What are the proper steps of polishing stainless steel to a mirror
finish ?

Thanks

On the day of 25 Mar 2006 05:48:57 -0800...

typed these letters:

What are the proper steps of polishing stainless steel to a mirror
finish ?

Thanks


I don't know the proper way but I've done it. I made several rings
from 5/8" (316 I think) stainless steel nuts. After grinding then
filing I sanded with progressively finer sand paper down to fine
emery cloth. I got a mirror finish by polishing with a rag and a
paste automotive mag wheel polish. I think the polish was intended
for aluminum not stainless steel. It took a bit of patience but worked
very well. Regular handling of these rings proved that stainless
steel will not hold a mirror shine for long. But, polishes back to
a mirror shine rather easily.

Devonshire

On 25 Mar 2006 05:48:57 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm,
quickly quoth:

What are the proper steps of polishing stainless steel to a mirror
finish ?

Here's one way:
http://www.englishcustompolishing.co...stainless.html


-
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened.
---
http://diversify.com Website Application Programming

wrote:

What are the proper steps of polishing stainless steel to a mirror
finish ?

Thanks

Start with coarse grit and work to finer ones.

Cheers
Trevor Jones

"Trevor Jones" wrote in message
...


Start with coarse grit and work to finer ones.


Remember to remove all the scratch marks from the previous grit before
moving to the next grit. Basically any scratch left by one grit will be very
difficult/time consuming to get rid of using a grit two or more steps away.

You can check your work by changing directions (in a cross-hatch pattern).
When you switch direction, you'll see these deep scratches. If you keep the
same direction all the time, it may look like you're getting a good finish
but you'll never actually remove some of the deep scratches. As you get into
finer grits, these scratches will become more and more apparent.

Another advantage of polishing in a cross-hatch pattern is that you will
smooth out low spots (or at least not increase them). These show up as waves
or "holes" which are unpleasing to look at (IMHO). For example:
http://www.englishcustompolishing.co.../duckhead.html

HTH.

Regards,

Robin

When I am finishing a piece with a mill rolled finish I start with an 80
grit flap wheel to get it flat then move up one grit at a time to 400. If
it is smooth already, like sheet stainless, I start with 240 of even 320.
Each time be very careful to remove all stretches from the previous pass or
you will have to start over from that grit. After I finish with the 400 I
move to a sewn sisal wheel and a gray polishing compound from McMaster to do
the cut pass. Next I move to a sewn muslin wheel with the gray compound. If
it was welded I hook up to a DC power supply and dunk in Citrisurf for about
5 minutes. Final finish is the white compound on a loose muslin wheel.
After that it gets wrapped in cloth and stored until I have about 50 lbs and
send the batch off to an electropolishing shop in Florida.

That last part is not really needed unless you want it absolutely perfect
and it will be in salt water. If you do the rest of the procedure right you
can hardly tell the difference with electropolishing. Electropolishing
just improves the color and corrosion resistance. It doesn't remove
scratches and if you were not careful with the early stage grinding and have
smeared the steel over a scratch early in the process it will remove the
smear and reveal the scratch. .

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

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What are the proper steps of polishing stainless steel to a mirror
finish ?

Thanks

SS to a mirror finish adjusted plasma polishing. Technology based on safe salts. Examples of work technology http://pvdcoaters.com/product/category/epp