Polishing old drum brake hubs...how to?

[silverbear]

I thought I'd start a thread on polishing up old aluminum drum brake hubs. Not that I really know anything about it. I'm hoping that others will contribute their knowledge and share it here. I like drum brakes. I like the way they look, especially on a vintage bike, perhaps a tribute board tracker or anything going for the early motorcycle look. Whenever I run across an old one I salvage it figuring at some time or other I may end up using it.

I have others in my treasure trove besides the ones pictured below. I've used new Worksman and Sturmey Archer hubs, but when I can I prefer to use one's from mopeds which are often very well made. The Worksman hub is the wimpiest I have used. Atom hubs made in France are pretty darned good and I'm looking forward to using some bigger ones in hopes they will give even better stopping power.

Pictured below are a pair from a Honda 55 trail bike (the big hubs) and the smaller pair are Atom from an AMF moped. The AMF had a wimpy friction drive motor, so the sprocket pictured is for the right hand side and hooked up to a standard pedal sprocket. I'll use the Atom pair on a 1951 Schwinn cantilever framed bike which will be powered either by a 5 horse Briggs following the lead of MSRFAN or a 212 Predator. I want it to be belt drive, so the Atom hub will be perfect since I don't need a left hand side sprocket.

The bigger Honda hubs are intended for a much modified AMF moped frame with a Tomos moped engine. The pedals are part of the low slung engine so there is no need for a right side sprocket. Kick backwards on the pedal and it starts the engine. With the lighter bike and two speed tranny it should be a pretty fast bike. That's why I'll use these bigger hubs. Also the front hub has a wide axle, so it will fit the Suzuki K-10 suspension fork which has a wide spacing between the legs. A stock Worksman or Sturmey Archer hub will not fit the Suzuki fork. So this is why it is nice to have a small pile of old drum brake hubs to sort through. Also of course, the price is right on a salvaged hub. I only save out hubs with 36 holes for the spokes. That way I can lace them into 26" rims and use 11 or 12 gauge spokes to make a nice wheel for not much money. The most expensive things are the spokes.

The down side in using old hubs is they usually look pretty bad, all oxidized and dirty. Cleaning them up is a chore as I have done it in the past with fine steel wool. Tedious. I decided the other day there must be a better way. So, I picked up a cloth buffing wheel and small container of Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish to see if it will make the job go a little better. You can see on the front Honda hub that I have done some initial cleaning on it with a pad of fine steel wool.

The only experience I have had before in polishing aluminum was with a sidecar made from an aluminum Grumman canoe. My friend Steve saw me laboring away with fine steel wool and handed me a container of Mother's to try. A little on a rag did wonders compared to the steel wool, so I'm hopeful about the hubs.

What I have for equipment is an electric washing machine motor with an arbor on it that I use with a wire wheel for cleaning parts. I'll remove the wire wheel and attach the cloth buffing wheel and go from there.

Now what? How would you go about this? Any suggestions? What do I do when the cloth wheel gets loaded up with polish/metal black gunk? Do you wash it or something?

I'll be working on these hubs in between other things and when there is progress I'll post photos showing the results. I just want them to look good, not like chrome or anything. I'm counting on some good advice here which we can then share with everybody. Thanks in advance,
SB

 

[bairdco]

at least they're not still laced up. you'd never get them cleaned up through the spokes...

i've used wet sanding on badly corroded aluminum to take the lumps off, then polished 'em by hand with mother's, rubbing compounds, steel wool, nevr dull, simichrome polish, etc...

haven't found an easy way yet, so i'm as interested in other people's tricks, too...

 

[2door]

I like to buff metal. Aluminum lends itself well to polishing. I use a Dico buffing wheel also but I like the stiffer one. It is spirle sewn like the one shown above but is stitched closer together and offers a firmer buffing surface. The same company, Dico, also makes buffing compounds for many applications. I like the one made for stainless steel because it is an aggresive abrasive and works fast. After the initial buff I'll move to rouge for color buffing.
Of course a bench mounted buffer is far better than trying to use a drill or a side grinder. You have more control of your work and don't have to try clamping your part to something while you buff.

