2ndAmendmentNut
Member
What is the method for polishing stainless steel? I have a number of retired LEO guns in SS and would really like to restore the finish to a factory appearance.
Polishing stainless steel?
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Art Doc
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Factory appearance would be looking like dull. grey plastic. If you polish it much it gets shiny like nickel.
I'm not sure how to clean up scratches and wear on stainless without making the metal shiny. Maybe lightly working with really fine steel wool soaked in oil? I don't care for the look of stainless so on my two stainless working guns I polished them to look like nickel.
I'm not sure how to clean up scratches and wear on stainless without making the metal shiny. Maybe lightly working with really fine steel wool soaked in oil? I don't care for the look of stainless so on my two stainless working guns I polished them to look like nickel.
chaparrito
Member
So how did you do that? I want to make my 629 all shiny like. I tried Mother's mag polish and it brightened it up a little but still isn't nickel bright. I was thinking of the polishing wheel and rouge or something.
Smooth stainless or dull bead blasted stainless???
For smooth stainless By hand no Dremels!
Just to polish and clean shine use Flitz, Mothers Mag Cleaner or Semichrome.
For scratches depending on how bad, wet dry sand paper wet start with 220,320 if really bad then 400 then 600 then polish
All depends on how bad the finish is.
For smooth stainless By hand no Dremels!
Just to polish and clean shine use Flitz, Mothers Mag Cleaner or Semichrome.
For scratches depending on how bad, wet dry sand paper wet start with 220,320 if really bad then 400 then 600 then polish
All depends on how bad the finish is.
Old TexMex
Member
Dismantle first.
Barkeepers friend, then flitz, then maguires mag polish, then RenWax,(or Sheila Shine). Mirror finish.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DmCEuLxgQzY
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LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
I've had a couple bead blasted, nice soft nonreflective finish. As I recall my friendly neighborhood gunsmith only charged me about $25 to do this.
using any type of polishing agent (grit) will do just that, "polish" the gun, if you want to get it close to a satin, factory finish, go to an automotive paint supply or tool supply store and buy some 3M Scotchbrite pads...they come in a variety of different colors, and some are coarse and some are finer,white and grey are finer the green and red are courser, anyway, just remove the grips from the gun, and just start wiping away, round and round ,with a pad in each hand you keep wiping, and you will SEE the surface become 'satin" you can wipe in the direction of you want want ( around on the round parts or curves parts, and back and forth across the grip frame, and eventually you will turn the entire gun "sati" once you figure out what the proper direction to wipe, you can make the surface appear as needed...It is NOT that hard, stainless is relatively "soft" on the surface, and you determine by HOW hard, HOW the direction goes...just play and practice, you will see results.if you were here I could show you "how" in about 5-10 minutes.............
I've seen after showing some guys who bought LEO "trade-in" revolvers how simple and easy it was, and they were impressed and the guns came out awesome..........and as I always say "stay away from power tools"
here is one we did recently, and its ALL by hand with papers and files, and Scotchbrite pads......
this is a Ruger barrel that was saved from a fire............
I've been refinishing , buffing and polishing guns since the 1960s so I do know a little bit of "how to"
I've seen after showing some guys who bought LEO "trade-in" revolvers how simple and easy it was, and they were impressed and the guns came out awesome..........and as I always say "stay away from power tools"
here is one we did recently, and its ALL by hand with papers and files, and Scotchbrite pads......
this is a Ruger barrel that was saved from a fire............
I've been refinishing , buffing and polishing guns since the 1960s so I do know a little bit of "how to"
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I used to work in a stainless steel fabrication shop. I was a welder/fabricator. We built tanks and ASME-code pressure vessels, and associated piping, for the food, pharmaceutical, beverage, dairy industries. All welds had to be ground smooth, sanded, and polished so that they were sanitary for food use. On most of the outside tank seams, the final finish was hand-rubbed with red or green Scotchbrite. Pharmaceutical stuff was polished to a mirror finish with a cloth wheel and a very fine polishing compound that came in white stick. I'd be very leary about rubbing stainless with steel wool....you could contaminate the stainless, allowing rust to form. We wouldn't even use a grinding wheel on stainless if it was previously used on regular A36 hot-rolled steel.
Old TexMex
Member
Sorry chaparrito, I quoted the OP( who asked about factory finish) my post was directed at your question. That combo I gave will make stainless look all shiny like.
chaparrito
Member
Sorry chaparrito, I quoted the OP( who asked about factory finish) my post was directed at your question. That combo I gave will make stainless look all shiny like.
I wondered. Gracias!
Scotch pad..the white one, flitz, semichrome and/or Mother"s mag wax.
Go slow.
