Goldie Restore - Cleaning Tubes

[PG-Zac]

I have been doing some tests of technique for cleaning the various tubes on my Goldie. I will be posting some pics of methods & results as I go along.

Here is a drill holder I got years ago when I bought a cutting disk for my drill. I haven't used this rig for years, but it is now earning its place in my "Good-to-Have" tool collection. It is adjustable in all directions except length.


This first "Tubes" post deals with the extension table legs. These legs are from my clone machine and were chromed but a lot of the chrome had been rusted out. This evening I used a sanding drum to hold the tube in my drill and used a cable tie to set & hold the drill trigger.


I used sandpaper grits 80 - 100 - 120 - 180 - 280 - 360 - 600 (wet). Followed by paste wax applied to the spinning tube with fine steelwool and buffed off with a polishing cloth.

Here is the result showing before & after.

[wannabewoodworker]

Well that came out mint! I had to do my Mark VII tubes manually and they did not come out as nice as my Greenie tubes. But I had my Mark VII to spin the Greenie tubes with so it took a lot less time and they came out much nicer. I only used 220 and then 440 wet/dry and then used Mothers Polish on them and then buffed them shiny. They came out pretty good but had some deep pitting that I just didn't want to remove as it would take off too much material. I can position the pitted areas on the bottom and they won't be visible so no big deal.