Minor scratches or chips on the car body do not need to be fixed in specialized workshops, nor do you need to buy paints and putties in stores. WITH minor damage and copes well with uneven surfaces. This action will correct the shortcomings and save a significant part of the budget. All motorists have a lot of questions about polishing technologies, related products for polishing work, costs, grinding machines and many others. The main one is the possibility of correct and high-quality polishing of a car at home.
Is the game worth the candle?
Environment, trips out of town and not always quality road surface lead to cracks, chips and scratches on the body and bumpers. Impact of direct sun rays exposes paint to fading, resulting in the need for renovation or repair paint coating car.
There are a lot of opinions on polishing and minor repairs, and some believe that polishing a car with an angle grinder can lead to even worse results. This opinion can be called erroneous because the correct and accurate approach to work and choice the required technology will allow you to get excellent results.
When choosing the right materials You can restore even the most neglected car to its original state. Initially, you need to determine the scope of work and select the appropriate paste and polish, among which there are several types:
- abrasive and non-abrasive - this applies to paste and polish;
- silicone polishes;
- restorative polishes.
Pastes are marked; for abrasive pastes the designations J3, J6, J7, J10 and M3 are used. Polish pastes are in demand. It is worth remembering that the polishing spray is designed to provide the final look and shine.
When preparing the body, fine sandpaper P 2000 is used. It clogs quickly, so it is necessary to frequently wet the surface with water. This fine sandpaper will get rid of deep scratches and paint chips.
Abrasive polishes are used to remove scuffs and scratches from car paintwork. Treatment with this product removes a slight layer of varnish, after which it will need to be restored. On next stage protective silicone polish is applied. It fills the smallest cracks, micro-scratches and adds shine.
In order not to perform the entire range of work manually, the car is processed with a grinder. When working, special circles are used. For grinding machines, eccentric ones with high runout speeds are chosen. Better to buy professional tool, for example, brands such as Makita or Bosch.
For the average motorist
For minor damage it will be enough an ordinary grinder or hand drill. The processing circles are made of wool or foam rubber. The tool must have a speed regulator to avoid unnecessary scratches and abrasions. The desired type of paste is applied to the circle and a little to the work area.
Polishing should be done crosswise, gradually moving vertically and horizontally. This will allow you to apply the paste evenly and properly treat the surface, the main thing is that the paste does not dry out while working. Polishing is carried out until the desired shine appears. All excess paste is wiped off with a soft cloth or napkin.
After the area is polished, silicone paste is applied and the same actions are carried out with a softer circle. The whole job takes several hours. The final stage Apply a protective layer using a soft cloth or a special mitten. The layer should be distributed evenly so that there is no excess polishing left; all drips should be removed with a napkin.
Advantages of the method
Such a low-cost and accessible method for every car enthusiast will allow not only corrections for minor damage, but also giving the car a well-groomed appearance. The technology is simple, and it won’t be difficult to do all the work yourself. In this way, headlights, bumpers and windows can be perfected.
When processing headlights, do not use silicone polishes. In some cases, it may be necessary to treat the headlight glasses with sandpaper R 600-800, it all depends on their original condition.
About prices
If we calculate the approximate cost of the entire amount of work, then car centers for polishing will announce a price of 150 USD. The price includes polishing with all the products offered by the center. It is not always possible to be sure of an excellent result when placing a car in the wrong hands. Moreover, many of these services do not bear responsibility.
The work done yourself will cost much less. On average, a can of polishing paste in an authorized store will cost more than 15 USD. One can is enough for five cars. will cost 5 USD If you don’t have a grinder or polishing machine, you can borrow it from friends or rent it; in extreme cases, a drill with the ability to adjust the speed will do. As a result, the total amount will be no more than 30 USD. In addition to significant savings, there will be confidence in quality work made with your own hands.
Why polish?
Polishing may be necessary not only for minor damage or scratches. With the help of abrasive pastes and cleaning agents it is possible to maintain it in almost its original form. Polishing the instrument panel, headlights and bumpers will keep it in perfect condition. The main thing is to choose the right type means for certain work.
Abrasives gradually remove top coats of varnish and paint; constant polishing will have the opposite effect.
If there is no need to process the car body, there is no need to abuse abrasive polishing. This can result in complete removal of the paintwork, right down to the metal, which will require more expensive paint restoration, varnish application and final polishing.
