My Shop:Circular patterns-swirls on metal
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- Опубликовано: 17 ноя 2012
- insidemyshop.com in this video I show you my method and process making swirls and circular patterns on metal.this process includes aluminum, sheet metal, stainless steel, and most other metals.
I'm using a small small drill press with a arbor a few polishing pads that I got from harbor freight tools.
Using 120 grit sandpaper I go over the whole area is one direction and try not cross hatch it.
This helps keep the circular patterns uniform throughout your piece of metal.
This process is really simple and can actually be done with the handheld drill, is a little easier.
I'm in the process of making more videos in building my website. I hope that you will come back and visit soon.
Don't forget to subscribe and rate, I appreciate all comments. 
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I always get hung up looking at this kind of finish,. I just got done doing this to the exposed aluminum on some dvds that I split, but wirh a very mild secret abrasive on cotton. It came out better than I thought it would, can't wait to experiment more. Cool video!
Glad that someone decided to make a video of this process. I plan on doing this to the aluminum front skid plate on my FJ Cruiser. Thanks for making the video
Love it thanks new ideias always welcome
I;m currently having a custom pc case made, and I'm going to Use this Technique to mark the top front and side of the case, I think it will look great
Thanks for the tip,I'll give it a try!
Sweet giving it a try right now thanks for the video ...back to the garage
+japbikesrule Thanks for your comment! How'd it turn out?
So very clever! Thanks for sharing your technique!
Thank you,I appreciate your comment!
This is eactly what I've been looking for. I've been experimenting freehand cutting shapes with my powerplasma cutter but needed to find a way to finish them artistically.
Awesome so glad it helped!
Excellent 😎 Thank you.
good job me and a friend of mine did that to a race car a long time ago. but you did a good job showing how its done. BTW those little twisty sanding disc are called Roloc's they come in many size's and grits
Spectacular result. I purchased this set up for my mini drill press. Dazzling results on copper sheet. Cannot wait to try brass or aluminum then translucent paint.
I'm glad it's working out for you. Maybe you could post some pic's of your work sometime.Thanks for the comment.
The effect under translucent paint is great!
Thank you for the quick reply ! Hope you make more videos with different designs like this. I subscribed :)
Thanks for the sub! I am always working on something to create so stay tuned!
good job mate I had never thought of doing that
Thanks Appreciate the comment!
I would love to see you do this on copper that was lacquered. I imagine that the circles would oxidize into the characteristic copper green while the untouched areas would remain red-brown. I have a laquered copper storefront that needs some interest and this might work. What do you think?
Glad you like it,thanks for watching! Ken
Start at one side, overlapping each consecutive swirl, then move to next row, overlapping previous row. Keep rows and overlaps uniform. Or-
Random. I like uniformity....
Depending on your application you could use enamel or clear coat lacquer.
Thanks for the video. In your opinion, what do technique do you think produces the best pattern. E.g. start from the middle and work to the sides, start from one side to the other, something else... Thanks.
Very cool! Wanting to do this on a motorcycle tank and wondered what you'd suggest treating it with to prevent flash rust that only takes minutes to accumulate? Thank you!!
At school we used wood dowel and valve paste.
That's how I'm doing it but a different abrasive.
Hello~I have a question and I thought that with your metal working experience you would be a good person to ask. I have spent a lot of time removing scratches from an old double bowl stainless steel sink using 600 grit sandpaper and Scotch Brite pads. It looks so much better and the re-graining that occurred in the metal doesn't look too bad, but it isn't as perfectly straight as I'd like. I've thought about creating a swirling effect in the sink with the circular pads that you speak of in this video. Do you think I would get a nice looking effect if I used a drill and the circular pads and swirled the metal by moving around the inside surface of the sink without lifting the drill, just keeping the pad in constant contact with the metal? I'm afraid of messing up a good project, but then again, I think a swirl effect would be unusual and may help to camouflage any scratches that I was unable to remove. Thanks for your thoughts.
Original term for this in old motoring and technical books is 'engine-turned' as it needed an engine aka a drill or specially made machine to get the effect.
Vintage cars and planes had plenty of engine-turned panels.
Even today it's available on classy vehicles such as Bentleys:
www.norcorp.com/design-aluminum-surfaces-blog/bid/22409/Engine-Turned-Aluminum
Hmmm. I was thinking of setting up a base board on my press with markings on it so I could have the circles placed uniformly. I'm going to do the kick-plate on my front door.
I was thinking you might be able to improve your swirls if you combined techniques by putting some valve grinding compound on the metal after sanding. thats how you can do it with a wood dowel in the chuck for a smaller pattern.
It's so hard to find good info and videos on this. Thanks for the video. I don't have a drill press, what other tools could I use and get the same results? What grit pads would you recommend? Thanks
I'm sure your project turned out well! Thanks for watching!
