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REF: Shop Notes and Tips
Trying to Get a Mirror Finish on Stainless Steel
This is an attempt to get a mirror finish on stainless and without any scratches.
Hand sanding only was used in the pics below on a scrap piece of angle.
This shows a progression starting from raw filed material as in a newly fabricated part.
A course sanding block smoothed it out some but it's too flexible and began rounding the corners. | Finish still scratched but beginning. | |
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3M polishing compound applied with the sanding block. | That brought out more shine. | However, it did nothing for the scratches. |
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Then, white polishing compound was used from a Harbor Freight kit. Held in a vise for easy access. | But the scratches are still too deep. | |
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This is sold as “3M Safety Walk” (applied on steps to keep your feet from slipping). It makes for a good rough sandpaper and looks to rival the 60 grit paper in front. |
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The surface was wet sanded with cutting oil and the 3M paper wrapped around a file for rigidity. Followed by 60 and then 220 grit paper. |
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Then polished with Mothers polish and a dish sponge. It made a decent satin finish but that is not the goal. |
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Surface was then wet sanded with cutting oil and a Scotchbrite scouring pad. Best shine yet but scratches are still too deep. |
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The surface was then wet sanded with 320 grit and polished with white compound. The surface feels like glass but the lines are still in it. |
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After using 400 grit, the lines are fading out but too much pressure was applied while sanding and light scratches appeared. They still won't polish out with white compound. |
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The black was better but left hot spots in the finish and it wouldn't polish away. It came off with 3M liquid polish. |
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Aside from the hotspots, it's starting to rival the pipes. | 3 more passes with black, 2 with yellow and 1 with HF red. Needs more sanding. | |
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