Metal Polishing Air Tools

Angle Grinder

• Air grinders are pistol-gripped tools that are fitted with grinding pads ranging from 36-grit to 120-grit. They are used to smooth the surface of rough metals, such as those that are severely rusted or have rough edges that must be smoothed prior to using finer-grit polishing tools. Air grinders should not be used on soft metals such as tin, copper, aluminum or brass due to the amount of material that is removed. Ideal surfaces are steel or iron.

Dual-Action Sander

• Dual-action sanders range in size from 5-inch pads to as large as 8-inch pads. These air tools are used for the next stage in polishing rough metals. They have a softer pad than air grinders, making them less harsh on the metal. The sandpaper used with dual-action sanders ranges from 36-grit to as much as 3,000-grit. When polishing metals, it is best to begin with 400- to 800-grit sandpaper, and work up through at least 2,000-grit sandpaper before switching to polishing compounds.

Orbital Buffers

• Using an air-powered orbital buffer to polish large surface areas of metal greatly speeds up the process. Orbital buffers use a foam or wool pad moistened with polishing compound of varying grit. The polishing compound acts as a progressively finer grit abrasive, ranging from 3,000-grit to as much as 6,000-grit, with specialty polishes called "haze removers," which have an even higher grit.

Die Grinders

• Die grinders can be fitted with a variety of cutting heads, but they also work well with polishing pads. In this way, they work similarly to a Dremel tool, allowing you to polish metal in areas that are hard to reach using an orbital buffer. The die grinder's head chuck that holds the grinding disc in place uses a screw to secure it into position. This screw has a wide head that holds cloth polishing wheels securely in place during the polishing operation. Additionally, air-powered die grinders allow you to vary the tool's speed by adjusting the amount of air allowed into the tool.