Polishing stainless steel

On the day of 25 Mar 2006 05:48:57 -0800... snipped-for-privacy@bluebottle.com typed these letters:

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, snipped-for-privacy@bluebottle.com quickly quoth:

Here's one way:

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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. .