The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Working on Stainless Trim

Of all the things I have done I do not have any experience with Stainless trim.....well, very little.

My question is this: I have some stainless pieces of trim that I can polish and make shine but how do you get the
"fine scratches" out of it. I have used fine steel wool and it helps but needs a little more. I'm thinking maybe 1500 sandpaper or 2000....or do I need to start with 220 or something similar.

Please share your secrets and steps that you take to get a piece looking like new.

Jewelers rouge?

Depending on what you are starting with as far as damage goes, you can start with 220 but that's pretty coarse. You might want to start with green jewelers rouge on a buffing wheel. Black rouge is more coarse than green.
Wet and dry sand paper used with water works good but the stainless kicks the crap out of it so change your paper often. Once you've determined how bad the scratches are that you want gone, you work your way from coarse grits to finer grits. You might find that you need to start at 220, and if so, then go 400, 600, 800, 100, 1200, 1500, 2000 then rouge.
I researched (like you are) because I knew nothing about it and decided to tackle it. The process is very time consuming, mind numbing at times and nerve racking too when the buffer is spinning like mad and you are working on a curved piece... cross the wheel with your piece of stainless and it will turn into a pretzel in a nano second!
The pictures below show steps from a hole being welded shut, then the different stages up to polished.
Good luck!

To answer your question directly, you need to sand it with sand paper that's coarse enough to remove the scratches without making deeper (more coarse) scratches, then use finer and finer grits up to 2000. Then polish.

You might end up polishing it a few times to see your final results only to see that you have missed some scratches and need to redo it once again.

I have been spending many hours polishing lately. One thing I have learned is first do no harm. It's better to take longer with a finer abrasive than to use a heavier one and then try to get the scratches out. On more fragile pieces I like to use die grinders with embedded abrasive nylon 2" rol-lok wheels, much more forgiving. There are lots of polishing wheels for die grinders of various sizes and shapes. Also a 2" orbital die grinder is handy and hook and loop disk can be gotten up to 10,000 grit. none of this is very expensive. I use Eastwood emery compound and then their stainless compound to finish. Hope this helps.

Thanks guys. I think I'm on the right path.
The used some polish and then a coat of wax to shine it up a bit and after getting all the tarnish and dullness off that is when I could really see the real light stuff. As light as it is I think I'll start with 1000 grit. My polisher went down the drain so doing it by hand is really gonna take some time but I'll get it "acceptable".

Thanks for everyone's comments.

I suggest you get a piece of scrap stainless steel and sand it with 1000 grit and try to hand polish it because I highly doubt you will be able to hand polish it. Stainless steel is extremely hard and only machine tools will be able to polish 1000 grit sand scratches. Try it and let us know your results but I'd hate to see you create more work than is necessary.
Here's a scrap piece I have that I simply buffed without any sanding at all... perhaps that's all you need to do too? Just try buffing it?

Using a bench grinder with the buffing wheels attached, white polishing rouge and red jewelers rouge is the easiest and best way to polish stainless steel trim. However, I have used #0000 steel wool with Flitz polish or Semichrome polish to had polish stainless with good results. After the #0000 steel wool with the polish, finish it with just the polish and a soft cotton cloth. To get the fine scratches out of the stainless without a buffer, use 1500 grit, then 2000 grit and the 3000 grit 3M wet dry sand paper...then the #0000 steel wool and Flitz or Semichrome metal polish.

Tim

I agree with Tim x2. You want a buffer that doesn't turn as fast as the harbor freight ones to buff stainless to a high gloss with no scratches. Use a new buffing pad and white rouge for final buff. Mine runs at 1725 rpm, and I think that"s just a tad fast. But I have wonderful results with trim. I could never get the marks out with sanding.

It is risky to use steel wool to polish stainless. The microscopic particles of steel left behind will cause stainless to rust, especially the nonmagnetic 300 series stainless. We have used a Scotchbrite fine light deburring wheel on a bench grinder to remove tooling marks prior to buffing trim pieces with good results. Scotchbrite hand pads are less effective. If you use wet/dry paper, start with no more coarse than 320 and go to 600 and maybe 1000 before buffing with a buffing wheel. Try to have your sanding motion with each finer grit not exactly parallel to the motion of the previous, but at a slight angle, maybe 30 degrees or so. Your last passes should be parallel to the trim piece edges not across it. Those scratches remaining will be much less visible.

Good luck with your project.

Mar-Ktech

The final polish with Flitz or Semichome polish removes all of the microscopic particles of steel left by the #0000 steel wool.

I had already used 0000 steel wool, have polished it and then waxed it. What is left I think I can get with a 1500 grit paper. Its really not that bad. Thanks Mar-K for your input. I'll have to keep the scotch-brite in mind.

I had a nice slooow grinder but it was a cheapo that bit the dust....and the hand held one went in the junk pile. No use keeping something to cuss every time you pick it up...and my 1/2 hp regular grinder I bought in 1986 is still running but its to fast.
Maybe time to break down and get me another nice hand held.

Thanks again fellows. I appreciate the comments and guidance.

Where the heck was this information before I spent 120 hours on my stainless trim? This one post would have saved me many hours of work.

Mar Ktech, can you post a part number or picture of the "Scotchbrite fine light deburring wheel"?

