FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice on how to achieve a chrome-like mirror finish on stainless trims.

I've been polishing like mad mixing up the process to try and get the illusive mirror finish, but I'm still not satisfied.

The last process I've tried achieves a deep/brilliant shine, however, in most pieces there appears to be a very small orange peel effect and I cant get a good flat result.

This is what I'm doing now:

1. Wet sanding 800 to 1000 to 1500 to 2000 changing 90 degrees each step.
2. Light cut on bench grinder with Sisal (stitched cutting wheel) with Josco black bar
3. Polish with loose leaf wheel with Josco green bar
4. Finished with very light wipe over of Bowdens Own Metal Polish (similar to Purple) and hand finish with metal polishing microfibre  cloth.
5. If required, a quick run on the polishing wheel again.

The trim on the car appears to have been polished to a near perfect mirror finish (that I cant replicate) some time ago and I just want to remove the wear and tear scratches.

I'd like to do this myself and any advice would be great.

Cheers,

Phil

You're doing all the right things AFAIC, stainless is very hard to polish compared to alloy.
I have found that it responds well to a lot more pressure on the buffing wheel than you would normally use.

Electroplating Technologies at Queanbeyan may be able to assist.

Thanks Stinky and Zulu,

Stinky - When sanding, is it okay to do just by hand (fingers & thumbs) or should I have a mini rubber block to encourage a flat surface?

Zulu - If I can't get the mirror, I'll give them a call and see if they can finish them off.

Cheers,

Phil

Also the speed at which you polish has an effect on the finish you get if you have a proper polisher that has variable speed try 1800 RPM if you are using a bench grinder  [2850 RPM ]you can not change the speed other than loading it ,thats is more than likely the reason Stinky gets good results pushing hard and slowing the machine down a bit in RPM  I would think  ??? ???..............FC427........

I've always sanded by hand and kept it to a minimum only sanding out visibly deep scratches.

Scratches or wrinkles.... ;D ;D ;D

I’ve just finished polishing using the wet & dry progression used by Phily, but using a cork block.  I wasn’t getting enough effect using thumb/fingers (but I did get a saw thumb!).  Then I buffed with a buffing wheel on bench grinder using only moderate pressure (to avoid too much heat build-up). I finished with Repo Extra Cut. 

I reckon I got a very good result on the section of trim I did (mudguard spear), but I didn’t polish the whole piece because I still want it to look 50 years old (i.e. with the odd scratch here & there).

Martin

Electropolishing is the way to go if you want mirror reflection.

Polishing stainless steel (or any other metal) is a process of progressive mechanical abrasion.

The goal of the abrasion (polishing) is to cut finer and finer scratches into the surface until they are invisble to the naked eye.

"Electro polishing is a selective electrochemical metal removal process, exactly the reverse of plating. Simply stated, the electropolishing process results in the simultaneuos smoothing, leveling, and brightening of stainless steel material by adding low-voltage electric current to a flowing chemical solution.

When the proper combination of electrolyte, current/voltage temperature relationship is attained, the high points of the surface irregularities, or high current density areas, are selectively removed at a greater rate than the remainder of the surface.

Electropolishing selectively removes surface flaws and embedded impurities, as well as high points in the surface layer.

An electropolished surface is essentially equipotentialized. Local corrosive cells cannot be set up, because galvanic differences due to stress in metal surfaces have been eliminated.

Electropolishing passivates stainless steel to a greater extent than any other process. It applies an invisible protective oxide fill on the surface which imparts a condition of maximum resistance to attack and corrosion.

With surface impurities removed, and a level, smooth surface that has been brightened by electropolishing, the coefficient of friction is greatly lowered. A smooth surface eliminates turbulence and the erosive action which generates particulates. The bright smooth surface is bacteriologically cleaner than any known method of cleaning or polishing."

http://www.southernstainless.com.au/index.php?page=electro-polishing