Stainless Polish
- Thread starter mukwah
- Start date
Where to start...?
Caswell Plating has some great info on polishing just about anything.
I have a dremel with a flexible shaft attachment for close in work and a converted variable speed bench grinder using 6" buffing wheels. One for surface prep and one for final polish.
Good compounds are a must and SS compounds are usually black (mildly aggressive) and white (final polish). Sometimes green.
With the dremel or by hand you will also find Flitz as a cheaper alternative. But surface preparation is the key. If there are surface imperfections then some 1000 - 3000 grit wet / dry speeds up the process.
I only used the sandpaper on areas that did not affect weapon function unless an area needed some love.
Mother's Mag Wheel polish...
A few years back when I picked up a few dings & scrapes on my Ruger GPNY .38spl revolver(stainless steel), a few gun forum members put out Mother's Mag Wheel Polish as a possible help.
A few forum members posted picks of wheelguns like GP100s Colt Pythons & Smith & Wesson N frames that were bright & shiney
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Mother's can be found in most auto care product stores like Discount Auto or Auto Zone.
Brasso or Flitz polish may work too. Flitz is a popular product that's been around for decades. Brasso is used a lot in the US Armed Forces for dress uniforms/Class As. Check the label to see if it works on stainless, ordinance grade steel.
For sales see: www.brownells.com www.grafs.com www.uscav.com www.midwayusa.com .
A few years back when I picked up a few dings & scrapes on my Ruger GPNY .38spl revolver(stainless steel), a few gun forum members put out Mother's Mag Wheel Polish as a possible help.
A few forum members posted picks of wheelguns like GP100s Colt Pythons & Smith & Wesson N frames that were bright & shiney
.Mother's can be found in most auto care product stores like Discount Auto or Auto Zone.
Brasso or Flitz polish may work too. Flitz is a popular product that's been around for decades. Brasso is used a lot in the US Armed Forces for dress uniforms/Class As. Check the label to see if it works on stainless, ordinance grade steel.
For sales see: www.brownells.com www.grafs.com www.uscav.com www.midwayusa.com .
A mirror-like finish on a stainless gun turns it into a scratch magnet, any little ding shows.
I prefer a brushed finish because it doesn't show dings and scratches so bad - and it's easily repairable if you do get a noticeable mark or scratch.
For a brushed finish, sand to the 400 grit wet-or-dry level - then deliberately scratch up the shiny finish with a ScotchBrite pad. Use a new one that has never touched regular steel.
If the ScotchBrite pad has been used on regular steel, it will transfer regular steel particles to the stainless, which will rust and look tacky.
Make sure the scratches all go the same direction, and are straight, not curved.
Here's a Savage bolt handle and Sleeve that I did that way, to match the action and barrel. Did the trigger guard and floorplate, too.
Click image to see it larger.
I prefer a brushed finish because it doesn't show dings and scratches so bad - and it's easily repairable if you do get a noticeable mark or scratch.
For a brushed finish, sand to the 400 grit wet-or-dry level - then deliberately scratch up the shiny finish with a ScotchBrite pad. Use a new one that has never touched regular steel.
If the ScotchBrite pad has been used on regular steel, it will transfer regular steel particles to the stainless, which will rust and look tacky.
Make sure the scratches all go the same direction, and are straight, not curved.
Here's a Savage bolt handle and Sleeve that I did that way, to match the action and barrel. Did the trigger guard and floorplate, too.
Click image to see it larger.
myusername
New member
That Caswell site is great! I've been polishing stuff for years and just learned I hardly know anything! They have a polishing forum on their site with all kinds of info. Also a link "everything for firearms!"
Thanks for posting the info!
Up until now I've used a couple of dremel tools and I have three bench grinders. One is usually set up with fine and rough stones. The second has rough and fine brushes. The third has buffing wheels which get changed out as needed.
I use my grinders for everything from sharpening axes to buffing Mom's silver. I haven't buffed a whole gun. For that I've only used dremels or very light hand sanding. Never used a dremel sander. I've used the small dremel wire brushes occasionally, but watch out because most "brass" brushes aren't, they are painted steel and can cause stuff to rust later with microscopic bits of pot metal.
I buy buffing stuff at Harbor Freight. Usually I buy one of those like 50 piece dremel buffing and sanding kits, you burn through a lot of brushes and small buffing pads.
After seeing their site I just gotta have the $14,000 walk in powder coating oven and a 1 1/2 hp buffer!
Thanks for posting the info!
Up until now I've used a couple of dremel tools and I have three bench grinders. One is usually set up with fine and rough stones. The second has rough and fine brushes. The third has buffing wheels which get changed out as needed.
I use my grinders for everything from sharpening axes to buffing Mom's silver. I haven't buffed a whole gun. For that I've only used dremels or very light hand sanding. Never used a dremel sander. I've used the small dremel wire brushes occasionally, but watch out because most "brass" brushes aren't, they are painted steel and can cause stuff to rust later with microscopic bits of pot metal.
I buy buffing stuff at Harbor Freight. Usually I buy one of those like 50 piece dremel buffing and sanding kits, you burn through a lot of brushes and small buffing pads.
After seeing their site I just gotta have the $14,000 walk in powder coating oven and a 1 1/2 hp buffer!
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