FS Burnishing for minibike parts (pics)

cambo61

cambo61

#21
#21
Thanks Fantic Freddy.

Burnishing is like any other surface finish in that there are advantages or disadvantages to each. This process is for those of you who want a "fresh cast" appearance, but a little shinier. Polishing, painting, chroming, and anodizing, are all good in my book too.

Continuing from the same order. After a blast.



After burnishing. They look "alive" again.



See the reflection?


 
cambo61

cambo61

#22
#22
Last set after blast. I chase all the threaded holes in everything I touch. You don't want fresh parts back just to find junk and contaminants in the threads.




Be back in a few with the finished pictures.
 
cambo61

cambo61

#23
#23
I'm really happy to do high quality work for people in our community. I honestly look forward to burnishing jobs. Frankly, I enjoy this as much as my day job flying. I like learning about parts I've never seen, hearing about the history, and of course I enjoy taking part in the transformation of something. Sometimes parts are a challenge and don't "kick" for an hour, and then suddenly they start to reflect.

Thanks Greg for giving me a shot at your parts.




I don't accept the unseen side of a part not looking as good as the seen.

 
J

juraskabrian

New Member
#26
#26
juraskabrian said:
Amazing job on my turbines. Can't wait to get them back. Will be sending my Dellorto MB22A next. Thanks Sam.
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Sam, The Dellorto I talked to you about came out nice, after some hand polishing. I was concerned about some of the passages that were basically blind. IMG_0978.JPG IMG_0979.JPG IMG_0981.JPG IMG_0982.JPG IMG_0983.JPG . It's amazing what these digital cameras pick up. Some of the swirl marks look like I polished on a bench grinder.
 
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cambo61

cambo61

#28
#28
Blaine K. was nice enough to send some Lil Indian wheels my direction. 4/6 halves were polished, but he wanted all of them to match. I'm going to show the results of the steel burnish and come back after doing a cob finish. I was supposed to leave tomorrow and now I have until Monday morning to make some magic.

Here are the 2 blasted ones. Blaine points out "real Lil Indians" have the recessed area around the hole.



Here are the 4 polished halves.


Let's see if we can clean hubs too?



I run 2 halves for 2 hours. I was in front of the machine for 6 hours. I could run all 6 at once, but if 2 halves spoon each-other with a pin between them, I'm screwed.



The color is good, but I can't see the reflection like I want to. I got Blaine's o.k. on the cob. It will take at least 24hrs to cob the wheels. I'll edit the post later with some results.
 
thejoker

thejoker

#30
#30
cambo61 said:
Parts arrived from you guys this morning.

Turbines arrived prepped. I gave them another quick blast to even out the color, chased the threads, and put them in the machine. They were shipped back same day.




After 1.5 hours. The pics don't do justice for the color or luster. The digital cameras mess with the white balance and so everything looks more grey.




When I start to get a reflection (area in the red box) I know they are done.
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What did you charge to do these wheels? They look awesome.
 
S

slow greg

#31
#31
ball burnished rims

cambo61 said:
A variety of other wheels showed up from California. Mostly prepped the same way (which helps alot). The entire order of 12 halves took 6+ hours to process. Completed the same day.




After. Note the reflection.


Click to expand...
Thanks Sam... these came out super nice.....mini bike and kart wheel restoration has been a big time consumer for a long time ....1st i prepped primered painted only to have it chip....then it was the cost of powder coating only to have the rims out gas and bubble the finish....then it was hand polishing for hours or the cost and a shop that would do it.then i tried the harbor freight vibrating tumbler with different media with no results.. then try to find a ball burnisher that would do a small lot the machines are huge......great work fast turn around.......Sam has been the answer THANKS
 
cambo61

cambo61

#32
#32
Mark G. from Wisconsin sent me some parts from a Flexo/WB combo. I was exited to get my hands on some original Aluminum Go Powers. They all look better than new.













 
cambo61

cambo61

#34
#34
Apekillman

I'm more than happy to explain. The machine is an Almco V3 built in 1968. It's the perfect size machine for what I do. It's one of the few machines this size which has the punch to roll incredibly heavy steel pins. Mine looks like this, but white. I converted it to 220 single phase by adding a Weg VFD which makes up for not having 3-phase power. That machine below is about $3K.



I use case hardened steel pins which are .125" D and about .375" long. Case hardening is what is done to all of our revolvers. It hardens the surface, yet keeping the core soft to prevent fracturing. I have #350 of pins which cost over $1800 on the wholesale market. I use pins over balls because pins get in corners better.



My chemicals are about $20/gallon. The electricity is 5A/220V. My water usage is 4 gallons/hr avg.

Believe me guys, there are no secrets here. I've got 1000 hrs behind this machine and I don't feel normal unless my house is shaking! I never want to discourage anyone from trying out this process by purchasing their own equipment. I'd like to think there is a cheaper substitute than what I've done, but there isn't.
 
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FloridaMiniBikes

FloridaMiniBikes

#35
#35
Wow!
Right down the street from you in Palm Bay.
Got some Tecumseh engine parts I will need done when I get some cha ching going!
Do you have a Dysfunctional, Unemployed, all null and void PAFB Vet discount?
Ha, great work!
 
bigkid

bigkid

#36
#36
Thanks for sharing the pics and info. I just assumed you used balls instead of pins. I really like the finish on the parts you've done. :thumbsup:
 
Mark G

Mark G

#37
#37
cambo61 said:
Mark G. from Wisconsin sent me some parts from a Flexo/WB combo. I was exited to get my hands on some original Aluminum Go Powers. They all look better than new.
Click to expand...
The pictures don't do any justice, when I saw the parts in person I couldn't stop grinning. The finish is amazing!!

Years ago when InjunTom posted this thread: https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/mini-bike-discussion/26287-burnishers.html
I looked into getting some wheels done locally with no luck. I found a place in Milwaukee, but it was a production shop and they had little interest in my small parts, not to mention I don't think they would have cared that they were 40+ years old, and some very hard to find.
Sam's work is nothing short of spectacular, and the turnaround time was super quick. He also went above and beyond to make sure my hardware is plated correctly. Outstanding!! It was some of the best money I've spent on minibikes in a while, in fact I'm sending him more parts soon!

Thanks again Sam!!
 
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cambo61

cambo61

#38
#38
Thanks Mark. I appreciate the response.

Eric A. sent me some parts from California to get burnished. Some McCulloch parts and Minibike wheels. Thanks Eric!



It's hard to get the wheels to reflect color because they are high pressure die cast. These turned out nice!






 
cambo61

cambo61

#39
#39
I got some more parts from Mark G yesterday. I use a small toaster oven in the garage to heat parts up to free the bearings. A press is good, but most of these parts just need some heat and light pressure for them to drop out. After that, all of the parts were blasted and burnished.











 
cambo61

cambo61

#40
#40
I got some cool wheels from Steve up in MI this morning. They showed up just the way I like them, blasted and clean. They turned out excellent. The aluminum they used yielded surprisingly bright white finish. I had them out the door and shipped back to Steve 6 hours later.











 
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