A quick question - about polishing

[Apollo2]

Do u have to sand a yoyo before applying polish if its already raw?

[Apollo2]

.

[Big_Yoyo]

No need to bump your post a couple minutes after you post it, buttt…

You shouldn’t need to. Unless you want to get scratches out. By polishing it, you will amplify all the imperfections/defects. So you might want to use a very fine sand paper to get rid of the scratches

[the_general]

PREP it first with 00 steel wool
Must be spinning.

[anonyo]

@Apollo2

Do u have to sand a yoyo before applying polish if its already raw?

What yoyo, and what is your end goal?

[Apollo2]

@Studio42

@Apollo2

Do u have to sand a yoyo before applying polish if its already raw?

What yoyo, and what is your end goal?

Small bearing 888, its old and cloudy and the last person brought large grit sandpaper to it

[Yummy]

Polishing compounds for metal are abrasives just like sandpaper. The only differences are that the polishing compound has its abrasive suspended in a thick liquid and it is not nearly as abrasive as your average piece of sandpaper (i.e. in sandpaper terms it has an extremely high grit).

The goal on polishing a yo-yo is to make the surface as smooth as possible—the smoother the surface the shinier the yo-yo will be. If you looked at a rough surface close enough (electron microscope close) it would look like a mountain region. When you apply an abrasive to a yo-yo you are removing the tops of the mountains. To achieve a smooth surface, you have to sand the mountains all the way down to the valleys.

However, if the initial surface is too rough (the mountains are too large) you have to use a low grit sandpaper to smooth the surface out. This sandpaper leaves its own mountains and valleys, which is why you then use a higher grit sandpaper the remove these smaller mountains. This process then continues through each grit of sandpaper as the yo-yo gets more and more polished.

When I polish a yo-yo, if the surface is rough to the touch, has dings, or still has the ano, I start with 100 grit sandpaper. After that or if the surface is raw and feels smooth to the touch, I use 220 grit. Then my progression is 400, 600, 800, and then finally the polishing compound. For the best surface finish, each step must be given enough time to smooth out the roughness left by the previous step.

[Tuxedodave]

@Yummy

Polishing compounds for metal are abrasives just like sandpaper. The only differences are that the polishing compound has its abrasive suspended in a thick liquid and it is not nearly as abrasive as your average piece of sandpaper (i.e. in sandpaper terms it has an extremely high grit).

The goal on polishing a yo-yo is to make the surface as smooth as possible—the smoother the surface the shinier the yo-yo will be. If you looked at a rough surface close enough (electron microscope close) it would look like a mountain region. When you apply an abrasive to a yo-yo you are removing the tops of the mountains. To achieve a smooth surface, you have to sand the mountains all the way down to the valleys.

However, if the initial surface is too rough (the mountains are too large) you have to use a low grit sandpaper to smooth the surface out. This sandpaper leaves its own mountains and valleys, which is why you then use a higher grit sandpaper the remove these smaller mountains. This process then continues through each grit of sandpaper as the yo-yo gets more and more polished.

When I polish a yo-yo, if the surface is rough to the touch, has dings, or still has the ano, I start with 100 grit sandpaper. After that or if the surface is raw and feels smooth to the touch, I use 220 grit. Then my progression is 400, 600, 800, and then finally the polishing compound. For the best surface finish, each step must be given enough time to smooth out the roughness left by the previous step.

Which polishing compound do you personally use?

[Yummy]

I use NevrDull. It is less messy than a liquid polish, but you are still going to get black all over your hands when you use it to polish aluminum.