What to use on titanium?

D

Ducky

New member
Hey, guys! I ran a search before making this thread and came up empty.



I have a titanium exhuast can that I wanna touch up. It has a polished(SS) tip. I'm using billet mothers for that but I'm clueless for the titanium part. I've polished the tip every time I washed the car(every week) but the titanium part was never touched.



Is there a special polish/cleaner for titaniums or is mother billet polish good for it? Thanks guys.
 
I don't have big enough balls to experiment on my $1000+ exhaust system....I can't find any valid info on the net for cleaning titanium...



BTW- here's my review on mothers billet polish. For some reason, my towel doesnt turn black like the mother mag does....it only turns into a dark gray color. It says to stop using if it doesnt turn dark...can that be the case??



Overall,13 bucks for the billet is a waste of money. It still leaves a haze behind just like the 4 dollar mag polish. what a waste of money! I'll post pictures of mag and billet compared....soon.
 
Ducky,



I assume you can clean it the same way I clean my titanium watch. All I use is a plain pencil eraser.



Works very well, and it really is very soft on the titanium. It is suprising that titanium which is supposedly a super strength metal marks so very easily.



My watch is a Breitling and the finish almost seems brushed if that makes sense. The eraser removes the marks and dirt and leaves the surface like it is brand new.



As for polish I really have no idea of any products you could possibly use, as the finish is so soft.
 
Izâ„¢ einszett Metal Polish âہ“Chrompflegeâ€Â�, P21S Multi-Surface Finish or Autosol. I am not aware of a specific polish for titanium (I just know that its a very 'hard'metal )



I'm sorry I can't be more specific (maybe a bike guy could help?)

JonM
 
Ducky - Billet Metal Polish is made for use on billet aluminum. To use it on stainless exhaust tips, and then state the product is a waste of money because it didn't do a good job, doesn't quite seem fair.



It's a much less aggressive product than our regular Mag & Aluminum Polish, which is why it didn't turn as black.



Stainless is a much harder surface than aluminum, and titanium is even harder than stainless. You need a more aggressive product, not less, and serious speed from a mechanical device of some sort to make it shine.
 
Oh, I didn't know anything about the hardness of certain metals.



I tried mother's mag on one half of the tip and billets on the other half...and they both looked similar. I'm going to use the billet on my alunimum pipes and see how they turn out.



BTW- I ended up using mothers on the titanium. It cleaned it up nicely. However, the eraser trick seems to be a good idea as well.



BTW- do any of you guys know how to polish dull aluminum to bling bling? Also, are porter cables ok to use on polished polished aluminum rims with the right paddings?



forrest said:
Ducky - Billet Metal Polish is made for use on billet aluminum. To use it on stainless exhaust tips, and then state the product is a waste of money because it didn't do a good job, doesn't quite seem fair.



It's a much less aggressive product than our regular Mag & Aluminum Polish, which is why it didn't turn as black.



Stainless is a much harder surface than aluminum, and titanium is even harder than stainless. You need a more aggressive product, not less, and serious speed from a mechanical device of some sort to make it shine.
Click to expand...
 
Ducky said:
.



BTW- do any of you guys know how to polish dull aluminum to bling bling? Also, are porter cables ok to use on polished polished aluminum rims with the right paddings?
Click to expand...



Was the dull aluminum polished before and now just needs work or is it just the aluminum that you want to polish?



James
 
Aluminum:

For Aluminum, magnesium and chrome surfaces; once surface is clean and grease free use Simichrome Polish (www.eastwood.com) it can also be used on vehicle mirror mounts and antique radio trim. Once youâ€â„¢ve finished polishing mist the aluminium with some water then sprinkle on corn starch and polish in one direction only, this will also remove any oils. Apply a polymer (ZoopSeal) protection. Casswell Aluminium Polishing



Caswell Buffing / Polish Kit

JonM
 
I polished the front wheel of my motorcycle. I have 8 hours into it between removing paint, sanding and polishing. I still think I need another hour or so for me to be happy with it. I still haven't touched the back wheel yet. That one should be easier.



I was about an hour and a half into this rim at this point. Maybe 2.5 hours. The rim was painted black.



James
 

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This is the almost finished rim. Its a bad pic because the rim is dirty but you can still tell it needs more work.



James
 

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Ducky said:
aluminum that I want to polish.
Click to expand...



If its smooth aluminum that isn't coat it then polish it with a good aluminum polish till your arms full off. The do it again the next day. :D You can also use the kit that was shown in this thread by another member.



If its coated you will need aircraft stripper or furniture striper to remover the coating then do the above.



It its rough you will need to use sandpaper. The rougher it is the lower the grit (tougher) sand paper you will need to use. And work at it like that. When you are sanding you are scratching the metal so only do what you have to with that paper and move on because you need to next use a lighter (higer grit ex 80 is really rough and it like gravel glued to paper. 2000 is fine. You will need to work up to that in steps) paper to remove more metal and any scratching you put in with the grit before that. As you get to some of the finer sand paper I like to wet sand. You need to get the sand paper that is made for this. Don't switch to a finer sand paper until you have removed all of the scratching from the last one or you will just need to go back. What your really doing is putting finer and finer scratches in the metal until its really smooth. Then you use a metal polish. If you have a piture, we will have a better idea of how you should attack it.



James
 
Here is the rim I worked on again.



A was hell. I had to use small pieces with one finger to sand this areas. I got cramps in my fingers.



B was rough and I need it to start with a low grit of paper.



C was pretty smooth. It did have small grooves in it that I needed to work out but its wasn't as bad as B.



D Had raised letters on some of the spokes. They were about a 1/4 inch think or close to it. I hit them with 80 grit on a mouse sander till they were close to the spoke then I moved up a little.



E Is starting to shine. Every now and then I would got through all of the steps in one spot just to see how I'm doing and to keep me going.



James
 

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