I’m in need of a tutorial on working a Scotch Brite pad on a 686-3 2.5” that has some serious scratches. I have photos in the 1980-present section.

It’s at the gunsmith now getting a deep cleaning and the action smoothed up. He gave me a red pad to use, I don’t want a high polish look at all, closer to the frosted of the 64 NY-1 or the light bead blasted look my late dad had done on his 686 no dash.

Has anyone done a short video? I’ve always been more of a visual learner. Also any photos of stainless revolvers that have received the pad treatment that aren’t high polish greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.

The rust-bucket 66 I got from Sportsman’s had been polished. After soaking and cleaning I used a grey 3M pad to get it back to close to the factory look.

No video, but all I did was try to always go in the same direction (from back to front).

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Make all the scratches go lengthwise. Up and down looks bad except for the front of the frame and crane under the barrel, and grip frame. Red (maroon) is too coarse. You want light gray or blue. Rub lightly.

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I used a dark grey pad available by the sheet on ebay. Following the old polish lines. Bad nicks and scratches may need 400-600 grit sandpaper in prep for the scotch Brite pad. I agree front to back motion. Remove grips and cylinder for the process.

I do the front to back except the cylinder.
I do the cylinder around the circumference and the flutes front to back.

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Over the years I’ve picked up a dozen or more police trade-in 686’s, 67’s, 66’s, and 65’s. Most were filthy and came with plenty of scratches and nicks. I cleaned them and gave most a rubdown with Mother’s Mag Wheel Polish. They looked better but I wasn’t happy with them. This is a 67 after polishing.



I read several threads on here about using red and gray Scotch-Brite pads. I found the red Very Fine (Scotch-Brite 7447, equivalent to #1 steel wool), gray Super Fine (Scotch-Brite 7448, equivalent to 00 steel wool) pads at Home Depot and Lowes. I used the red first but they were to course and didn’t look at all like the factory finish. I next tried the gray. This looked better but still doesn’t match the factory finish. This is a 65 after the gray pads. I still need to fix the front sight.





I looked on-line and found that they make a white Ultra Fine pad (Scotch-Brite 7445, equivalent to 0000 steel wool) and it was in stock at Home Depot. I bought some of these but haven’t tried them yet.

On a side note, I also have a few Ruger police trade-ins. I polished a Ruger GP-100 and it looked terrible. It made the scratches stand out more. I tried the gray pad and it had very little effect so I tried the red. This did better. I ended up using 400 grit sandpaper, then the red pad to get the scratches out. It appears the stainless on the Ruger is harder that the S&W’s. I still haven't finished it but I'll post pictures when I do.

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Thank you guys. I definitely don’t want a polished look-I prefer more of a matte or perhaps satin appearance. My neighborhood Ace has a good selection of the various Scotch Brite pads, will pick up a grey tomorrow.

It’ll be another couple of weeks before I get the revolver back-the gunsmiths are swamped right now.

Try the scotchbrite with a little oil on it and smear some of the oil on the surface of the metal as well.

Polishing with the oil reduces the scratching effect of the pads and you get a duller, burnished appearance closer to the non-directional look of the parts being bead blasted or having been particle vibrated polished in bulk. The latter often used in factorys these days as it's cheap.

Another method is to use a wire wheel much like a carding wheel is used in rust bluing.
Slow the speed down to around 400rpm. Again coat the parts with oil and lightly wire wheel them going in any and all directions.
A very nice burnished polish is given to the parts w/o scratch lines. The oil prevents the wire from biting in to the steel surface.

Any oil will do. Motor oil to gun oil to WD40.

Use a stainless wire wheel on stainless parts.

For a stainless finish you should use a maroon colored Scotch Brite pad. Be sure to go in the direction of the original finish and be sure you go in only one direction. Do NOT go back and forth, it will leave funny looking marks on the gun. When the scratch is gone rub a good gun oil over it to remove any residue and wipe it down. Oh, and you will probably need to expand the rub past the scratch on both sides so that it blends perfectly.

Good luck.

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SWCA #3437

I have helped restore a bunch of "train wrecks" - Scotchbrite works well if the user does their part. Depending on just how fudged up a specific gun is, for a severe case I like to start out with wet/dry paper working first with a fairly aggressive grit progressively down to a fine grit (600 - 1000). After that, Scotchbrite works very well. Most S&W's cam get heir final finish from the Grey Scotchbrite pads. Going too fine and too bright will make a guns finish too easy to scratch up all over again.

Hints:

* always go from rear to muzzle and back - never from top strap to under side fo frame.

* complete disassembly should be done prior to refinishing (imho) to prevent grit, polishing paste, debris, etc. from getting inside the gun.

*go slowly and check results often to prevent going past the point you want.

* resist the urge for faster results and stay clear away of power tools when refinishing

* if you are unhappy with initial results, go back to a more aggressive grit and then work your way down again. Stainless Steel is pretty forgiving as long as deep gouges aren't put in metal

* this is NOT a job to be rushed! take your time and get the results you are looking for.

