oakleyb
Well-Known Member
I'm looking at making some deck plates and winch pads with 316, metals4u supply it with a dull finish. How easy is it to polish to a mirror finish ?
316 polishing
- Thread starter oakleyb
- Start date
yachtorion
Well-Known Member
Dificult - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AvWDejfDp0
macd
Well-Known Member
Depends how dull. Some SS (typically, but not always, flat bar) has a finish so dull it's distinctly grainy. It's a real pig to bring that to any sort of shine, and when you do, it might well not be a 'true' shine...more like a badly deformed mirror. Then there's a sort of in-between finish, which polishes quite well; and best of all, a mirror finish. The latter is usually shipped with a protective film.
The best common workplace tool for polishing is a bench grinder with appropriate polishing mops (e-Bay is bound to have them, plus the compounds). It's dirty work and probably simplest and cheapest to have a specialist do it for a handful of small jobs.
The best common workplace tool for polishing is a bench grinder with appropriate polishing mops (e-Bay is bound to have them, plus the compounds). It's dirty work and probably simplest and cheapest to have a specialist do it for a handful of small jobs.
Start with a fine wet and dry paper, use a good flat surface to wrap it on, as the paper gets older and used the finish will improve, and then use some brasso polish, takes patience but it will come up very nice.
Trundlebug
Well-Known Member
Really easy with a pedestal grinder fitted with sisal mop one end and stitched cotton polishing mop the other.
Use the right polishing "soap" from a suitable company like Lea Manufacturing http://www.lea.co.uk/
and the results will be spectacular, professional and quite easy if you're prepared to put in a bit of time.
Use the right polishing "soap" from a suitable company like Lea Manufacturing http://www.lea.co.uk/
and the results will be spectacular, professional and quite easy if you're prepared to put in a bit of time.
bigwow
Well-Known Member
mlines
Well-Known Member
Make up all the bits (because you will scratch it further during fabrication) then take it to a metal polishers.
I got some work done at Bracknell Metal Polishers, they took out both light and heavy gravel scratches.
I got some work done at Bracknell Metal Polishers, they took out both light and heavy gravel scratches.
fireball
Well-Known Member
Dunno about the details - but this is right ... having worked for a metal bashers (in the office) I polished up a few home job projects using the grinders with the right heads on. Grain was put in by a huge belt sander. It's not a complicated process and with the right tools & materials you can get a good finish quite quickly.
Trundlebug
Well-Known Member
I don't class that as difficult at all. But it isn't the right way to achieve the best results.
Pistol drills are designed for drilling - i.e. loading end-on into the chuck, and the bearings don't like prolonged sideways loading which this sort of polishing will give them.
As a result it wrecks the drill bearing rather quickly.
An alternative is to use a flexi drive, but that tends to wind up as you apply load, and will ultimately snap if you snag the mop on anything like the end of the workpiece for example.
Ask me how I know this
Much better to take the workpiece to the polisher and use a pedestal grinder as I described above.
This is (on a small scale) exactly what metal polishers do, and how they do it. Except you can do it on whatever you want, any time you want.
The parts aren't expensive and last for ages.
I'm currently doing my prop shafts (316ss) and props (Nibral).
The shafts look like chrome, and the props look like gold....
lw395
Well-Known Member
Small areas, it's really not hard with wet and dry.
Use files to get rid of any really lumpy bits.
then about 120, 400 and 600 grit, wet.
Finish with a polish such as solvol autosol.
A minute or two for a bolt head including filing the lettering off?
Obviously takes longer for bigger items.
Where you draw the line is up to you.
Use files to get rid of any really lumpy bits.
then about 120, 400 and 600 grit, wet.
Finish with a polish such as solvol autosol.
A minute or two for a bolt head including filing the lettering off?
Obviously takes longer for bigger items.
Where you draw the line is up to you.
PCUK
Well-Known Member
4 1/2 inch SS scotch (type) sanding discs in a mini grinder, 3 grades, coarse, medium, fine then mops and cutting polish in the bench grinder. Ebay for all you need. Cheap and easy and very satisfying.