629 polishing?

[65Whelen]

Anyone have some recommendations to clean up some minor handling marks? I don't want to make it worse. How does S&W get their finish on the SS guns? Are they polished or maybe media blasting?

 

[chief38]

For minor marks Scotchbrite pads can be used. The light grey (ultra fine) is usually the one I start with, but depending on just how deep the scratches are you can go up or down in coarseness.
I'd buy a few different grits to have on had and see what works, but again, start with the finest and proceed to go more course until you get the results you want. THEN: refine the scratches by going finer - stay in the same direction. For really bad scratches, Wet/Dry black paper can be used - again, I use with oil.

I also like wet/dry paper and have grits all the way up to and including 2000.


ALWAYS follow the grain pattern of the metal! Some may disagree - but I apply some CLP or gun oil as a lubricant when doing this.


SCOTCHBRITE GRIT CHART
3M Scotch Brite Nylon Pads:
7445 - White pad, called Light Duty Cleansing - (1000) 1200-1500 grit
7448 - Light Grey, called Ultra Fine Hand - (600-800) 800 grit.
6448 - Green (?), called Light Duty Hand Pad - (600) 600 grit
7447 - Maroon pad, called General Purpose Hand - (320-400) 320 grit
6444 - Brown pad, called Extra Duty Hand - (280-320) 240 grit
7446 - Dark Grey pad, called Blending Pad (180-220) 150 grit
7440 - Tan pad, called Heavy Duty Hand Pad - (120-150) 60(?)
Blue Scotch-Brite is considered to be about 1000 grit.
(The value inside the parentheses is directly from 3M.)
3M Chart

 

[Fishinfool]

Back about 10 or so years ago, I found a 4 inch 629-6 at a gun shop for under $500.00. Mechanically tight, the finish was covered in fine scratches to the point it was ugly, and really did look like a "tool box" gun. Bought it, mainly as a truck gun because of the price, but found it was one of the most accurate N frames I have ever owned or shot. So...

I spent a couple evenings in front of the TV hand polishing it with Simichrome polish. Added some nice grips, and it turned out great (if you like the polished look). It has become one of my favorite handguns. It's an option if you want a finish glossier than factory.

Larry
629 1 by Larry, on Flickr

 

[IrishFritz]

I use wet or dry paper of various grits on a hard backer like a block of wood to remove deep scratches. I finish using a "carding" very fine wire wheel sold by Brownells for rust bluing at low RPM. The polishing media is light oil with 600 grit lapping compound mixed in. The trick is to use light pressure and to follow the striations of the original factory polish pattern. Doing it this way nearly replicates the factory polish on stainless guns.

 

[65Whelen]

Thanks guys. My goal is to bring it back as close to original as possible. On the older blued guns, apparently you could special order a high gloss finish, was this option available for the SS guns?

 

[stansdds]

I do not recall S&W offering a high polish finish on any of their stainless firearms. Blue was typically a high gloss finish except on those models or special orders that had a satin/bead blasted finish. Nickel plated S&W firearms were highly polished.