A grinding or polishing machine is required for painting work. There are many models of such devices available in tool stores and other retail outlets. However, in some cases it is advisable to create a polishing machine yourself. This article discusses various options such homemade devices and the process of their creation is described.
The simplest polishing machine
The easiest way to make your own is a polishing machine designed to work with grinding discs. To create this device you will need the following main parts:
- electric motor;
- power unit;
- battery.
The electric motor can be removed from various electrical tools and appliances. For example, components of a computer power supply or disk drive are suitable.
You can also use an electric motor from a fan, and a household battery is suitable to drive the electric motor.
In addition to the above components, you will need a board, which needs to be sanded with sandpaper. Next, the battery and electric motor are secured to the board with screws and connected with wires. It is also necessary to install a switch in this electrical circuit, securing it to the board. The wires should be secured with a stapler to prevent loosening.
The working element of the structure under consideration is represented by a circle. You can use branded products or you can make a sanding disc from sandpaper with your own hands. To do this you need to cut from the fragment source material two sectors and fasten them together with their back sides, gluing them together.
To ensure the drive of the abrasive disk from the axis of the electric motor, two bushings will be required. The diameter of these devices is determined based on the corresponding parameter of the motor axis. It should be taken into account that different electric motors have axles of different diameters. The sanding machine in question can be used to process both wood and metal surfaces, including during body work.
Motor and polishing discs
Remember that the functional parameters of such a homemade grinding machine are determined by the individual parts from which it is assembled. In this regard, you should use an electric motor from a fan, since the motor from a computer has less power, which may not be enough for some types of work. In addition, sanding discs made of sandpaper are not optimal devices of this type. Instead, you can purchase branded circles without large diameter, for example, for a drill.
You can create a more powerful stationary version of the grinding machine with your own hands. For it you can use a motor from washing machine and equipped with large diameter grinding wheels. In addition to polishing discs, such a device can be equipped with sharpening and abrasive discs.
Belt sander
The working element of machines of this type is an abrasive sanding belt. Operating principle tape devices consists of rotation abrasive tape, connected in a ring, driven by an engine through a transmission and drums. One of the drums is the leading one, and the other is the driven one. The first of them is driven by an electric motor through a transmission, usually represented by a belt drive.
Some belt sanders are equipped with a device that allows you to change the speed of rotation of the drive drum, which ensures that different modes work. The tape can be located on the frame vertically, obliquely or horizontally, depending on the purpose of the device. To adjust the degree of tension, a tension roller is used. Since grinding work is characterized by the release large quantity dust, preferably Grinder was equipped with an exhaust device.
It must be taken into account that many design features grinding machine, such as, for example, the diameter of the drums, rotation speed, grain size, the dimensions of the abrasive belt, the design of the work table, which determine the main functional parameters of the device in question, are selected depending on its purpose. The following types of working surfaces are classified for the processing of which grinding machines are oriented: curved, flat, edges and ends, intermediate layers of paint and varnish coating.
What is a grinder made of?
You can create your own belt sanding machine based on an industrial design, which involves moving the belt over flat surface working table with the abrasive part facing outwards. Wherein homemade device will differ from its branded counterpart in its larger size and stationary installation. For these works you will need an electric motor, for example, from a washing machine, wooden or metal panel, chipboard, material for abrasive tape, glue.
Since the transmission in the form of a gearbox or belt drive significantly complicates the design of the tool in question, homemade models try not to use it. To do this, you can equip the device with an electric motor with a power of 2-3 kW with a rotor speed of 1500 rpm.
In this case, with a drive shaft radius of 10 cm, the belt will move at a speed of about 15 m/s. It should be taken into account that the design in question does not provide for adjustment of the belt rotation speed. However, it is possible to regulate the degree of tension due to the fact that the tension shaft, rotating on bearings to reduce friction, is fixed to fixed axis, which can be offset relative to the desktop. The drive shaft is fixed to the electric motor shaft.
You can make a work table for such a grinding machine yourself from wooden beam or sheet metal. It should be borne in mind that metal options allow you to process more complex objects. The dimensions of the working table of the tool in question are determined based on the dimensions of the belt and the distance between the axes of the shafts, as well as its purpose. Bevels should be made near the shafts in the work table in order to ensure smooth contact of the tape with it.