Go slow.
smokey04
Member
Google "flat filing" and go with wet or dry paper all the way down to and including crocus cloth.[if you want a bright SS look] Flat filing on the flat surfaces will ensure no distortion of markings, screw holes etc. Use strips of the polishing paper and a good "shoeshine" technique on round and curved surfaces. Unless you've had lots of training stay away from buffers and polishing wheels[and DREMELS] or you'll surely over buff distort markings and make wavy surfaces.If it's a duller finish you want after polishing paper and flat filing to true all surfaces then switch to 3 M polishing pads some where between the green and gray or white I think you'll find the level of shine you want. Go slow and try not to shallow out marking by overdoing it. Good luck, if you enjoy working with metal you'll love this. Otherwise just get the guns bead blasted to the shine you want.Maintain shine with Ren-Wax. Nick
S&W's factory stainless finish is called "brushed", sometimes "satin"; the matte look is bead blasting, and the only way to restore bead blasting is by bead blasting again.
If you confirm that your revolver is brushed stainless, you can restore it to near factory appearance by hand. You will not need any of the polishes mentioned; they will give you a mirror reflective high polish that is not the factory brushed look.
Provided there are no deep nicks or scratches that need wet-or-dry sandpaper, all you should require are Norton sanding pads -- in order from most to least abrasive -- green, red, gray and (perhaps) white.
Here's a link to green, with links to the rest in it: Buy Norton Non-Woven Sanding Pad 1pc, Green, #0 at Woodcraft.com
Start by detail stripping the revolver. Make sure you have a flat, well-lit work area.
If there are deep nicks or scratches to be polished out, use wet-or-dry sandpaper starting with 600 on the problem areas and see if that works, if not, gently step up in abrasive until you find the one that with a little concentrated work removes the blemish, then work that spot back successively to 600.
Do not work the whole revolver this way if it isn't necessary, and beware accidentally altering the stamps. Also, there are critical dimensional edges on some parts of your revolver that shouldn't be fooled with (like the notches on the cylinder).
Now, starting with the gentlest pad (white) polish following the grain (remember that the flutes on the cylinder are polished against the direction of the rest of the cylinder). Assess if that provides the desired brushed appearance and smoothes the areas you fixed (it probably will be too mild, but when it comes to working on metal, always start at the gentlest setting and only increase as needed).
Move to gray, then red, and green if necessary. Once you've achieved a uniformity of finish, gently work back up to gray, perhaps a mild white pass. The Norton gray pad, to my eye, most closely approximates factory brushed.
Read this link, and the links in it for more detail: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-sm...sh-stainless-without-losing-matte-finish.html
If you need to restore a bead-blasted top strap, this can be done with 200 wet-or-dry pressed against it, and sharp, direct strikes from a nylon hammer; it's time consuming but will work. I do not recommend trying to restore an entire bead blasted firearm this way.
Ask questions, good luck and have fun -- and don't forget to post before and after pics.
If you confirm that your revolver is brushed stainless, you can restore it to near factory appearance by hand. You will not need any of the polishes mentioned; they will give you a mirror reflective high polish that is not the factory brushed look.
Provided there are no deep nicks or scratches that need wet-or-dry sandpaper, all you should require are Norton sanding pads -- in order from most to least abrasive -- green, red, gray and (perhaps) white.
Here's a link to green, with links to the rest in it: Buy Norton Non-Woven Sanding Pad 1pc, Green, #0 at Woodcraft.com
Start by detail stripping the revolver. Make sure you have a flat, well-lit work area.
If there are deep nicks or scratches to be polished out, use wet-or-dry sandpaper starting with 600 on the problem areas and see if that works, if not, gently step up in abrasive until you find the one that with a little concentrated work removes the blemish, then work that spot back successively to 600.
Do not work the whole revolver this way if it isn't necessary, and beware accidentally altering the stamps. Also, there are critical dimensional edges on some parts of your revolver that shouldn't be fooled with (like the notches on the cylinder).
Now, starting with the gentlest pad (white) polish following the grain (remember that the flutes on the cylinder are polished against the direction of the rest of the cylinder). Assess if that provides the desired brushed appearance and smoothes the areas you fixed (it probably will be too mild, but when it comes to working on metal, always start at the gentlest setting and only increase as needed).
Move to gray, then red, and green if necessary. Once you've achieved a uniformity of finish, gently work back up to gray, perhaps a mild white pass. The Norton gray pad, to my eye, most closely approximates factory brushed.
Read this link, and the links in it for more detail: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-sm...sh-stainless-without-losing-matte-finish.html
If you need to restore a bead-blasted top strap, this can be done with 200 wet-or-dry pressed against it, and sharp, direct strikes from a nylon hammer; it's time consuming but will work. I do not recommend trying to restore an entire bead blasted firearm this way.
Ask questions, good luck and have fun -- and don't forget to post before and after pics.
