Polished her up!!!

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 1 Jan 2015 2:56 pm

Well after hours of hand sanding and polishing, my pedal bar looks pretty good!! Not perfect but a lot better than it was!! ðŸ˜ƒ

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 1 Jan 2015 3:37 pm

Nice!!

Dave Campbell · Post by **Dave Campbell** » 1 Jan 2015 4:00 pm

wow. show the rest!

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 1 Jan 2015 4:46 pm

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 1 Jan 2015 4:48 pm

I don't think it looked better when it was new

Larry Hamilton · Post by **Larry Hamilton** » 1 Jan 2015 5:17 pm

What did you use?

Edward Rhea · Post by **Edward Rhea** » 1 Jan 2015 5:49 pm

Looks good Jason!

John Booth · Post by **John Booth** » 1 Jan 2015 5:54 pm

Yep, I doubt it left the factory in 74 looking that good.
Please tell us what you used.

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 1 Jan 2015 6:01 pm

Okay I'll tell but you can't laugh. It's the only way I had to do it!! I bought a sanding block at lowes. Started with 400 grit paper. Then 800, the 1500, then 2000. Once I had all sanding done and like I wanted, I got my random orbital car wax buffer. I put a terry cloth pad on it. I used it to polish it with mothers aluminum polish. The kind in the little tub. That's it! Then reassembled the pedals and such.

Richard Keller · Post by **Richard Keller** » 1 Jan 2015 7:58 pm

That is the shiniest pedal bar I have ever seen. Great job.

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 2 Jan 2015 12:38 pm

Here's a before my work shot!!! She has come a long way from 3&3!!

Rick Rian · Post by **Rick Rian** » 2 Jan 2015 12:58 pm

Great job!

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 2 Jan 2015 5:17 pm

That is outstanding! Wonder if the same approach would work on the end-plates?

Gary Cooper · Post by **Gary Cooper** » 2 Jan 2015 6:05 pm

Excellent work. Impressive!

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 2 Jan 2015 6:23 pm

Yes it will work. I've done a little by hand but I really need to remove them to do it right.

Don Mogle · Post by **Don Mogle** » 4 Jan 2015 3:47 pm

Jason,

Great job. I need to do the same thing with my Emmons pedal bar.

Question: the sanding technique you used, is this a wet sanding process? When did you know to move to the next grade of sandpaper? Please give some more details on this.

I was told by someone that you have to be careful on these as the chrome plating can rub off if you're too aggressive. However, I can't refute your fantastic results!

Thanks,

Don

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 4 Jan 2015 5:34 pm

Jason nice job, you should be able to track down a replacement Bud Decal for the pedal bar too

maybe Jeff Surratt at Show Pro might have them ?

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 4 Jan 2015 7:08 pm

Thanks Paddy, I have already ordered one from James and Teresa. Don, my pedal bar isn't chrome plated. It's solid aluminum. I didn't know there were chrome plated pedal bars but you can not use this process on chrome. It has to be replated if it's scratched or damaged. But for aluminum it works great. I didn't water sand. But I guess I could have. Might have turned out even better if I had. It had some real deep dings in it and I got most of them out so I'm happy with it. As far as how long to sand, I used the 400 until I had most of the gouges sanded out. Then I just gave it a good sanding with the rest of the grits. When done, polish one area about 6-8 inches or so. If it looks good, finish polishing. If you still see scratches, sand again with the higher grits. (1500 & 2000) then test it with the polish again.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Jan 2015 10:10 pm

I'll bet you're afraid to touch it now to remove it. That's what always hate about polishing. It's real hard to set up and tear down and not get fingerprints all over it.

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 5 Jan 2015 5:23 am

Richard I don't have to worry about finger prints. I never have the opportunity to play it anywhere but in my basement!! So it never gets taken down. My next project is to repair the legs. The end cads that screw into the endplates have some play in them.Its not the threads, but where they are attached inside the leg.It makes my steel have a little movement while playing.

Don Poland · Post by **Don Poland** » 5 Jan 2015 3:45 pm

Jason, I have a nice anniversary model Electra-Glide that could use some of your magic!! Nice job!

William Liemandt · Post by **William Liemandt** » 5 Jan 2015 3:51 pm

This post reminded me of a movie line in Forrest Gump. He said "And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful."

In your first picture I could not tell how tall the pedal bar was. No way. I could only see the bar height in the second picture. You've made something so shiny that I can't tell the top from the bottom! Very Well Done!

Kenneth Kotsay · Post by **Kenneth Kotsay** » 5 Jan 2015 4:05 pm

How many hours did you spend polishing.

You may consider doing this polishing for a side job, you never know where it could take you.

I have a 1962 Chevy Impala convertible, the bumpers can use some polishing.

KEN

Antolina · Post by **Antolina** » 5 Jan 2015 5:19 pm

Jason,

I had a Bud years ago exactly like yours. Gawd I miss her.

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 6 Jan 2015 8:39 am

Got my sticker put on. My old one was missing parts and peeling. It's amazing what a little work can do. 41 years old and still going. Not many things today you can say that about!!

The Steel Guitar Forum

Polished her up!!!

Polished her up!!!

Polish

Pedal Bar