I have a fixture in the bathroom which has some chrome plated steel end caps that tend to rust. (There is an edge that is kind of rough and the rust seems to start in the pits of this rough corner. I have a suspicion that this manufacturing flaw is the cause of the rust problem.)
In any case, I thought the simplest permanent solution would be to replace these chromed plated pieces with stainless steel. The pieces in question are flat pieces with two screw holes in them. I have no experience working metal, and am wondering if I'm likely to run into any unexpected complications. My plan is to buy a sheet of stainless steel from McMaster-Carr of the appropriate thickness, use my woodcutting bandsaw (fitted with a suitable blade for metal cutting) or maybe my jigsaw to cut the form out maybe a tiny bit oversized, use files to get it to the exact shape required, use sand paper to make the edges pretty, and to use my drill press to drill mounting holes with countersinks.
Is there anything wrong with this plan or anything that should be done differently? The parts are about 2" x 4" with a curved shape and I will need four of them.
I guess my concerns/questions are:
1) Is it hard to cut and drill stainless steel? Does it matter what kind I get, both in terms of corrosion resistance in the bathroom and ease of machining?2) McMaster Carr lists stainless steel with a variety of different finishes that are given numbers like "Mirror Polish #8" or "Brushed Finish #4". What do those numbers mean? I have sand paper on hand going up to 1500 grit and some abrasive sheets in 5 and 0.5 micron. But I would like to know how to match the abrasive I use to polish my cut edges to the finish that comes from the manufacturer. Is it reasonable to use my sandpaper for this task, or is there some other abrasive that will be considerably better/easier to use, etc?
3) Will it be OK to use a 14" wood cutting band saw (fitted with a suitable metal cutting blade) for this application.