Any suggestions....

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inkjunkie

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on how to make a headlight bucket look like this one?

View attachment americansuspensionblackvelvet.jpg

Have spent some time searching and have not found a bucket similar to this one. Was at a bike gathering a while back and there was a guy that went after his chrome exhaust with steel wool and got a similar look. Wondering if that was what was done here? If that is what was done can;t help but wonder how it will hold up?
 
maybe powdercoating with a satin finish? Or is that more of a brushed finish? I can't tell from the pic. Either way, if you take steel wool to the chrome to get the brushed finish, unless you put a clear satin over it, it will rust (unless it is actually stainless)
 
"Brushed Chrome" (Finish # US26D) Is just that #0000 steel wool, will get the job done, but you still need to seal it when done.
Remember, steel has a "grain", just like wood. If you're going to do that, work WITH the grain.
 
maybe powdercoating with a satin finish? Or is that more of a brushed finish? I can't tell from the pic. Either way, if you take steel wool to the chrome to get the brushed finish, unless you put a clear satin over it, it will rust (unless it is actually stainless)
Clear satin as in a clear coat?

"Brushed Chrome" (Finish # US26D) Is just that #0000 steel wool, will get the job done, but you still need to seal it when done.
Remember, steel has a "grain", just like wood. If you're going to do that, work WITH the grain.
Will the grain be visible with the chrome plating over it?

That looks like brushed aluminum........
That is what I thought but.....

I agree since so many of the parts on the bike are aluminum.
have spent some time hunting for a brushed aluminum headlight bucket with zero luck. The bucket on this bike has the same exact shape of several chrome buckets I have seen and after seeing that guys bike at the get together, his exhaust looked exactly like this, cant help but wonder if it is steel wooled chrome?

Going to put the picture on my phone and go visit the powder coaters to see what they have to say....
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwrk0SwDJhI&feature=pyv&ad=3046194902"]metal spinning - YouTube[/ame]

The exhaust you mentioned sounds like brushed stainless. A friend had some custom pipes like that, sweet!
 
metal spinning - YouTube

The exhaust you mentioned sounds like brushed stainless. A friend had some custom pipes like that, sweet!

No Sir, I asked the owner of the bike. He & is slightly drunk buddy said they both were sitting around a fire having a few beers and "scrubbing" the exhaust....which they both said was chrome....If I go out to the get together next spring in Troy MT. pretty sure I will see him again...

Interesting video. Have a neighbor with a lathe, Leroy, who just turned 78 still maintains his 2 airplanes and is always looking for different ways to make things. He very well may be interested in trying this out....

Thank You...
 
Here is one that is kind of shaped like that but it isn't brushed. It has an eyebrow and is aluminum.

[ame="http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-1-ALUMINIUM-CUSTOM-CHROME-HEADLIGHT-LAMPS-FIT-FOR-HARLEY-DAVIDSON-MOTORCYCLE-/281409800307?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item418554c873&vxp=mtr"]6 1" Aluminium Custom Chrome Headlight Lamps Fit for Harley Davidson Motorcycle | eBay[/ame]
 
Could easily be brushed chrome, would be hell to keep it from oxidizing like that, but then you just have it powder coated clear. Hell with some experimenting you could probably achieve that look with paint.
 
I had some chrome parts on a Gibson guitar that I refinished
glassbead blasted and they looked similar to that.
I took it to a pard of mine that worked for NAPA and
we shot it lightly at low pressure.
 
On some of the cast aluminum parts from brit bikes I would sand out deep nicks and scratches then re-polish. The aluminum would look alot like that when sanded in one direction only. You could experiment on a piece of scrap with some 80 grit.
 
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