Thanks

This is why I love the Bolt. Our situation is unique to the condition of the part which may require different approaches. Some are inherent but some need a broad spectrum of approach....depending on the individual situation.
(Boy, those are some fancy words from an old ridge runner) hehe

.....I can see merit in all the post. I like it this way, I can "see it all" and make the decision that suits me. That is why I like to watch the responses for a day or two, when I can, to gather more info and opinions. Bolters Rock.

Do a search on eBay or Amazon for "Scotchbrite 7S fine light deburring wheel". Also available from places like MSC or Travers tool. 6" wheel works fine on a typical bench grinder at 3450 rpm. The wheel is rated for 6000 rpm. Available usually in 1" or 1/2" thick. The '7' in the part number refers to the firmness or density of the wheel. It will conform slightly to the shape of the trim piece. If you are doing actual deburring of machined or sawed parts go with the '9' density which is more dense.

The Scotchbrite wheel can be shaped to match the shape of your part with a coarse sanding disc, such as 36 grit. That is helpful in working a concave type part such as the cab molding you were repairing. By the way, nice work. That is some real thin stainless.

Mar-Ktech

I had a small scratch on my top radiator tank from when they formed it. I used some fine flower then some fine corn starch. It took a long time to get the scratch out but it was a small area on the tank and worth the effort. I never would of thought it would do it but a old guy used that trick to clean up Aluminum. I forgot to mention this was done using a dry paper towel
62 blue

You can buy stainless steel wool.

My two bits don't ever use a circular motion on any stainless! Only straight line or as suggested slight angle.
All of mine was done starting with 800 grit and then 1000 then finished with 2000 and the Flitz on a slow buffing wheel.

We have some trim that had the fine scratches you describe, we used 3M trizact discs with a foam interface pad (to keep from sanding in flat spots) to remove the fine scratches and then polished out the stainless...

There are some great youtube videos out there as well. I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours with a guy who polishes stainless steel for a living. His bread and butter are old bel-aire's and earlier. When i was there he was working on the trim for a 40s cadillac convertible. Irreplaceable pieces, pretty rough shape. Dents came out with a pick on oak block, smoothed with a file, then sanded down progressively. His final sand was 3000grit wet mibro. Then he went to buffing wheels and rouge. he sanded everything 440 and finer wet. and in a straight line. when it was done, you could see yourself clearer than in a mirror. it was enlightening. he is a craftsman. and his work reflects it. after he was all done, he said it wasn't hard, but the key is to go step by step and don't skip any steps. Identical to prep work for a paint job.

That guy is a liar. It is hard, It is time consuming. But man, when you get it done, you can't stop smiling about how pretty it is.You will soon forget how much work it was.
Carl

I have a set of 6" diameter muslin buffing wheels that I use for gun bluing prep work that are also very effective for polishing stainless. I stack up 1/2" thick wheels on the mandrel until they're about 2" wide. The trick is to have a separate wheel for each grit of polishing compound, as any leftover compound imbedded in the wheel will not allow a finer grit to work properly. I use 180, 220, 320. and 400 grit greaseless compound for matte finish jobs, and white grease based compound on a hard felt wheel if I want a mirror finish. The buffer I use also has a 4-step pulley setup for speed regulation and a 1/2 HP motor to drive it.
Jerry

Well, i guess hard isn't the right word. It isn't complicated. Not like brain surgery. well, and i guess since he does it as a business, he had a dedicated tool for everything.

I should not have called your guy a liar.
I should have said that guys like that make me sick because they make that task look so easy.

There are many suppliers of polishing supplies that have complete free books that you can learn the complete process. One tip is you can adjust the diameter of your wheels to the available rpms of your grinder. The outside speed of the wheel is important. Different rpm for aluminum, stainless or plain steel. Belt grinders with narrow and soft backing wheels are another. I also went to the Texas Polisher and spent a modest sum for lessons. I now take throw away stainless and beat out the dents and restore. Hope this helps.

https://www.finishing.com/453/66.shtml I came across this site when I was looking for info on polishing the stainless doors on my truck tool boxes. Good info from people who do it for a living.

I've got a pedestal mounted belt drive buffer with 6" diameter muslin wheels that I use for polishing guns for bluing. It's powered by a 1/2 HP motor with a 4-step pulley so I can vary the speed. You'll need a separate wheel for each grit, because once a wheel gets loaded with a specific grit you can't use if for anything finer. I use greaseless polishing compounds starting with about 180 grit and work my way up to 600 in steps of 100 or less. For the final mirror polish I switch to a hard felt wheel and white grease-based ultra-fine compound. You'll never get stainless trim to look acceptable by hand polishing- - - -it's just too time-consuming and stainless is too hard.
Jerry

Great information. Thanks Jerry.

When do you kick up (or down) the speed? Just for the final buffing? Or at the beginning when you're using the lower grits?

-Jim

Use low speed for the coarse polishing steps, as 180 grit generates a lot of heat and puts deep scratches in the metal if it's run too fast or you use too much pressure on the wheel. As the grit gets finer and the surface gets smoother kick the speed up and gently remove the scratches the previous compound left. When the surface won't get any better-looking, switch to a finer grit and remove the scratches that remain. My hard felt wheel is 8" diameter and I run a slightly faster surface speed than with the muslin wheels. That final polish is done with a VERY light touch, and keep holding the part at different angles so you don't leave a directional final finish.
Jerry