I appreciate any info on how to make a regular stainless steel finish turn into a real super bright almost chrome looking finish doing it your self. I know to use mother mag polish and keep polishing but I have done this for hours and hours on a few guns and not getting the tru hi bright finish I am looking for, any suggestions appreciated.
Eric

When standard stainless steel guns are made, the factory give them a satin polish. This level of polish leaves some small machine marks.
When the factory gives a gun a mirror polish they polish those fine machine marks off and at the same time that level of polishing gives the surface a finer level surface that shines more.
Polishing a gun with an abrasive and cloth can't remove those machine marks and doesn't bring the surface to the level of polish to give a true bright mirror shine like the factory does.

To try to get a brighter shine on a cloth and abrasive polish job you can use a finer polish but it still won't have the mirror shine of a factory polish job.
A lot of people use Flitz.

Start with Flitz, or SemiChrome THEN go to others.

really, unless you have access to a power buffer and the knowlage on how to use it ( not rounding off corners, dishing screw holes, having parts get caught and go "flinging" out of your hands. ) your useing the best method already, Mothers and time..

I did this one, my .500 in about a half hour on my buffer,


However, it wasn't my first rodeo, a lot of trial & error to get to this point, and a lot of different sized , shaped & contoured hard felt buffing wheels.

You need to use a very mild abrasive that will polish but not scratch the surface. Most toothpastes fill that niche. Take a small amount and put it on a damp cloth and try rubbing out a small section at a time. You can also buy some "rouge" buffing compound and do the same thing. But most people have toothpaste around and it seems to work pretty well.

We used to use it years ago when convertible tops had plastic windows in the back. They would yellow and scratch. The watered down toothpaste worked well on clearing them up.

They also work on hazy plastic headlamp covers. But by hand any one of these is a time-consuming project. But still, I would tackle the gun by hand rather than risk flinging the weapon across the room with a buffer.

Years ago I used to call on a company named "Farberware". They made stainless steel pots and pans. They were hand polished on big buffing wheels. The company did not heat the building so the buffers all wore winter coats in the cold weather. I warned the production manager that this was a high risk situation, and that the buffers should be working in short sleeves.

A few weeks later a buffer got his coat sleeve caught by the buffing wheel and it tore his entire arm off at the shoulder. Not cut off, torn off. So buffing, even though it has no sharp edges, is not a operation to take casually.

the best stuff for stainless, if the surface is in good condition, is "red rouge" jewelery buffing compound and either a good buffing wheel or a dremel tool.

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" what would God think?"

Ouch!!! that is so nice. Only in my dreams do I have and am able to shoot that well with a gun like that.

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44 Garrett Defender Ammo 4 me.

Eric, Flitz worked very well on my 67 no dash. I kept at it it until it was what I wanted. Not perfect, but before & after difference is amazing.Take your time! Bob

I have polished a lot of stainless revolvers. How to bring them up to a mirror finish depends entirely on the surface to begin with.
Many of these guns have a lot of tool marks all over them. Just rubbing with a polish like Flitz will just give you shiny tool marks, unless you rub for years.
In these cases, its necessary to start with very fine sandpaper. I keep an assortment of automotive wet/dry papers cut into small strips just for this. I use this stuff dry. Doesn't last as long but not so messy.
Unless its really bad, I start with 1000 grit. Polish off all visible defects. Then switch to 1200 and polish off all the 1000 scratches, then 1500 and 2000. The key here is to completely erase the coarser scratches before going to the next finer grade. Otherwise you will need to back up a grade and have a do-over. So don't get greedy. Continue up to 2000 grit or 2500 if you can find it.
Then start with the polish. More is better here.
Worst gun I have done so-far is a Model 65-5. These had a sandblast finish to hide the tool marks and this one had sppots of pitting all over.
Took 3 evenings to get this one looking respectable:

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I have also had good luck with Blue Magic Metal Polish. You can get it at auto parts stores.

This 64-3 showed a lot of use and I still have more work to do. This is after 10 minutes of work.

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Corripe Cervisiam

Thanks for all the information..I have a model 66 2 1/2" that I want to make a little brighter..afraid that if it gets to that nickel looking finish stage I will only be allowed to shoot it in Oakland, CA..but have seen one that I thought was nickel, it had been polished up so much and it was so pretty I knew I had to have one..thanks again..all5x

My memory is a little foggy right now, but I recall someone mentioning that the SS S&W guns have some surface metal treatment that makes them more corrosion resistant. If this is true, wouldn't the buffing wheel remove this surface metal treatment??

If I can remember what this treatment was, I will update this post....

IC

I agree, it goes much faster using the paper to get machining marks off and surfaces flat before polishing. A critical part of this procedure is to use a small 'sanding block' on flat surfaces and a hard rubber eraser on curved surfaces to prevent wallows and uneven flat surfaces.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Soft cotton buffing wheel on a power buffer, using white rouge (for stainless steel).

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Flitz and jewelers rouge old white T-shirt.....elbow grease..and,



then Renascence Wax

I used 800 - 1000 grit sandpaper then mothers mag polish and a Drexel tool with a buffing wheel on this 629-2. About 2 hours of work and I was pleased with the results. The revolver started out with lots of light scratches and a few not so light.

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HI. you are 100& right. Have a safe night. guns54.

As I understand the metallurgy, polishing a stainless steel gun breaks down the surface resistance to corrosion.

Finish up with a coat of Ren Wax and not only will the finish be protected but finger prints won't show as easily and the gun exterior will be easier to clean after a range day.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

I recall reading years ago when the stainless Smiths were being introduced in many models, that Smith used a proprietary corrosion resistant coating of some kind. Of course it wasn't divulged but the warning was that polishing would remove that coating.

However, that did not prevent me from occasionally removing fine scratches with Flitz or Semi-Chrome. I never observed any difference in the finish where I polished and where I didn't after several years of use and wear. So from a practical stand point, I wouldn't worry about the coating. Of course my stainless guns were never subject to salt water air or coastal conditions, just for the record.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Very nice , If I had a buffing wheel my colt would look a lot better then it is now. chuck.

Lowe's had a couple polishing wheels that are 6" in diameter and you can find polishing compounds on the internet using google. I use a 1750 RPM motor with the 6" wheels and 3600 RPM motor with the 8" cotton wheels. Sears used to sell various polishing compounds either as a catalog item or in their tool section. What with all Sears is going through I'd check the catalog 1st. I do my own polishing on gun parts I send out for bluing. Sometimes the shop that does the polishing tends to leave holidays and got tired of sending it back to be redone. Silicon carbide paper usually sold at places like travers tool or MSC can be found in their catalogs so start around 320 and go up to 600 grit before trying to use either Mother's mag polish,flitz, or semi chrome. The latter polishing compounds can be found at auto parts places. Use a backer on the silicone carbide paper like an eraser to get the nooks and crannies and round things like barrels and cylinders. But most of all be patient. Frank

You can buy buffing attachments to fit drills. But for the tight spots on a gun I'd go with a Dremel. I'm not one to do a lot of polishing on a gun. I buy them to shoot, not look at. But there are certainly other things I've used a buffer to fix (like my wife's Mercedes - I would have been killed if i messed that up).