vacuumfreeeke
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,997
Well, you know how old a Kirby DualSanitronic 80 is... mine has a lot of layers of tarnish on it! I've done OK on the "big" parts with a lot of elbow grease and a polishing attachment for a power drill. But, I am having trouble getting the sides where all the curves are.
My G5 was so much easier to do because it had such nice, big, flat, straight surfaces and not so many years of tarnish.
I know my DS80 won't look as good as some of the others I've seen on this forum... I don't have a bench grinder, as I live in an apartment. But, now that I've gotten the big areas so shiny, the rest of it looks pretty terrible. I've done the power head part, the top of the headlight and the middle, all the way down to between the back wheels. I took the handle and sani-emptor off and will do them separately. But, the sides are perplexing me! I bought a dremel and tried it out, but it didn't do well at all. I bought a single speed model because I didn't want to waste a lot of money not knowing how well it would work, so it's always turning at 3,500 RPMs. How much pressure does one put on the dremel bit, and how long should it be left in one area? Is there a better way?
Also, my power head part has a deep scratch in the metal, dare I take really fine sandpaper to it?
I'm using turtle wax polishing compound, then following up with mother's metal polish. Then I buff with the buffing attachment.
Thanks for any advice you can offer... I'll post before and after pics once I'm finished. It started out fun, but now it's a little overwhelming... I've got vacuum parts all over my apartment! And to think I still have 2 Royals to do (one I got halfway started on and then diverted my attention to the Kirbys), and a Heritage 2 (which should go smoothly since it has big areas and I've already hand polished it in the past)!
My G5 was so much easier to do because it had such nice, big, flat, straight surfaces and not so many years of tarnish.
I know my DS80 won't look as good as some of the others I've seen on this forum... I don't have a bench grinder, as I live in an apartment. But, now that I've gotten the big areas so shiny, the rest of it looks pretty terrible. I've done the power head part, the top of the headlight and the middle, all the way down to between the back wheels. I took the handle and sani-emptor off and will do them separately. But, the sides are perplexing me! I bought a dremel and tried it out, but it didn't do well at all. I bought a single speed model because I didn't want to waste a lot of money not knowing how well it would work, so it's always turning at 3,500 RPMs. How much pressure does one put on the dremel bit, and how long should it be left in one area? Is there a better way?
Also, my power head part has a deep scratch in the metal, dare I take really fine sandpaper to it?
I'm using turtle wax polishing compound, then following up with mother's metal polish. Then I buff with the buffing attachment.
Thanks for any advice you can offer... I'll post before and after pics once I'm finished. It started out fun, but now it's a little overwhelming... I've got vacuum parts all over my apartment! And to think I still have 2 Royals to do (one I got halfway started on and then diverted my attention to the Kirbys), and a Heritage 2 (which should go smoothly since it has big areas and I've already hand polished it in the past)!
