Stainless Protection

[Courageous]

Ok we did the Alloy polish thing - my next wonder is whether there exists a stainless polish for push and pulpits which leaves some form of decent protection behind after the polishing process? Where my berth is we are exposed to the Tremontagne quite regularly. The effect of this is to whip up the water and throw it at the boat with some vigour. In fairly short order all of my stainless work is half silver half orange and I have to go through the whole process of polishing and bufing to restore some of her pride. Does there exist a polish which will knock back this effect somewhat or am I feted for a life of hard labour?

Would appreciate any recommends of particularly good stainless polishes!

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[andy_wilson]

Someone else will no doubt post that you shouldn't polish S/S. The shiny finish is the result of it's natural oxidation when finished to a certain standard by the manufacturer.

Polishing cocks all that up (I think).

I have re-finished some badly marked S/S with 1200 emery cloth which seems to have kept its shine.

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[ccscott49]

I dont bother polishing miine, just use some muriatic acid to clean mine and leave it alone. I also used a scotchbritte pad once, but havent for some years now.

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[steve_cronin]

The shinier the better

SS neds a thin film (only a couple of molecules thick) film of oxide to protect it from further rust and this is how it works. So if you do polish this off it will need to re-grow another one to re-protect itself.

However, some of us do experience excessive rust on SS tubing etc and this is because of the microscopic imperfections in the surface allowing salt water to accumulate and start lots of instances of cavity corrosion.

If you can get the surface to a brilliant mirror finish, with say a cotton polishing mop using rubbing compound or even jeweller's rouge, then this rusting phenomenon will be greatly reduced.

You will notice the cavity corrosion effect on screw threads and the rougher edges of bottlescrew forks which have been stamped out of sheet SS material and left relatively poorly finished.

Once cleaned, I have noticed an improvement by polishing with one of the new "high spec" acrylic polishes such as Turtle Wax Extreme.

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[richardandtracy]

Try spraying on a clear laquer like 'Spectra Clear' after polishing. This isn't a great solution as water does get through it slowly & may set up a corrosion cell. If this happens use a SS scouring pad to remove the stuff. It will - at least - increase the intervals at which you polish

Regards

Richard.


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[Robin]

Wichard the French company that make shackles, blocks etc sell a S/S re-passivier in gel or liquid forms which we have used and seems to work, you wipe it on leave a while and wash off. We bought ours in France but I have seen it in the UK chandlers too.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[bigmart]

I have had a recent problem with some 316 Stainless Steel being used in an exposed coastal environment where my customer has complained regarding Brown "Rust" Stains. After much research I was talking to someone on a different field the other day & I mentioned the problem that had occurred. His respone was "Thats not Rust, you are getting a salt build up on the surface of the metal & it is the salt turning brown that causes the discolouration".

May this be your problem too?

Martin

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[cliff]

Try your local welding supply house for stainless steel "pickling paste" - much cheaper than swindlery supplied products and it does remove all marks and discolouration from the ss then passivates (corrodes) the surface. CAUTION - this stuff is very corrosive - wear gloves and eye protection asnd old clothes you don't mind binning.

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[Courageous]

Some interesting considerations thanks. Martin - I'm not exactly sure whether it's rust but DO know I seem to have to use either a polish or some form of abrasion to remove it...... It's a blight and no mistake!

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[steve_cronin]

How does the salt turn brown then? It doesn't undergo a chemical change so it must be contaminated with something. That something can only be iron oxide.

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[Courageous]

or poo......

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[steve_cronin]

Nah! won\'t be Zhit mate....

not unless he carries a couple of Gloucester Old Spots on his foredeck. Birdzhit is of an entirely different hue.

Steve cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[Courageous]

Re: Nah! won\'t be Zhit mate....

Who mentioned birds....? Hehe!

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[bigmart]

I was told the Salt does turn Brown.

Have you ever seen Road Salt?

Why does everything that is Brown have to be contaminated with Iron Oxide?

I was always taught to keep an open mind!

Martin


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[bigmart]

I suppose the point that I was trying to make was that if it is a deposit, rather than a corrosion of the surface, you have a different problem because no amount of cleaning/polishing will stop the discolouration returning. your only option would be to make the surface of the metal totally water resitant so that any liquid was instanly shed from the surface.

Or to put it another way. Your stuffed. Be the first to have a nice Brown pullpit & pushpit. Start a new trend!

Martin

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[Courageous]

For what it's worth - I put some white sea salt in a salt grinder once, left it in a humid atmosphere. Over some months it failed to produce so I stripped it down to find that the chrome from the grinder mechanism had kinda been ground off and the components now brown - along with half the salt chippings...... Whilst none of us can say Steve is "certainly" correct, there has to be a good chance IMHO.

On balance more likely iron oxide than poo!

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[LittleShip]

I clean my stainless using a stainless washing up pad scrubber thingy ?? works and stops the oxide forming for a while. Try it, it costs vertually nothing.

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I wish I'd been born rich instead of good looking ?

 

[philmarks]

I have very roughly polished S/S stanchions which were very seriously brown when I bought the boat. No amount of polishing could get them sorted, and I was preparing to remove them and send them away to get them properly polished (and I have 20 stanchions plus large pushpit and pulpit!). Then, in Spain this year someone mentioned a product called Salfument which you can buy in a supermarket. It's a very aggressive acid (24%) for bathrooms drains etc. My stanchions and other rough polished S/S came up like new. I painted it on and washed it off, then polished the stanchions with a metal polish. I'm happy. I also use it for cleaning rust streaks (I get many) off my Toplac painted steel topsides.

Can't get it in this country - would probably have to be delivered with a health and safety consultant attached.

Have a look at these sites too
http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/eneu/stainless.html
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/sspolkit.html. Sorry forget how to paste hyperlinks here

Phil

<hr width=100% size=1>Rgds
Phil

 

[Stork_III]

I thought stainless steel worked by forming a protective oxide on surface. If you "clean" it abrasively, unless by bright polishing, your'e defeating the object of the metal alloy action.

Did you know that most meterorites are formed of a form of stainless steel?

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[alahol2]

Have used Farecla rubbing compound to good effect on stainless. When rubbing, the rag turns completely black (which must mean something?). Followed by a wax polish it seems to work for me.

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