What to Know About Cleaning and Polishing

[DremelJohn]

Everyone has many cleaning tasks around the home and they are always looking for a better way to do them. Typically, brushes are used for cleaning applications and felt accessories, and buffing wheels are used for polishing applications.

Cleaning

Brushes

Every conversation about Dremel brush accessories needs to begin with the fact that all of the brushes except the Abrasive Brush should never run in excess of 15,000 rpm. The 538 Abrasive Brush may be run at a top speed of 20,000 rpm. Running brushes faster than the recommended maximum speed can cause the bristles and wires to break when they touch the material.

There are five different kinds of brushes.

Abrasive brush model 538 is the strongest and longest lasting brush. Designed for de-burring metal or wood and for removing rust and paint. The extra-thick nylon bristles on the Abrasive Brush are coated with an abrasive grit for material removal on the toughest jobs.

Bristle brushes can be used with or without polishing compound for general cleaning applications. An example of cleaning with a bristle brush is the removal of water stains on a faucet.

Carbon steel brushes work on most metal surfaces, especially for rust removal. Try cleaning a rusty garden shovel to see how well a carbon steel brush cleans up this tool.

Stainless steel brushes are designed for use on stainless steel and will not cause after-rust, provided they do not get contaminated with a corrosive material. For best results, always leave this accessory in the package until it’s ready to be used and to clean it when work is complete.

Brass brushes are non-sparking and a common use might be to clean the terminals for your car battery. Also, they will not scratch other soft metals like copper or other brass items. Cleaning a copper teapot or brass vase is an ideal application for the brass brush.

Definition of a Polished Surface

To explain Dremel polishing accessories, it is best to understand the stages of the polishing process and that a polished surface is defined by the surface’s ability to reflect light. There are three stages to the polishing process: rough stage, semi-rough stage, and smooth stage.

Polishing Stages

1. The rough stage of the polishing process is characterized by the surface of the material having ridges or rough spots that can be felt when you run your fingernail over the surface. If your fingernail stops or skips over the surface, the surface needs to have more surface preparation before doing any “polishing” work. At the rough stage, in order to achieve a polished finish one must remove stock, polish and finish the material.
2. The semi-rough stage is characterized by the surface of the material having roughness but nothing as deep as described in the rough stage. At the semi-rough stage, in order to achieve a polished finish one must: polish and finish the material.
3. The smooth stage of the polishing process is characterized by the surface of the material having a smooth surface. This is the final stage of the polishing process where the surface is finished by bringing it to a brilliant shine with a buffing accessory. At the smooth stage, in order to achieve a polished finish one must: finish the material.

Dremel Polishing Accessories

Felt accessories—414, 422

Felt accessories are designed for the semi-rough stage of the polishing process because they can remove slight rough spots and take material to the smooth stage. They may be used with or without polishing compound and the felt continually renews its own surface while being used.

Using a felt polishing point or felt wheel with a small amount of polishing compound will generally produce a luster on a variety of surfaces.

Buffing wheels—429, 423E

Buffing wheels are designed for the smooth stage of the polishing process because they can bring a surface to a high luster. They are characterized by having a soft, open structure and are designed to use polishing compound. Care should be used to avoid using too much polishing compound when polishing, as it can leave difficult to remove swirl marks.

 Polishing wheel—520

The polishing wheel is designed for light stock removal and high luster polishing. No polishing compound is needed with the polishing wheel as it is impregnated with silicon carbide abrasive, and a lubricant that acts as a coolant. The polishing wheel will work on various materials including steel, aluminum, brass, silver, gold and other metals as well as hard plastics.

Polishing advice: While the Dremel motto is, “Don’t apply pressure, let speed do the work,” with polishing, you will want to apply some pressure depending on where you are in the polishing process. However, at no point should you bear down on the tool to the point the tool is laboring noticeably to complete the application.

1. At the rough stage, apply some pressure and use a lower speed
2. At the semi-rough stage, apply light pressure and use a medium speed
3. At the smooth stage, apply little or no pressure and use a high speed

Polishing advice: Before using a rotary tool for polishing, always practice on a similar piece of material to test the results. Polishing can sometimes remove more than just surface grime—it may alter the finish, especially on delicate or coated surfaces. You wouldn’t want to ruin an expensive item by assuming it’s safe to polish. If you don’t have a scrap piece of the same material, try testing in an inconspicuous area to ensure the tool and polishing compound achieve the desired effect before working on the entire piece.

We hope this guide helped you know more about cleaning and polishing. Please let other community members know of your polishing experiences in the comments below!