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Satin finish mild steel

June 17, 2008

We have been finishing our mild steel products which are complicated weldments that must be ground, sanded and then finished to a satin finish by surface conditioning disk. This is all by hand and very time consuming.

We are looking for a easy to shortcut this some by taking out the last steps and automating this process with a tumbler and media. We use a slug tumbler initially to peen the edges of the waterjet cut parts and to remove scale before welding. This has saved us a tremendous amount of time. We are hoping to learn of a method to finish the parts to an even satin finish from a shaped and sanded product.

The pieces are complicated geometry and weigh between one half to one pound.

Any help would be appreciated.

Scott Wilson
Shop owner - Laurel, MS USA

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Are you looking for a specific RMS or just the aesthetics/appearances. Probably the best thing to do is take a picture of the part to post because there are a lot of different media that can achieve the results you are looking for. The question is time and I'm not sure your current machine would be the best for this application.

AF Kenton
retired business owner - Hatboro, Pennsylvania
June 23, 2008