I am renovating our kitchen but don't want to spend more than I must. The
kitchen sink is stainless and is in good condition except for lots of little
scratches. I would appreciate advice on how best to polish it. TIA
Alan C
--

very fine sandpaper on an orbital sander.. like 400 grit

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"Alan Combellack" wrote in message
.. .
I am renovating our kitchen but don't want to spend more than I must. The
kitchen sink is stainless and is in good condition except for lots of
little
scratches. I would appreciate advice on how best to polish it. TIA
Alan C
--

longshot wrote:

very fine sandpaper on an orbital sander.. like 400 grit


It better be a whole bunch finer grit than 400 or it'll be a matte
finish...

Alan Combellack wrote:
I am renovating our kitchen but don't want to spend more than I must.
The
kitchen sink is stainless and is in good condition except for lots of
little
scratches. I would appreciate advice on how best to polish it. TIA

Scotchbrite pads. They make different pads with different
aggressiveness - I would have said "grit" but I don't know if that's
the correct term for a pad. In any event, pick up an assortment and
start with the most aggressive pad first and work your way down like
you would if you were sanding wood. As long as the scratches (why do
they stick an "e" before the last s when it's plural? makes no sense)
aren't deep, the pads will work fine and give you a new looking sink.

http://tinyurl.com/3uetj

Home Depot will probably have a selection in their sandpaper aisle.

The maroon pads are probably a good one to start with, then green, then
white (could probably omit this step). A lot of elbow grease,but it's
just one sink so I don't think I'd break out the power tools and flap
wheels.

R

Alan Combellack wrote:
I am renovating our kitchen but don't want to spend more than I must. The
kitchen sink is stainless and is in good condition except for lots of little
scratches. I would appreciate advice on how best to polish it. TIA
Alan C

You might try some pumice stone or even finer, rottenstone & oil. Get
them in a furniture refinishing store. Rouge is probably too fine.

very fine sandpaper on an orbital sander.. like 400 grit


It better be a whole bunch finer grit than 400 or it'll be a matte
finish...

It will shine if you use a polish over it. otherwise you need to get up in
the 1000-1200 grit range
I have put mirror finishes on stainless many times & it is possible to make
it look like chrome but it takes a lot of elbow grease.

Remove scratches first with sandpaper the finer the better if they come
out with say 600g if not go down to 400 or 320, to polish go up in grit
to 600 or 800g then use a polish like auto 3M polish with a buffer or
drill on low with a pad. Even 4-600 grit and auto rubbing compound may
be fine enough for you and look great. The shineyer you want it the more
steps and work it will be. Just 4-600 g paper will clean it up to satin
finish

In article , Alan
Combellack wrote:

I am renovating our kitchen but don't want to spend more than I must. The
kitchen sink is stainless and is in good condition except for lots of little
scratches. I would appreciate advice on how best to polish it. TIA
Alan C

Having polished more than my share of stainless steel, be advised that
it won't be easy to do an entire kitchen sink. Most folks here are
right about using fine sandpaper. Depending on how deep the scratches
are and how shiny you want it, it's going to take a heap of paper and a
heap more elbow grease to get anything like a bright, scratch-free
finish.

If you aren't interested in a totally scratch-free surface, you can get
a fairly fine polish using a cloth buffing wheel chucked in a cordless
drill and some stainless buffing compound. All these are available at
any big box hardware store. Make sure the buffing compound is labeled
for stainless steel.

I typically spend 8 hours or more polishing a single knife blade. Can't
imagine doing an entire sink.

-Frank

--
fwarner1-at-franksknives-dot-com
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/

Frank J Warner wrote:
In article , Alan
Combellack wrote:

I am renovating our kitchen but don't want to spend more than I
must. The
kitchen sink is stainless and is in good condition except for lots
of little
scratches. I would appreciate advice on how best to polish it.
TIA
Alan C

Having polished more than my share of stainless steel, be advised
that
it won't be easy to do an entire kitchen sink. Most folks here are
right about using fine sandpaper. Depending on how deep the scratches
are and how shiny you want it, it's going to take a heap of paper and
a
heap more elbow grease to get anything like a bright, scratch-free
finish.

If you aren't interested in a totally scratch-free surface, you can
get
a fairly fine polish using a cloth buffing wheel chucked in a
cordless
drill and some stainless buffing compound. All these are available at
any big box hardware store. Make sure the buffing compound is labeled
for stainless steel.

I typically spend 8 hours or more polishing a single knife blade.
Can't
imagine doing an entire sink.

I don't think he's looking for a mirror finish. He just wants to get
rid of the scratches, or at least even out the finish.

R

"RicodJour" wrote in message
oups.com...
As long as the scratches (why do
they stick an "e" before the last s when it's plural? makes no sense)
aren't deep, the pads will work fine and give you a new looking sink.

You omitted the 'e' in the plural form of 'pad'. :-)

PhotoMan wrote:
"RicodJour" wrote in message

As long as the scratches (why do
they stick an "e" before the last s when it's plural? makes no
sense)
aren't deep, the pads will work fine and give you a new looking
sink.

You omitted the 'e' in the plural form of 'pad'. :-)

Dan? Dan Quayle?! Is that you?

R

"RicodJour" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dan? Dan Quayle?! Is that you?

LOL