Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


-----

Is there anything I can do in my own garage to improve the finish on my project

Hi. First of all, this is all new to me. I bought a piece of raw stainless steel, a quarter inch thick 36" X 15". With 180 to 2000 grit sandpaper and black, green, and white compound or jeweler's rouge (polishing/buffing compound) [affil links], I tried my best to get a mirror finish. This piece is going on a boat. Instead it still has some of the grain of the steel showing and I sanded it for eight hours with an orbital sander and worked up to 2000 grit and then polish. My results are not even close to what I want to accomplish. Is there anything I can do in my own garage as an amateur to at least improve the finish on my project. Thanks, Bob Vergin

Bob Vergin
- Avoca, Wisconsin, USA
2007

---

1st of two simultaneous replies -- 2007

You've bit off a big job. That chunk of stainless will eat it's weight in ordinary sandpaper. You might make reasonable progress with a belt sander and aluminum oxide belts (the red ones). I'd start coarser, maybe 100 grit, then 120, 180, 240, 400, 600. You have to remove the sand scratches from each coarser belt with the next finer before moving on. It's easy to see that if you alternate polish direction 90 degrees every time you move up in grit, almost impossible if you don't.

When you get to where there is no scratch coarser than 600 grit, use stainless steel compound, the gray stuff. High speed (say 5000 fpm), then finish with white compund.

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina

---

2nd of two simultaneous replies --

To get the grain texture out you will need to start with something courser such as 120 grit , 80 grit or maybe even more course. It depends upon the roughness of the base metal. You must make sure you get all of the texture ground out before you step down to the finer grits. It is imperative that you get the grinding marks completely out before proceeding to the next finer step. Each polishing step must take out the polishing marks from the step just before. You must keep doing this step by step until you achieve the mirror finish you are looking for. Large pieces of flat steel or stainless steel can be some of the most difficult polishing you can do. This is a job for an experienced polisher who has the eye for the job. He has to know what each step of the process looks like exactly or he will just end up repeating steps. Over the years we have done large stainless steel scuptures for some of the most demanding artists. The one thing we have learned is that it is hard, dirty, and time consuming with no shortcuts. It I don't know how valuable you consider your time or what level of patience and endurance you have but you may want to talk to a professional polisher about doing the job for you. You may find the three , four or even five hundred dollars well spent. Good Luck, Frank

Frank DeGuire
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
2007