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I get mini scratches when I try to do stainless steel mirror finish [Canada] 

August 2, 2007

I AM TRY TO POLISH SOME 10 FEET LONG BY 2.5 INCHES WIDE STAINLESS STEEL MOLDINGS AND IT LEAVES MINI SCRATCHES ON THE STAINLESS. IS THERE ANYONE THAT CAN GIVE ME THE WAY TO DO IT AND HOW TO ELIMINATE THOSE SCRATCHES TO GET A MIRROR FINISH, THANKS A LOT.
Georges

Georges E. Fleury
Polishing shop - Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada

Hello, Georges. Do you know whether the scratches were already there or whether your efforts added them? Since you work in a polishing shop you probably already know that the general principle is that you must polish in one direction until there are no scratches larger than the grit you are using, and the only scratches left are the ones you are making by doing this. Then you go to a smaller grit or softer abrasive, and polish in a perpendicular direction until the only scratches are the smaller ones you are now making. This continues with finer abrasives until you have a mirror.

Obviously, it's harder to do this than to talk about it, especially on a very long thin piece of molding. But we do have a couple of dozen threads on the subject that may help if you put "polish stainless" or "mirror polish" into the search engine. If those threads don't cover your exact problem, you can try to expand on the detail. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Molding? Your description gives flat dimensions. Is there a shape to this item? If there is not, you might want to look at a non-woven wide belt system like Timesaver.

AF Kenton Nova Finishing Systems Inc. Huntingdon Valley, PA

Dear it seems that you are having deep scratches on the surface, which have reduced but not got removed.

If this is the situation you need to avoid the pieces with thick scratches as they will be removed by thicker coarse abrasives,which will leave finer scratches which need to be removed with finer--then finer --then polishing and then eventual finishing wheel.

Trust me I have understood your problem--the labour you put will be double of the cost of new one.

Regards,

Amit Pabuwal
- Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Not sure if the moldings are of flat not but sheets of True #8 mirror finish stainless (the one without polishing grid lines) can be bought in 4' x 10' sheet sizes in various gauges. If the moldings are flat trim pieces, you'll be better off buying these pre-polished sheets and cutting to size instead spending your time polishing them.

Michael Liu Taylor    specialty stainless steel distributor Dallas, Texas