How to Mirror Polish Copper Sheet

Need to mirror polish copper sheet? This week we were visited by a manufacturer of premium non-ferrous metal furniture.  They needed to mirror polish copper table tops for a very demanding customer.  So how did we got on?

Copper table before mirror polishing with the Cibo Finimaster using FMPM polishing wheels

The copper table tops were in pretty good condition. Mostly fine scratches in the surface, except for one deep scratch which caught the finger nail when drawn across the surface.

Even so we decided to go directly to a polishing mop with our PV101 (green polishing soap).  The wheel was mounted onto the Cibo Finimaster Pro polishing machine with an initial speed setting of 4.

Simple Polishing Process:

1. Apply the PV/101 polishing soap onto the rotating face of a new FMPM/120110 flannel polishing wheel. Ensure there is a good coating of polish on the mop. Run the mop over the copper surface at a consistent pressure.  Within a few seconds the surface will turn black as the polish begins to work. Very quickly you will see a bright copper surface appear in the gaps.
2. Once you can see the surface brightening, Gradually reduce the mop pressure as the copper surface begins to appear polished. This will remove some of the excess polish and also brighten the surface further.
3. Clean any excess polish off the surface with a lint free cloth and the Vienna Chalk (PV103).  If there are any remnant deeper scratches then repeat stage 1. In this particular trial we had to remove one deeper scratch.
4. Take a second flannel polishing wheel ( FMPM/120110). Apply the pink polishing soap (PV102) to the rotating mop. Repeat the polishing process as in stage 1. Don’t forget to back off the pressure towards the end of the process.
5. Clean the remnant polish from the surface with a lint free cloth and the Vienna Chalk (PV103). 

n.b. It is important to ensure that all the residue polish has been removed before going to stage 3.

The results I am sure you will agree were impressive.  In a couple of minutes we had gone from dull, tarnished copper to a bright mirror finish. And a very happy customer.

Technical Details:

PV/101 is a Cut & Colour compound with a high grease content. The high grease content makes it particularly suitable for non-ferrous metals which can ‘drag’ easily under the wrong conditions.

PV/102 is a high gloss finish compound.  Not quite as greasy as the PV/101. PV/102 is suitable for the bright final finish stage.

PV/103 Vienna Chalk is the best way to remove any remnant polishing compound after the polishing process.

FMPM/120110 is an airflow polishing wheel constructed with a premium soft flannel fabric which mounts onto a variable speed grinders and the Finimaster Pro via an M14 thread fixing.