Ok so I'm doing the things I mentioned a couple posts back and attached are some pics of where I'm at. My main focus right now is re-lacing the wheels and polishing the frame.
Polishing the frame-how I do it:
As many of you know these frames were clear coated at the factory. Over time places get worn or nicked and oxidized. The first thing I did was strip the clear coat with a paint remover and thinner. Next I started with a 220 wet sand (all sanding was done wet) on only the areas where there was a nick, scrape, or gouge. A couple of these were too deep to remove but will not be very noticeable when polished. Next I hit the whole bike with 400. For some reason the clear stayed on the tubes pretty well and I could have probably got by with 800 but it was just easier by the time I hit the trouble spots to do everything. Next I went to 600, 800, 1000 and finally 1500. Expect to spend some serious time with your bike if you do this! I'm sure there are a number of good aluminum polishes but I like Mothers mag polish which I do by hand first and then finish with a buffing wheel last. I intend to use Johnsons paste wax to seal it. I've seen this used on polished steel parts and it hold up pretty well. I'm sure some of you have access to better tools or materials and you could skin this cat any number of ways. Also if you have a really nice frame you can go to a finer grit right away and save a lot of time.
The thing I wanted to be careful of, and why I did so much by hand, was that I didn't want to loose the crispness of the edges on the hex tubes which could happen if you get aggressive/careless with power tools. Hopefully only one more set of in progress and then final pics.
Notes about pics; notice the seat and the pattern-not leather, last pic is of 600 with light polish on head tube. Should shine up quite a bit more when finished. Lastly the light you see has a repo top and the main part is from a steel early postwar bike that I will modify (where lines are drawn) to be correct for the Hex Tube. I will do a separate post when I restore the light. V/r Shawn