I've tried about every metal polish out there at one time or another, all those that Bairdco mentioned and more. Neverdull used to be a good product but I think the EPA must have made them change their formula. It's basically just kerosene now. Mothers, Five Star, Wenol, and others are just cleaners and I've never had much luck with them.
I recently found one that seems to be about the best I've tried. Its called Wizard and is very much like the old Extreme metal polish. That was THE BEST, but unfortunately it isn't available anymore. Another victim of the EPA maybe? Both are a wool wadding soaked with some form of polish. Tear off a little chunk and go to work. Same concept as NeverDull but Wizard works.

Don't know where you can find Wizard. I found it at an automotive paint store here in Denver and they were only doing a test to see it it would sell. Good luck.

Tom

 

[bairdco]

i noticed that about nvrdull. it disappeared years ago and was brought back by eagle one and was never quite the same...

 

[silverbear]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...0&_nkw=wizard+metal+polish&_sacat=0&_from=R40
Found Wizards on ebay and just ordered some. Looks to me like you use this by hand, is that right? Tear off a bit and rub like crazy? I'm also going to try the Mother's and the cloth wheel to see if I can speed up the process.

Just remembering that there are polishes for shining aircraft in different grades of aggression. Heard about it from the people who restore old Airstream and Spartan aluminum trailers. Nuvite is one, I think. I also recall talking to an old fellow who said that in the old days they shined up the milk tanks on big trucks that haul milk... with sheep fat buffed on. Have no idea if that is true or not, but they must have used something.
SB

 

[2door]

i noticed that about nvrdull. it disappeared years ago and was brought back by eagle one and was never quite the same...

Yep, when Eagle started making it the smell was a lot different from the old original and it doesn't do anything but leave an oily residue. Too bad. I also used to use Brasso. It always worked but I haven't tried it for years. It too might have lost its active ingrediant due to government regs. Who knows?

If you're trying to buff the engine covers on a Chinese 2 stroke, they require some pre-work with #400 wet paper. They are very rough and porous castings. They will buff up to look like chrome but it takes some time and work. The harder the material the easier it is to achieve a good finish. Softer material also won't hold a shine as well as say, T-6 aluminum or the equivalent in a cast piece.

Yes, Silverbear. You just tear off a chunk and start rubbing. It will turn black while taking the oxidation off of metal, especially aluminum but it will work even when black. Actually I use scissors and cut off a piece instead or tearing it. Whatever works for you.

Tom

 

[culvercityclassic]

This is the product I use: https://www.zephyrpro40.com/s2/Scripts/default.asp

Those gas tankers going down the road all polished up use this same product.

I will post again and show pictures of the results.

 

[culvercityclassic]

Took me 2 min to polish this aluminum and that is with a rag only. This product trumps all other and trust me I have tried many.

 

[silverbear]

CCC,
Is that using the pro 40 liquid only? Not the rouge bars? Impressive!
SB

 

[culvercityclassic]

Its the liquid only on a rag Silverbear. You start using the bars and a wheel it becomes a big mess.

 

[fasteddy]

Here's a few thoughts from my days polishing antique copper and brass for a living. If your using a buffing wheel start polishing at the bottom of the item and push it down and away from you while it's up against the wheel. Rocking it back and forth isn't the best and pulling it up towards you doesn't work well either.

Move it slowly over the metal. What your doing is melting the metal and letting it smooth it's self by taking off the high spots and filling the voids.

Recharge the wheel with compound often since it's doing the work and above all wear eye protection and a good face mask. Good gloves are an absolute must as well. Friction creates heat.

A buffing wheel has to turn at 3450 rpm to be efficient. Low speed motors make a nasty job even harder and don't give you a good job for your efforts. I'll look and see if I have any photos left of the work I did. I lost almost everything in a fire.

Steve.

 

[2door]

All that Steve said is good info and I'll add another safety note. If you live in a dry climate be aware that while buffing you can build up quite a electrical static charge. It isn't enough to really hurt you but it can surprise you, make you jump and you could drop your piece or get a finger tangled in the buffer.

