Technical Crank Polishing

If crank journals are 1" wide how wide should the sanding belt be?

 

Most crankshaft polishers are 1" wide , 3/4" is also used, results depend on skill of operator.

 

Some use the width of total journal width.
Some use width of bearing contact,
I have also used shoe string and Emery cloth ,

 

Shoe string, wet/dry 600 or 1000 grit sandpaper and WD40.

 

Yep and keep a clean rag and micrometer on hand to check your progress....

 

https://i.machineryhost.com/d336c41d7cdbeadaa2dfea98a7bbb2ad/32acb52b9e.jpg

It's so difficult to control and maintain flat surface, some say impossible, to actually remove material by hand from a crank journal and not make it worse. Most crank grinding shops no longer use belt polishers. The current technology uses micropolishing paper to remove the "fuzz". While dimensionally more accurate, ironically, the micropolished journals are not as shiny as the belt polished.

jack vines

 

You might look at the "scalloped" belts on Ebay. They help by not making the belt have an "edge" as it rides onto the fillet radius.