Drums can also be made by yourself. Chipboard can be used as a source material for these elements. Squares with side lengths of 20 cm are cut out of the slab in such quantities that their total thickness when superimposed on each other is about 25 cm. Then these blanks must be turned into disks with a diameter of 20 cm by processing lathe. You can process the cut fragments separately, but it is more convenient to grind them all at once, placing them on the axle and clamping them. It should be taken into account that the drums must have edges of a larger diameter in comparison with the central part to automatically hold the tape.
Where can I get the tape?
The sanding belt can be made by hand using paper or fabric. The second option is considered more preferable. The fabric can be represented by calico or twill. It should also be taken into account that the rare filling of the belt with abrasive grains, amounting to less than 70%, allows you to reduce the degree of filling it with dust during operation.
The main characteristic of an abrasive belt is the grain size. This parameter is determined based on the number of the sieve through which they can leak. Based on grain size, abrasive belts are divided into coarse-grained (12-80), medium-grained (80-160), and fine-grained (160-4000).
Abrasive grains can be presented artificial materials or minerals with high hardness, such as, for example, silicon carbide, corundum. They are fixed to the base by gluing or electrically. In the first case, the grains are evenly poured onto the surface of the base, previously coated with an adhesive in the form of synthetic resins or hide glue. Electric field used to orient abrasive grains with sharp edges upward, which increases the functionality of the belt.
You can make a belt for a sanding machine with your own hands from sandpaper in the form of rolls, which are cut into fragments of the required size.
It should be taken into account that the length of the tape is determined by the method of fastening the ends of the cut fragment. It is possible to connect them at an angle, butt and overlap. In the first case, the ends are cut at an angle of 45° and a fabric overlay is glued under the joint. Overlapping joint requires pre-cleaning hot water a fragment of one of the ends 8-10 cm from the abrasive grains. Then the cleaned area is covered with glue and the back side of the other end of the tape is placed on it and the junction is compressed. Optimal thickness abrasive belt is 200 mm. A roll of source material 1 m long is enough for 5 tapes.
You need to cut the frame yourself from a thick sheet of metal. At least one of its sides must be cut straight to accommodate the mounting of the motor platform by screwing three bolts through pre-drilled holes in the frame.
Very convenient, manual tape- grinder You can make it from a grinder with your own hands. With the help of such a tool it is good to sharpen an ax, knives, etc. Treat the surface at any angle, giving it a flat plane. In general, anyone who works with iron or wood will appreciate this mini machine.
Sharpening cutting edge ax:
With this sharpening, the corner will not float away.
How to make a belt sander from an angle grinder
The mount for the angle grinder will be made from a piece of thick steel, about 10 mm thick. We drill a hole for the neck of the angle grinder.
We cut a wide slot.
Using a grinder we cut off the fastening.
Next, we clean and polish so that everything looks beautiful and safe.
We drill a hole from the legs of the clamping device.
Then cut a thread on the wide side.
As a result, this mount can easily be put on the angle grinder and clamped so that everything is held tightly.
Let's try it on.
Now you need to make a roller that will rotate the sandpaper tape. We take chipboard and use large diameter bits to cut out round pieces. To obtain a wide roller, we glue the round pieces together.
Then feather drill Let's drill a hole in all of them at once.
Then we clamp it in a vice and use a triangular file to make an internal hole for the hexagon.
Like this.
We take a wide nut and make notches on the planes with a file.
They are needed to help the nut stay in the wood better.
We dilute two-component glue on epoxy based and glue the knurled nut into the wooden roller.
After the glue has dried, clamp the roller into the lathe.
We sew under the ellipse. This is necessary so that the tape does not fly off. Then sand it with sandpaper until smooth.
It came to the second video. It is made of three bearings pressed onto the main line.
Let's make two such ears.
We put it on the edges of the protruding shaft.
Let's weld the plate. The result was a U-shaped part holding the roller.
To prevent the shaft from flying out, we fix it by welding
Now let's make the frame. It will take two steel pipes of different diameters so that one fits into the other.
A flat overlay is welded onto a larger diameter pipe. It is needed in order to press on the tape while sanding.
We weld a roller of bearings to a thin pipe.
We take a ring of sandpaper (sold in hardware stores), insert the pipe into the pipe and estimate the approximate size of the entire device.
