Stainless Steel Trim Polishing Tips

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Wed Feb 20, 08 5:40 pm

Anyone got any good tips on polishing stainless steel? In particular the trim bits found on many of our cars.

With the polishing mops on my drill I never get any decent results.

Is this due to lack of sufficient speed? Type of mop or polish?

How can I get good results?

the bishop · Post by **the bishop** » Wed Feb 20, 08 7:16 pm

Needs to be as fast as poss, and don't quench it.Keep polishing even when its too hot to handle! I put my mop head in my lathe and run it flat out.

MrNorm · Post by **MrNorm** » Wed Feb 20, 08 9:04 pm

Remember most of those bits are bright anodized. So you have to strip that off first.....and reapply if you want to, though can just polish

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Wed Feb 20, 08 10:55 pm

Just seems to be stainless steel? I will check though Gav.

MrNorm · Post by **MrNorm** » Wed Feb 20, 08 11:55 pm

Whoops, my bad, sorry about that - I am talking about the aluminium trim (e.g. hood and boot trim pieces etc).
You asked about the stainless - I must pay more attention

Oh well at least you get a bump!

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Feb 21, 08 8:43 am

I wouldn't be suprised if they anodised the steel as well if it was cheaper than getting it polished.

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Thu Feb 21, 08 12:31 pm

have ya tried

Shiny sinks

tescos do it

brings up the inside of the microwave and the drainer nice

formulated for kitchen grade stainless.

makes everything black and then polishes off to leave a lustrouse shine

works on smooth and brushed surfaces equally well

Dave

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Feb 21, 08 12:45 pm

I will give it a go.

But I just ordered a polishing kit for my bench grinder.

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Thu Feb 21, 08 12:50 pm

no probs there mate

as long as you don't mind ya mops and the front of ya shirt getting covered.

wear some specs. it stings

and it smells a bit odd...

dave

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Feb 21, 08 1:02 pm

You just described me perfectly mate.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Sat Feb 23, 08 9:08 pm

Yeah. It was speed I needed. The drill just does not cut it.

So I got a polishing conversion kit for my bench grinder. What a difference!

I tried it out on a bit of old used trim I wanted to use as a replacement for a damaged bit of mine. It is hard to photograph because it is very mirror like now but I placed it over the other half that I have not polished yet and hopefully you can see the difference. The walls of my garage are yellow hence the yellow reflection in the metal.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Feb 23, 08 9:40 pm

yeah they're good , I did all my stainless and aluminium on my Charger with one of those. (Got anodising professionally stripped from aluiminium first)

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Mar 25, 08 4:06 pm

Ok, looking for a little more detail here on what has already been said.
(I have bought the complete buffing kit from Forsts, and have a bench top wheel so mop speed 'shouldn't be a problem').

So, Some of the stainless I have would polish up very nicely with just some autosol and a rag by hand, but other bits have some slight scratches in which I assume, would need buffing out. Now I am not sure whether the buffing wheel will end up blueing the steel, burning through it etc. etc.

Should I be looking to use every stick of polish throughout the process? I.e. each different grade of coarsness right down to the jewelers rouge? Or is that unnecessary? The scratches arent that visible, I am just anal about the whole thing but don't want to wreck anything through an exercise in futility.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Mar 25, 08 4:34 pm

Stop being a girl.

Use the three mops in the kit with the correct three polishes for each one.

Only put a very small amount of polish on the mop. But put a little on frequently.

Too much polish on is a pain as it sticks to the metal.

The first mop is the most agressive and will leave the finish dull. But this is the mop that will remove the scratches. Work at 90 degrees to the scratches. Then finish in different directions so you are not just polishing the same way all the time.

The middle mop will bring up the shine. The last mop will only have a minor effect on stainless. I wouldn't bother with the powder on stainless.

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Tue Mar 25, 08 4:52 pm

Dave wrote:Stop being a girl.

You're feeling better then, Dave!