MS19087

MS19087

Well Known Member
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I am considering having my Sensenich aluminum spinner polished to a high shine. I could spend hrs doing it myself, but wanted to know if there is a shop that does this. Any suggestions appreciated . . .
 
Someplace like this

http://suprememetaltradeworks.com/Home_Page.php

You can probably find an outfit in PA as well under 'Metal Polishing'.

The linked shop is owned by an old buddy of mine that I haven't seen in years. He and I worked in his dad's machine and polishing shop back in the late 60's. Looks like he's still at it.

You want to find a place that caters to the show-rods crowd. Those guys demand perfection. The testimonials page will give you some questions to ask of a shop.

We also did lots of spinners way back in the day.

BTW. Be sure to check out the 'About' page. Phil's dad was one of those no nonsense, "its perfect or its scrap" kind of guys that taught us kids many of life's better lessons. And Junior was just a freakin' artist with a polishing lathe.
 
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Beauty Costs...How Pretty Do You Want It?

I am considering having my Sensenich aluminum spinner polished to a high shine. I could spend hrs doing it myself, but wanted to know if there is a shop that does this. Any suggestions appreciated . . .
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Jumping in here...Anybody have an idea what such a polish job might cost?
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You see that subject title? Those words were coined by my childhood best friend and hung prominently above the doorway of his small aircraft restoration/paint shop. One of the hardest workers I ever knew, at age 60 he suddenly died in his sleep a week ago. No one saw it coming. Here's to you Angelo.

The new Sensenich spinner arrived sporting a rich golden hue and circular grooves throughout that seemed as rough and deep as an old vinyl LP record. First, I removed those many hundreds of circular grooves using a series of fine 2" scothbrite pads fitted to my right angle die grinder. The scotchbrite pads did the job well and quickly removed most of the surface grooves. From then on, all polishing was accomplished by a vertically attached buffing wheel fitted to my floor mounted drill press and I simply "walked" the spinner around that buffing wheel by hand. That was the entire extent of my polishing tools. At that time, I did not even know what Nuvite was so I used what I thought would do the job, Mother's and Sears rubbing compound. It worked.

2vhus93.jpg

For those not willing to invest in the relatively few hours it takes polish a factory raw Sensenich spinner to a high luster I will, but I don't come cheap. Labor is everything and this ain't the Phillipines. I'll polish that spinner for you, but it will cost you $375 for my time and effort and you pay the freight, both ways. Guaranteed 3 week turnaround or half your money back. Beauty costs, how pretty do you want it?
 
tinman said:
Jumping in here...
Anybody have an idea what such a polish job might cost?
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Had mine done at a local metal polishing place for $100 bucks...

Turned it in as a painted unit with a few dents, got it back perfectly straight and shining like chrome.
 
UPDATE . . .

Out of curiosity I called Sensenich to ask who they would recommend to polish their spinner. . . the person who answered told me that they stopped polishing spinners because the FAA sent at a bulletin against high chrome finishes on spinner because of glare . . . is this for real?
 
MS19087 said:
Out of curiosity I called Sensenich to ask who they would recommend to polish their spinner. . . the person who answered told me that they stopped polishing spinners because the FAA sent at a bulletin against high chrome finishes on spinner because of glare . . . is this for real?
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It might be an issue for twins where the spinner could blind the pilot but on our planes, it is not an issue for you. Your wingman might complain a little but that's his/her job!
 
Thanks Rick . . .

I'll either do it my self or send it to a local shop I found . . .
 
MS19087 said:
. . . the person who answered told me that they stopped polishing spinners because the FAA sent at a bulletin against high chrome finishes on spinner because of glare . . . is this for real?
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I don't know but I have heard that the FAA dislikes chromed (as in chrome plated) spinners because it leads to embrittlement.
 
My .02

RV7Factory said:
I don't know but I have heard that the FAA dislikes chromed (as in chrome plated) spinners because it leads to embrittlement.
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This is absolutely correct. Years ago, I worked for a shop in Sacramento that was a dealer for single and multi-engine Cessna's. One of the little touches that we did to all of our planes was to install a chrome spinner. On most planes we really had no issues, but there were some planes that we had real problems with. There was a common link to those problems....They all had high horsepower 4 cyl Lycomings! O(IO)-360's of 180-200 hp. We were continually finding cracked spinners and even had a few separate in flight!
It was many years ago, but I do not remember any problems with the smaller Lycomings or the 6 cyl Continentals.
Once we finally stopped with the chroming, we had no more problems. I made a few extra dollars by polishing new spinners, and as long as the renters and mechanics kept their greasy hands off the spinners, they stayed nice and shiny for quite sometime.
After you get it polished to your satisfaction, I recommend a heavy application of a good wax to keep fingerprints and bugs at bay. I do not know what processes some people, but it seems that they just can't keep from putting their greasy fingers on a fine looking spinner!
 
Now that most of the serious discussion is out of the way, I have to say that every time I see this topic in the list I cringe because I'm sure my wife will think it's an euphemism if she spots it... ;)
 
"chrome" fibreglass finish

Now that this thread has well and truly drifted....
has anyone had experience with or looked into putting a chrome polished finish on the Van's fibreglass spinner? I believe that the MT props on the Diamonds have such a finish on the spinner. Obviously embrittlement is not an issue, and there are ads for such finishes (as per earlier post) - has anyone looked into it?
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada
RV-6A finisheing kit
 
C-GRVT said:
Now that this thread has well and truly drifted....
has anyone had experience with or looked into putting a chrome polished finish on the Van's fibreglass spinner? I believe that the MT props on the Diamonds have such a finish on the spinner. Obviously embrittlement is not an issue, and there are ads for such finishes (as per earlier post) - has anyone looked into it?t
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I know someone who did this with chrome paint. The paint was VERY expensive...as in ~$800.00 for half a gallon.
 
I'm surprised it took some many posts . . .

I figured when I came up with the subject title i'd get a few comments . . . I'm just surprised it took 14 posts to go there :D
 
Having my spinner polished

It appears that male pilots think more about flying than the subject foremost on the minds of other males.
 
Sensenich spinner polish

John Frady
9318 Chukar Rd
Yukon OK,8448
406 350 6908

Give him a try he polished mine for less than $100

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