Polishing stainless steel

[Mike Valant <mev4474@domain.elided>]

You can definitely sand and polish gouged stainless to a perfect shine.
We used to do this from time to time at the tool and die shop where I
used to work. I recommend first carefully hand-filing the gouged-out
bumps away - a polishing stone (for tool steel, as used by tool makers)
works even better. Then, carefully sand out the rest of the scratch - I
wouldn't go below 600 grit if at all possible. Work your way up to 1000
grit or 1200 grit, then begin with the finer grades of steel wool.
Actually, the steel wool is a pain, so you might try buffing the area
with the softest, finest grade of 3M scotch brite wheel (powered by a
hand grinder), then follow up with the finest-grit scotch brite pad
(that's how I prefer to do it). Finally, to speed up the polishing
itself, treat the now completly smoothed area as new paint, and buff it
out using 3M Finess-it II compound, or a similar finishing compound, and
a buffer pad. After that, a little wax adds the last bit of shine, plus
the usual protection against oxidation.


MeV

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