Polishing raw stainless steel
- Thread starter RobG
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SS Polish
Sand flat with progressively finer paper 180 - 320 - 400 - 600 - 1000 - 1300 grit. A sandpaper 'flap wheel' mounted in a high speed drill is the fastest. Then use a high speed buffing wheel with "tripoli" buffing compound. Tripoli is found in hardware stores in 'stick' form .... right next to the jewelers rouge. The hard part is the laborious sanding and keeping the surface FLAT so that you dont get optical 'waves' in the surface. IMPORTANT: Wear a good mask when buffing with "tripoli" a natural mixture of clay and diatomaceous earth (skeletons of single celled organisms) Red rouges are for polishing red and yellow metals and are too soft for 'white' metals. TRIPOLI
Sand flat with progressively finer paper 180 - 320 - 400 - 600 - 1000 - 1300 grit. A sandpaper 'flap wheel' mounted in a high speed drill is the fastest. Then use a high speed buffing wheel with "tripoli" buffing compound. Tripoli is found in hardware stores in 'stick' form .... right next to the jewelers rouge. The hard part is the laborious sanding and keeping the surface FLAT so that you dont get optical 'waves' in the surface. IMPORTANT: Wear a good mask when buffing with "tripoli" a natural mixture of clay and diatomaceous earth (skeletons of single celled organisms) Red rouges are for polishing red and yellow metals and are too soft for 'white' metals. TRIPOLI
That's pretty much right
Except use dark grey SS polishing for the first polishing step. If you can find a sisal buffing wheel so much the better. The next step is to color it (bring up the shine) for this you need the white compound with a softer buff. The best would be an airway buff if you can find one. Also 1/3 hp grinder motors really take a long time. My buffing lathes are 7 hp three phase. So if you can find a 3/4 hp baldor or something it will really help.
Except use dark grey SS polishing for the first polishing step. If you can find a sisal buffing wheel so much the better. The next step is to color it (bring up the shine) for this you need the white compound with a softer buff. The best would be an airway buff if you can find one. Also 1/3 hp grinder motors really take a long time. My buffing lathes are 7 hp three phase. So if you can find a 3/4 hp baldor or something it will really help.
Thanks everyone, and Ed, I have a
radial arm saw with a 2HP motor and a 1/2" chuck mounted on the free end of the shaft. I use it with a sanding disk for shaping. I'm going to find and arbor adaptor that fits the chuck and get the buffing wheels you described. Should work well. Thanks again.
radial arm saw with a 2HP motor and a 1/2" chuck mounted on the free end of the shaft. I use it with a sanding disk for shaping. I'm going to find and arbor adaptor that fits the chuck and get the buffing wheels you described. Should work well. Thanks again.
Make sure
the rotation of the buff is such that the buff is rotating toward you.....then buff on the bottom half of the wheel. That way should you catch an edge it will throw the piece away from you.
the rotation of the buff is such that the buff is rotating toward you.....then buff on the bottom half of the wheel. That way should you catch an edge it will throw the piece away from you.
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