We saw off the long ends of the pipes. We make a wide groove in a thin pipe, and a hole in a thick pipe.
We weld a nut to the hole.
To the ring mount - a section from the pipe.
Even if you purchase and install the necessary additional accessories on the angle grinder, this still does not mean anything. Treatment different materials requires certain knowledge. Without this, it will be difficult to achieve the desired quality.
This question can be confusing, because this is exactly what an angle grinder is - an angle grinder. But it is very universal and must be prepared for each operation. To prepare the grinder for grinding, you need to purchase a support wheel that is installed directly on the machine shaft.
To process wood, you need to stick an emery pad on this circle. The number of sandpaper is selected for the immediate moment of work. On sale you can find both a grinding wheel of the required diameter and sanding wheels appropriate size. Sanding wheels with Velcro are also available for sale, which are very easy and quick to change on the tool.
To convert our grinder for grinding concrete, it will be good decision purchase a special protective boot. It is good because it has a connection for connecting a vacuum cleaner. Well-known housings are produced by Hilti. The casing from this company has a sliding sector that opens part of the wheel for grinding in the corners.
Grinding metals with a grinder is usually performed with standard metal grinding wheels. They have different diameters, different thickness and different grains of the grinding surface. But, if you are going to sand an indecently rusted surface, then first you need to go over it with a metal brush. Such brushes required diameters also on sale.
https://youtu.be/vDs1gBM_MW4
How to grind with a grinder
We must not forget that sanding always involves a lot of dust. When preparing for sanding, don't forget about yourself! A protective mask and respirator are the best assistants when grinding. You can also find an option where the mask is combined with a good respirator.
The respirator filter will clog very quickly, so you need to prepare several pieces at once for prompt replacement. Only after thorough preparatory work can you begin sanding.
Sanding wood + (Video)
Wood is a unique material. It can be sanded quite well by hand, but with a grinder you can achieve very good results. Some snobs claim that you can’t grind with a grinder at all, but this is due to ignorance and inability.
The main secret is that the grinder is used at minimum speed. If the grinder has a speed switch, then there will be no problems. At high speeds, the sandpaper will become clogged with wood very quickly and very tightly. In this mode, it will not be enough for even five minutes of work. The optimal speed is no more than 6000 rpm. 
Another secret is not to sand the entire area of the wheel. If you sand the entire surface, circular marks will remain on the wood. To ensure that there are no sandpaper marks left at all or that they are minimal, you need to sand only with the upper sector of the wheel. The movements of the machine should be along the grain of the wood.
Using this method you can get excellent results when sanding lining. The board becomes smooth and does not retain tool marks. Just don’t get carried away and change the sanding pads on the wheel in time. 
The frame is polished in a similar way. Here it is desirable that the support plate is thin around the edge. With such a plate it will be easier to sand narrow junctions of logs. Otherwise, this work will have to be completed with a chisel.
We work on concrete + (Video)
If you were unable to purchase a branded protective boot with a nozzle for a vacuum cleaner, then you can make it yourself. To do this, take a used putty or glue bucket with a diameter slightly larger than the circle of the grinder. Cutting off bottom part at a height slightly greater than the assembled sanding part. 
We cut a hole in the bottom for installation on the gearbox and a hole for the plastic plumbing corner outlet. Now we connect the vacuum cleaner hose to the nozzle and work quietly.
The grinding wheel must be designed for stone processing. Concrete and concrete surfaces It is preferable to grind the entire surface of the wheel. This will save processing time and level the surface well.
When grinding a concrete floor, you must constantly control the plane using a construction ruler, because due to the different densities of concrete, indentations can be made. For processing joining seams between concrete pours It will be enough to achieve one combination in level.
It is good to grind concrete floors and surfaces with a Matrix diamond grinding cup. If the grinder is 150 mm, then the cup is 125 mm.
Grinding metal surfaces + (Video)
The metal is polished to different requirements. Most often, the metal is ground for painting or for further polishing. The main tool is a support cup with replaceable sanding pads. The selection of sandpaper depends on the degree of processing and the condition of the metal. 
When sanding, you only need to work with part of the disc. There should be no untreated areas left on the surface.
It is advisable to coat the treated surfaces of ordinary steel with a primer. Moisture in the air can very quickly coat the metal and cause rust.
