Mild Steel Cleanup and Source for Polishing Wheels

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Hi!I first want to thank everybody for all that I have learned being here as a hobby welder.  I have been doing "farmer" welding for 40 years, mostly arc and FCAW on old rusty stuff.  The one thing I have really learned is the importance of working with very clean metal.  The stuff I welded in the past was rusty greasy and sometimes painted machinery and though my welds weren't pretty, they usually stuck together.  I have been very particular of late about getting stuff shiny clean before I weld and have been totally amazed at how much better the welding process isNow that I am retired, I am making a few tools for my shop.  My latest project is the "no weld" belt grinder though I am welding up the non adjustable parts rather than bolting them.The steel I am using is square tubing mostly out of my scrap pile and it all has light to moderate surface rust.  I amusing a 5" resin pad air sander to take the main stuff off and a 1" air belt sander to take clean the inside of the tubes. Some time back I bought a 4" polishing disc set for an angle grinder from Harbor Freight #65287 so decided to use it.  It really puts a great finish on the metal.  Unfortunately it is a variety of grits from 40 to 600 and I have about worn out the coarser grits.  I have been looking online for sets of a single grit but can't find anything.Does anyone know of a source for these wheels?  I have seen similar items but the price has been around $20 for one disc- the HF set is $15 for six.Steve
Reply:The blue  flap wheels work well. Also for round TUBING and PIPE the hand held belt sander works well.Last edited by Donald Branscom; 02-24-2011 at 09:57 PM.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Originally Posted by stevewmHi!I first want to thank everybody for all that I have learned being here as a hobby welder.  I have been doing "farmer" welding for 40 years, mostly arc and FCAW on old rusty stuff.  The one thing I have really learned is the importance of working with very clean metal.  The stuff I welded in the past was rusty greasy and sometimes painted machinery and though my welds weren't pretty, they usually stuck together.  I have been very particular of late about getting stuff shiny clean before I weld and have been totally amazed at how much better the welding process isNow that I am retired, I am making a few tools for my shop.  My latest project is the "no weld" belt grinder though I am welding up the non adjustable parts rather than bolting them.The steel I am using is square tubing mostly out of my scrap pile and it all has light to moderate surface rust.  I amusing a 5" resin pad air sander to take the main stuff off and a 1" air belt sander to take clean the inside of the tubes. Some time back I bought a 4" polishing disc set for an angle grinder from Harbor Freight #65287 so decided to use it.  It really puts a great finish on the metal.  Unfortunately it is a variety of grits from 40 to 600 and I have about worn out the coarser grits.  I have been looking online for sets of a single grit but can't find anything.Does anyone know of a source for these wheels?  I have seen similar items but the price has been around $20 for one disc- the HF set is $15 for six.Steve
Reply:I checked the archives and links and still couldn't find exactly what I am looking for.  These look like grinding wheels for an angle grinder but thicker.  They are made from a medium soft subber sponge type material enbedded with grit, probably silicon carbide.  since they are somewhat soft, they don't leave any scratch marks to speak of.  HF called them abrasive polishing wheels but nothing like them shows up on a Google search.  I didn't exactly farm but worked on the family dairy farm in WI summers and vacations - milk went to make Colby cheese..  After school I joined the AF but always managed to live on an acreage and usually grew most of our food.  I was always surrounded by old tractors and equipment that constantly needed fixing and worked in the mining industry off and on so welding was part of my skill set.  I am retired now and we live in Central TX on 27 acres.  No livestock just white tail deer, wild turkey, and doves.Steve
Reply:Found what I was looking for though HF may still be the cheapest source.  The wheels are called PVA sponge resin bonded silicon carbide polishing wheels.  One source had them at $8.50 ea + shipping so for $16 for a set of five is a bargain.  Doesn't seem like many US distributors carry them but there seem tobe lots of mfrs in China and India.  Main use appears to be for stone polishing but they work great for steel, both stainless and mild.Steve
Reply:Those are interesting. I think they a similar to a polishing disk I used on a metal bird skull. They were in my Dremel box. Grey color. Reminded me of the material pink pencil erasers are/were made of.200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:Originally Posted by bert the welderThose are interesting. I think they a similar to a polishing disk I used on a metal bird skull. They were in my Dremel box. Grey color. Reminded me of the material pink pencil erasers are/were made of.
Reply:get some flap wheels youll be better off. the wheels you have from harbor freight are a knock off of pva wheels designed to polish stone and porcelin tile. i use them to bullnose tile and stone they list as for metal use as well but wont last long and can break apart if ya lean on them they also must only be used on a 4 inch grinder . i use lehigh valley  dont use HF flap wheels ther crap 350P 30A spool gun cut master 51  syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off
Reply:I used good quality flap wheels (Norton, I think) and a 5" resin wheel to cut the major part of the rust off then used the PVA pads to get rid of the swirl marks.  The one 40 grit PVA pad I used lasted for several hours and the Makita 4.5" angle grinder I used complained before the pad did when I put pressure on it.  All the applications I saw for the PVA wheels on the Internet stated they were for stone but the worked for me on the steel as well.  I also used it to polish  up a stailness BBQ grill and they worked file there too.  Problem is they are not easy to find.Thanks for all the comments.Steve
Reply:im sure you could achieve the same with smaller grit  flaps if you like using the pva just be carful cause they can fly apart and do some damage at high speeds especially if they get dinged and become unbalanced i like these http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com...in-Flap/Detail  ive gotten a pretty good shine with rolocs 350P 30A spool gun cut master 51  syncro 250 other stuff " take a dog off the street and make him prosper and he will not bite you sad the same cannot be said for man" i didnt use punctuation just to piss you off