* don't be afraid to try different grits of Scotchbrite - some like finer pads, some a bit more course - different amounts of damage are common.

ding, ding, ding!
Only do this, ALWAYS and ONLY go in one direction or you'll have varying lines back and forth.
My example done correctly:

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

The advice to only go one direction and to use oil are good ones. I will add that for me, usually gray Scotchbrite and white Scotchbrite if necessary for a final polish have always done the trick. But then again I have not cleaned up a heavily worn or scratched finish yet.

A couple more tips: Give the gun a close examination under good light before you start and note the direction of the factory polishing lines on the different segments of the gun. You want to duplicate those. When using oil, I just apply a drop or three of Break Free and keep a few pieces of an old cotton T shirt handy. Apply the oil and use a LIGHT touch with the Scotchbrite to start.

You'll get a feel for how the Scotchbrite cuts pretty quickly. Use the old cotton rags to wipe off the dirty oil very frequently so you can see better how the work is progressing. Apply a few more drops of oil, work the Scotchbrite a little and then wipe off the dirty oil and look again. Repeat until satisfied with the finish.

03hemi, WOW! That is a fantastic finish. Id almost say its perfect. Good work!

My last 2 attempts at a finish repair, gray scotch bright, then a trip to the polish wheel for a light polish back to gray back to the polish wheel with gray compound the Finlay back to the bench for a Flitz and white scotch bright...

I'm still not happy... I may go bead blast finish any suggestions on who can take up the task???

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This is the way....

One caution of using steel brushes, steel wool, and bead blasting of stainless and aluminum............

Wire wheels and steel wool will embed tiny particles of carbon steel into the stainless and these particles can rust, ruining the finish.

The same thing can happen if you use a bead blaster that's been used to blast carbon steel like car parts.
The pressure embeds carbon steel particles in the softer stainless or aluminum and it can rust.
I once had a customer who bead blasted an aluminum frame in a garage bead blaster and was astounded when his aluminum gun started showing rust.

For this reason be careful who does the bead blasting and make sure they either clean the blaster out and refill with new media, or use a blaster that's been used only for stainless and aluminum.
I recommend not trusting the blaster too far, many think it's stupid and will lie to you, figuring that anything that comes up later won't be blamed on them.

One technique I used to even out the finish after using Scotchbrite pads was to put the parts in a sink and use a stiff toothbrush or brass toothbrush and a paste of Bartender's Friend and water to liberally scrub the surface.
This evens it out and gives a more matte look.

To use a Scotchbrite pad, "stroke" the metal in one direction to avoid tiny circular scratching were a pad was reversed on the metal.

This is the look I'd like to duplicate on the beat up 686; the "frosted" appearance of the NY-1 revolvers.

That was done by bead blasting with a less abrasive media and lower air pressure.
This is sometimes called a "vapor blast" finish.

Due the low pressure and less abrasive media you get a very smooth matte finish without the more noticeable micro-pitting of standard bead blasting.

My gun was pretty beat up and a 4" re-imported model 64-5. I had a 3" barrel installed and the gun bead blasted. Works for me!!!

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Those bead blasted revolvers have a great look. I also prefer it to highly polished revolvers. BUT, my first love is still a deep blue finish and Walnut grips.

I think you can duplicate the look with a carefully done job with the Scotch Guard pads if you have the patience.

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SWCA #3437

You’ll hate cleaning a bead blasted revolver , just my experience .
I hand polished my 69 and it came out pretty nice , almost as shiny as my 629 but subdued a little , still easy to clean

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Thanks for this thread S&W fan!
I got no traction on a similar question moons ago.
This thread delivers!
I want to clean up a decent condition 66-1 but the goal is to keep the original
factory type of finish.
Whatever S&W did back then is lovely to my eyes!!

I appreciate finding threads like this on this forum. Thanks for all that weighed in, very informative and helpful.

One thing to note is that not every polisher brushing a stainless revolver at the factory followed the same direction of the brush pattern. I've owned several new stainless revolvers and have seen different directions of brush strokes. There is no one right pattern to follow

An option you might want to consider is soda blasting, this is done using baking soda as the blasting media. It is very gentle and produces an attractive finish, our local shop uses Coke cans as advertizement and an example of the finish. They mask off part of the can and soda blast, the resulting finish looks just like the unprinted part of the can. When doing any kind of blasting, clean media is imperative new if possible. Any media that has been used to finish rusty parts or carbon steel will embed particles that will rust.

Is it possible to just touch-up small shiny spots from light holster wear on a stainless 4046? Or does the entire pistol need to be pretty much refinished? Is it possible to do an "okay" job on spots? Thank you!

Yes, scotchbrite will do an "okay" job on spots, but will NOT be invisible.

John

Thank you, John. My Brinks is really not too bad and doesn't need a full refinish job, especially by own hand!!! Haha. I may try a spot or two, thank you!
Dave

I hate SS guns because they always show every little scratch, worse than bluing IMHO. Years ago i had has some SS 1911 pistols painted by my gunsmith and I liked them very much. Then I picked up a SS 625 in 45 Colt. He suggested bead blasting because he would do it cheap (like $50 over 10 years ago). I don't know how he did it but it had that nice "frosty" look. Shot the heck out it and carried it a lot. Finally sold it on this forum but the finish never showed any signs of wear.