimes a half of the swirl, sometimes more) and you repeat the process, over and over again. Then you move onto the next row and do the same thing, over and over again.

I did one little piece one time and it turned out like crap plus I didn't really have the patience to stand there and keep doing it.

Don

 

[Hillbilly bling]

I'd like to do a small piece in my dash. does anyone know how to layout the lines to get started??

 

[Jimmy Wallbanger]

Never heard of a "cookie" being used. Saw where some rubber abrasive stick or a dowl rod and lapping compound. My Von Dutch book make want to try it. Don seeing you and your sons work i bet it was crap in your standards but gold in mosts! Haha

 

[Mike S.]

I am making a new engine turned aluminum dash piece for my truck right now. It's ready to turn but my Cratex sticks are held up in shipping. I'll let you know how well it comes out if/when my sticks ever get here.

 

[Mike S.]

I just talked to the supplier with whom I placed my order and they told me they lost it! So I won't have my sticks until Tuesday. I'll let you know how my dash piece turns out.

 

[railroad]

I did the fan shroud on a car of mine. I used a rubber washer, countersunk screw head and a fender washer to back up the rubber. I used lapping compound for the cutting. Depending on the size of your project you need a table about twice the size of the work piece. You need to lay out a grid on the table to maintain proper spacing. The second row will be applied on a half space ahead or behind the first row. I have used a very coarse eraser, the kind that looks like a pencil. Draftsmen use them, I think. I chuck it up in the drill press and turn the whole pencil. You can add something like ajax to increase the cutting. Obviously this would be for smaller projects. The worst thing you can do is try to free hand the turning. Spacing and a guide to keep you in a straight line are essential for a prof looking finish.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Just goes to show you....

Where there is a will.....there's a way..... creative thinking 101...[P

 

[Mike S.]

I finally got my sticks today so I jumped onto my dash piece. I've read a few things that suggested polishing the aluminum beforehand so I did. However, I practiced on a few unpolished parts and got a way better swirl than I ended up with on my dash piece. Anywho, I cut down the stick, squared the end and chucked it up in my drill press which I ran at 1,660 rpm. I struggled with the consistency of the pattern since the stick's face seemed to fluctuate causing some deeper lines and so on. The panel took about 30 or 40 minutes to do and overall it turned ok but it is my first try, I learned a lot and I will probably make a new one.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Are you kidding me!!!

the thing looks great....gotta get me the some of them sticks....Mike you did one heck of a great job...I like it....a lot..[cl

 

[Mike S.]

the thing looks great....gotta get me the some of them sticks....Mike you did one heck of a great job...I like it....a lot..[cl

Thank you very much Sarg.! I think it turned out pretty good but I am easily my own biggest critic. I am looking forward to improving at this.

I thought I would pass the specifics on to you guys in case anyone wanted to take a stab at this themselves. Obviously I am not a pro at this. I did quite a bit of research to see what was working for other guys and it was surprising to see how many different techniques people use.

Here's what I used: I originally ordered Cratex brand rubberized sticks from Artco Tools (artcotools.com). They were out of Cratex sticks in the size I wanted so they substituted Matz brand, part number MZP10C. If you Google either Cratex or Matz sticks you'll find 'em. I used a 1/2" layout on my piece so I ordered 5/8" diameter sticks so the swirls would overlap well. The sticks come 6" long and in various grits, I used course.

Here's what I did: I cut about 2" off of the end of the 6" stick and chucked it up in my drill press. The end wasn't quite flat so I squared it by running the drill press and slowly bringing the stick down against a file that I laid flat on the drill press table. The aluminum was a 16 gauge piece that I pulled out of the cut-offs bin at my supplier's. It had a few scratches on it so I ran a vibratory sander with 220 paper across it. A few things I read said the aluminum should be polished so I did with some Mothers mag polish. A few unpolished practice pieces resulted in better swirls so I think I may not polish the next one I do. I laid out an evenly spaced 1/2" grid on the face with a pencil which proved difficult to see so I'll use a fine felt tip pen next time. I used a test piece to experiment with the drill press' rpms and found that 1,660 did well so I went with that. Initially I set the depth stop on the drill press but eventually just free handed it. From there I burned-in the first row inside the 1/2" box, the second row on the line separating the 1/2" box and so on.

Here's what I'll do different next time: Although it may result in a less shiny finish, I probably won't polish the aluminum. The test swirls on the unpolished aluminum looked better. Throughout the process, the stick's surface seemed to fluctuate leaving inconsistent marks. Occasionally I had to "dress" the end by bringing it down onto a file laying across the drill press table. As I said above, I'll lay out my grid with something darker than a pencil next time. I think with a little fine tuning and a lot of practice I may get decent at this. Go try it!

 

[sgtpontiac]

Who knows....

maybe you can make some money at this doing it for people like me with no patience....lol.... 30 to 40 minutes is surprisingly fast....great work and good tech...I am assuming that those sticks are some sort of abrasive? I've never heard of them so I'll google them and get some education.....thanks [cl

 

[Mike S.]

maybe you can make some money at this doing it for people like me with no patience....lol.... 30 to 40 minutes is surprisingly fast....great work and good tech...I am assuming that those sticks are some sort of abrasive? I've never heard of them so I'll google them and get some education.....thanks [cl

Maybe you're on to something Sarg. I need way more practice first though!

Here is a piece I just did. It was an unpolished piece of aluminum, done with the same stick that I did my dash with (3/4" shorter to reduce deflection), on a 1/2" layout and spun at 1,620 rpms. They're getting better, I think.[S I tried 1,900 then 2,620 then 3,100 rpms and I think 2,620 looks the best. It seems to blend the lines a litttle more. Practice, practice!

 

[LUCKY DEVIL 13]

VERY VERY COOL!!! I really wanna try this!!!! Thanx for all the awesome info!!![cl

What grit did you use for the sticks?

 

[Mike S.]

VERY VERY COOL!!! I really wanna try this!!!! Thanx for all the awesome info!!![cl

What grit did you use for the sticks?

Thanks Lucky! I used a coarse stick but I am going to try a medium stick because the lines inside the swirl are a little too prominent for me. I'd like to tighten up the pattern too. I am still messing with the process so I am hoping to improve.

 

[Old Iron]

"Here's what I did: I cut about 2" off of the end of the 6" stick and chucked it up in my drill press."
I like what you're doin and the first runs look real good [cl
Do you have a drill press that will hold a 5/8 rod or did you do something else to get it in the chuck

Jim