I use a little clip on bracelet that has a wire and an aligator clip that I attach to a grounded surface. That way I don't get that annoying and distracting 'snap' and a spark that static electricity can give.

Tom

 

[fasteddy]

Tom,
I forgot about that eye opener of a jolt from the static electricity. Take your glove of and hold the metal and it hits the buffers metal housing.

Sure can take the smile off your face but I never in all those years thought about grounding it as I worked.
Darn it!

Steve.

 

[silverbear]

Rain finally turned to sunshine today so I spent some time buffing the Atom front hub with Mother's polish on the cloth wheel. I doubt I was at it for more than twenty minutes to half an hour. I've only done the one side and inner part where the ribs are. You can see the results are pretty dramatic. The rear hub has not yet been polished and is what the front used to look like.

How do you clean up the cloth wheel, or do you? The Wizard buffing pads have not arrived yet. I'm anxious to give that a try.

SB

 

[culvercityclassic]

Wow SB that looks great.... I will send some hubs your way from now on...

 

[fasteddy]

That is nice. Wouldn't have thought that Mothers would work on a wheel since they usually have the grit in a bar so it sticks to the wheel without flying off. First rate work indeed.

Can't wait to see how the other brake drum comes out. Which bike are they going on?

Steve.

 

[2door]

Silverbear,
I use a piece of metal, anything with an sharp edge to clean the wheel. One tool that works well is an old can opener. Sometimes called a 'church key', the kind that you'd use to open a can of condensed milk and makes a triangular hole, to hold against the wheel to clean off the accumulated buffing residue. Actually anything with a sharp edge, or point, even a screwdriver, will suffice but the can opener seems to work well for me.

After the wheel is cleaned apply more compound and keep going. I'd really urge you to try some buffing compound instead of paste (Mothers). I think you'll like the results.

However what you have so far looks great. Takes some time but the results are usually well worth the effort.

Tom

 

[silverbear]

Yes, it certainly is worth the effort. I don't know if I have a church key or not, but will find something. I didn't put the Mothers on the wheel, but directly on the hub and then gradually moved from the bottom up eating into the paste. Sure beats steel wool. No doubt there is a better way to do this and I'm looking forward to trying the Wizard pads. Sometime I'd like to try the other stuff mentioned that is a liquid.

CCC, thank you for the offer to let me practice on your scuzzy old brake drums, but I have my own grungy pile to play with. Ha!

Steve, the plan is to use those Atom hubs on the 51 Schwinn Hornet with a cantilever frame I gave to Tinsmith a couple of years ago which he is not using so I am going to take it back. We made a copper gas tank for it and I'd like to do a belt drive using the 147cc Jacobson 2 stroke I got from Rick. Suzuki K-10 fork, big honking headlight, Fat Frank tires. The sprocket you see on the rear hub is for the pedal side. The Atom hubs came off of the AMF Roadmaster moped frame we put the Tomos engine into a couple summer's ago. Confused yet?
SB

 

[fasteddy]

Silverbear,
You might try getting a bar of aluminum polish form Ace or Napa. You just push it into the wheel as it's turning and it loads the wheel up. It won't take much.

After you've buffed the hub use a bar of rouge which it a red colour and buff it again. Tom talked about it a few posts ago and it will take any scratches out that the aluminum bar left. It's usually hard to see the improvement but believe me it's there.

When you are going to charge the wheel with more polish from the bar do as Tom said and rake the buff first. Makes the buff loose and fluffy and takes any hard polishing bar out of the buff so it doesn't scratch.

Looks like your in the hub polishing business for sure and wait until the neighbours find out you can polish metal. Everyone has copper and brass they would like polished. At Christmas I bet you will be on every ones Christmas wish list.

Steve.

 

[bigbutterbean]

I'd be interested to know what is the best way to clean up the shoes and the inside of the drum? I have an older Worksman hub, and I've not found it to be wimpy at all. I like to cruise between 25 and 30, and it stops me pretty good. I was just thinking that maybe next time I change the oil in my K10 forks, I might clean/de-glaze the inside of the drum and the shoes, if anyone knows a good way to do that?