So I searched and tried to find a thread on tips for polishing stainless, so that it doesn't always have to go get a coat of chrome to bring it back to life. I've done my fair share of polishing using elbow grease, rolite, nevr dull, and some mother's products, but I feel like there has to be other ways for the at home polisher to bring things back to life. God knows I have more than enough chrome on my '58 to keep me busy. So what are you tricks? Are there any previous threads on this?
polishing stainless or chrome? east wood makes a buffing kit for a bench grinder. on the car ... uh ..don't no
get a couple of compounds and a couple polishing wheels and you will be good to go. My buddy just started doing this and has gotten pretty good. I say about 2-3 different wheels and compounds should get you by.
when you receive a polishing kit, the rouge (polish compound) will have the directions printed on the container on what wheel (sisal, sewn etc.) to use with what metals for desired polishing. http://www.eastwood.com/ew-10in-buff-shop-kit-w-3-4hp-variable-ew-motor.html
POLISHING FOR DUMMIES!!! hey kimber, i'm restoring my 55 Cadillac. when i bought her in June the stainless looked in pretty good shape, no rust, slightly dull, some scratches, only a few deep scratches and about 4 dents. This is my first restoration so i had to research stainless polishing and did weeks of trial and error. But now, my stainless trim is absolutely flawless. Its truly perfect. My system is really fast and easy. (My system is the system recommended by Eastwood) I bought a bench grinder at HomeDepot for $44. I took the grinding wheels off and put on 6" buff wheels. I bought the SISAL wheel, the SPIRAL SEWN wheel, and the LOOSE buff wheel. (ITS REALLY IMPORTANT TO USE THESE THREE WHEELS) The two rouges you need are the black emery and the green (for stainless). Here's the method: use 220 grit sandpaper on the piece. i spend about 10 minutes sanding each 1 ft piece, EVEN IF THE PIECE DOESNT HAVE DEEP SCRATCHES, STILL USE THE 220 grit because scratches that you initially don't notice suddenly appear when you get to the final buff stages. So always use the 220. Constantly replace the sandpaper because the hard stainless quickly knocks the sand off the sandpaper. Sand pretty hard and fast for about 5 mintues. Then another 5 minutes with slightly less pressure. Thoroughly wipe the piece clean. Starting with the 6" SISAL wheel with black emery rouge. (IMPORTANT: only apply the rouge to the buff wheels for one second, every few minutes. If you apply too much rouge it WILL NOT buff properly!) Spend about 15 minutes per 1 ft of stainless on the SISAL wheel. Use fairly hard pressure. Let the piece cool down every two minutes. Stainless cools off very quickly. After 15 minutes on the SISAL wheel the piece should start to look pretty shiny. It should be uniform throughout with NO noticable scratches. If theres any noticable scratches, go over them with the SISAL wheel again until gone. If they don't disappear, then hit them again with the 220 grit sandpaper, then the SISAL wheel again. So at this point the piece should be PERFECTLY smooth with NO fine scratches and be almost mirror shiny. Thoroughly wipe piece clean. SPIRAL SEWN WHEEL. The second wheel is the spiral sewn wheel with the green (stainless) rouge. Also spend 15 minutes with this buff wheel with fairly hard pressure. Use lighter pressure for the last 5 minutes. The piece should look flawless and finished. Thoroughly wipe piece clean. LOOSE BUFF WHEEL. The third and final wheel also uses the green (stainless) rouge. Spend 15 minutes with this wheel at medium pressure. This wheel brings the piece from 98% prefect to 100% perfect. shoot me any questions. Ted www.LeatherByTed.com
It took me a minute to find it... "Now and Zen of Polishing" by Steve Clarke (RIP) a great read and a great resource!!! I have a copy sent via email from TagMan here on the HAMB, I can forward it send me your email via PM. Lets have a moderator post the writeup in the HAMB Tech section? (Or it may already be there)
Thanks so much 55CadillacTed, I think I'm going to invest in that set now. This is exactly what I was looking for since most of my stainless is almost perfect. One of my dagmar's may have to go get chromed as I noticed it was spot welded. Verbal Kint, PM will be sent in a minute!
did you like ...huh...read this off the box or what . Polishing is so easy a caveman can do it. Very time consuming, you get what you give.
I was looking for what the best products are to use, since not all wheels and polishes are made the same
here's a great site with a buffing forum . i picked up some good info here www.caswellplating.com/buffs
I'm about halfway through this, and if it's possible I definitely think it should get placed in the tech section!
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