When working with wooden surface is coming to an end, the final polishing stage begins. To perform grinding without burrs, scratches, and to beautifully round sharp corners of any part, you need to use a wood sander. This tool will help you perform professional grinding even for a beginner who picks up the machine for the first time. If you wish, you can make a grinding machine yourself, using only available tools.
The industry produces several types of machines, differing both in design and purpose. Here are the main ones:
- Eccentric or orbital, in this case the base of the tool simultaneously rotates around its axis and along a certain orbit. It turns out that each time it passes in a slightly different place, so scratches and burrs are rubbed out more and more with each pass.
- Vibration model. Here the working sole carries out reciprocating movements with a frequency of about 20,000 movements per minute. It is through these movements that grinding occurs.
- An angle grinder, which is popularly called a “grinder”. Using this tool, rough processing of parts, large logs, etc. is carried out. Abrasive wheels of the required grain size are used for processing.
- A belt sander typically used for large surface jobs. Structurally, it consists of rollers driven by an electric motor, on which sanding tape is worn.
Making a belt sander with your own hands + (Video)
Making a belt sander yourself is not at all difficult; you need to complete the following steps:
- pick up suitable materials and details;
- do solid foundation for securing the tool;
- install a suitable tabletop;
- secure vertical racks with tensioner and drum;
- mount the motor and drums;
- secure with sanding tape.
To process fairly large parts and elements, it is necessary to make a large copy of a serial grinder. For example, if you take an electric motor with a power of 2 kW or more powerful with a rotor speed of 1500 rpm, then you don’t need to install a gearbox. The power of such an engine is quite enough to rotate a drum about 20 cm in diameter and process parts of about 2 m.
You can also use an electric motor from an old one washing machine. In this case, the frame is made from a thick sheet of iron, preparing a place for installing the motor and carefully securing it with bolts to eliminate vibration. The design of such a machine consists of 2 drums, one of which is fixed, and the second can be tensioned and rotates on bearings around an axis. It is advisable to make the base for the machine from metal or several sheets of thick plywood. The drums are made on a lathe from chipboard. The tape is cut from sandpaper sheets about 20 cm wide and secured to the frame. The larger the table size, the larger the parts can be stacked and processed in the future. Blueprints finished products can be found on the web.
https://youtu.be/vDs1gBM_MW4
Making a grinder from a grinder
Many may say that the “grinder” is the same as an angle grinder, but there are some subtleties hidden here. It should be borne in mind that the angle grinder has very high speeds and often quite a decent weight. To polish a surface with a grinder, you need to have considerable experience in this matter and use special polishing discs and circles. The grinder has much lower engine speed and weight. To operate a factory grinding machine, no specific experience or skill is required.
You can independently make a good grinder from a grinder, which is not inferior in its parameters to a factory machine, only by modifying it electrical diagram, by installing the regulator at lower speeds and by using special grinding attachments.
Making a grinder from a drill
To turn ordinary, household electric drill The grinding machine must be equipped with a special attachment - a working drum or a special support plate, depending on the task at hand.
The support or sanding pad is a plastic or rubber base with sandpaper glued on and a shank for clamping into the drill chuck. Plates with a flexible shaft are suitable for working with a loose drill, while those with a rigid shaft are best used only for a well-fixed drill.
Sanding drums for household drill Structurally, they consist of a regular cylinder, a shank and sandpaper glued to the cylinder. When using drums working surface The grinder is located parallel to the axis of rotation.
Making an orbital sander
Currently, you can only make an orbital machine with your own hands from a broken orbital machine. This is due to a complex device for rotating the working disk, which is quite problematic to replicate on your own. You should also keep in mind that a machine manufactured by a specialized company will not cost too much, but making it yourself will be very difficult and will take a lot of time.
Making a grinder from a computer hard drive + (Video)
Any old hard drive can be converted into a miniature grinding machine. To do this you need to follow these steps:
- completely disassemble the hard drive and remove from the case everything that is located to the left of the magnetic disks;
- cut out a working circle from sandpaper, make a hole in the center of the circle for the spindle;
- stick several strips of double-sided tape onto the rotating disk of the hard drive and secure it with sandpaper;
- make a protective screen to protect the eyes from the possible ejection of the manufactured sanding disc;
- to plug finished design to the power supply from the computer and use it.
Of course, this design does not have high power, but sharpen small knife or scissors is quite possible.