Sweet! Just one question.. how to do you keep this from rusting? A few coats of clear enamel?
what is the name of this piece that you use to make the scaly effect
I use a old valve with grit paper .... been doing it for yrs
That was cool. I tried to doing something similar in one of my art classes a while back and I wasn't wearing a dust mask. All I could smell was metal dust for like a week. It was so gross.
Bella I know what you mean by the smell. There are days that after working with so many different materials inside my shop I forget what I worked on. One minute I am smelling metal dust the next it's lacquer paint.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Would this work on Copper as well? Would I need to use different grit on copper?
Very cool! One question, because you speeded up the video I could not tell how long you let the pad contact the metal plate? How much pressure did you apply? Thx!
+Tom's Dreamshop Worx I press and hold for about 3 seconds. As far as how much pressure,not much at all really. The pad does all the work. Thanks for watching!
That pattern style is called Engine Turning. It was popular years ago, primarily on aircraft (Google Charles Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis).
ScottithGames in the U.K. We call it purlidge.
Looks great, Do they sell these wheels at like harbor freight for a regular drill. Just doing some small aluminum parts for boat dashboard. Thanks!
Yes they do. These are from HF.
Thanks for the video,
Kindly mention the wheel type used.
www.harborfreight.com/search?q=2%20In.%20Surface%20Conditioning%20Kit%2011%20Pc.
Love the video please tell me what grid or what brand disc are you using in this video.
The disc used is 80grit and bought at Harbor Freight.
www.harborfreight.com/complete-sanding-disc-kit-43029.html#.UxhmtYX7ScY
bhai konsi city me karte ho ye kam aap
Great video! I am just wondering where I can purchase the sheet metal at. I have always wanted to try this. I have bought alot of metal art and it would be really need to create my own. Thank you so much!!@
You can get various types of sheet metal at Depot or Lowes stores. Thanks for your comment and watching my video!
Hi again - I got the exact pads you used but when I try to do the same pattern it turns out really dull and in the center it doesn't work just around the edges. I am trying to use a regular drill. I notice it kicks hard side to side so I am thinking this is the reason. I don't have access to a drill press and where I live it's a very uncommon tool (central America).
Any tips on how to do this without a DP? A regular drill bucks side to side the second it hits the metal. Also with new sheet metal is sanding it essential? I did not sand it, could this be the reason for the dull finish?
Thanks
Louis you need the pad to be square with the sheet applying equal pressure.The only way I know of is to use a drill press. Do you have any other wood working tools? There are plenty of You Tube videos showing how to make a drill press for use with a hand drill. This may be a good choice for you.
As far as the dull finish I achieved the polished effect by sanding the metal sheet first.
Please show other patterns too
Would like to do this on a motorcycle tank. Are there any pad compatible with a hand drill?
These pads from Harbor Freight will work in a hand drill. However you'll need a steady hand and grip to use it. Keeping the pad flat between pad and metal is key to doing this method.
Do you think I would be able to do it free hand without a drill press?
You would need to have a very steady hand to be consistant in the pattern.Give it a try and let us know your results.
Is there a good way to preserve this finish?
You can do several things depending on the surrounding conditions. Wax,spray clear enamel or lacquer. iF used outside be sure to use UV type clears.
have you ever done any of the swirl brushing on aluminum?
Yes I have,it's been a while. I used Mother's mag polish which gave it an awesome finish.
Inside My Shop ok, thanks. I have done tons of stainless and galvanized. had a customer want some aluminium done and have never done much. ended up doing almost a scratch pattern with real light grit emery cloth at a medium speed and was pretty happy with how it turned out but want to do some messing around with different stuff so I can give customers more options if they ever want aluminum done
Beautiful result - do you seal it then?
You could seal it with a clear lacquer or wax it.
is it able to work on a angled plane?
Guo Feng Try it.
Any chance you could link me to something like the polishing pads you used. I looked around but not sure exactly what ones you used - thanks.
Good ol'e Harbor Freight Thanks for watching.
www.harborfreight.com/complete-sanding-disc-kit-43029.html
Thank you. You saved me a big hassle. Great video.
These look similar to Roloc Sanding Disks.
sir thnx for this nice trick but i want to make cd effect on aluminium circle how can i do it please help me..
I would think that you need a larger Scotch Brite pad depending on the size of aluminum your making. Then polish it to a bright shine.
thnx for the tip, but i need 160 mm aluminium circle for making clock metal dial and one more thing i saw many types of effects in colors in dial on aluminium how its possible??
Inside My Shop
Can you tell me how to buy circle scratch brush
Almost all hardware stores have them. Auto parts stores can be another source.
I am from INDIA and i am doing metal work
Couldn't u just use a metal stripper instead of sanding?
Sure could,just be sure it clean and dry before going to the next step. I just think metal stripper is to messy to deal with.Just my opinion.
What you made looks NOTHING like the Thumbnail. Too bad, that pattern was cool.