Stainless Polishing Techniques

[mrraford]

The differential is complete and I am moving on to the next subproject.
I have numerous radiator shells, headlight shells and cowl-light shells that need polishing.
As with the very good treatise on differentials found here, does anybody know of a primer on the art of stainless polishing? It sure would be helpful.

[Dollar Bill]

Machine polishing will be the fastest but you must be careful of the buffer ripping it out of your grip. Henry mounted the shells to a jig while buffing.

Hands down, the best S/S polish I've found is made by ZEP. Goes by Five Star Brass & Metal Polish. Not cheap but one tube will last for years.

Here is one source for reference: Zep Metal Polish

[silvertop]

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffman.htm

Lots of information on the above site, along with the needed supplies.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

I'd guess the entire restoration process boils down to 'experience'. In other words, learning by doing. You can do some work with a small buffer (converted bench grinder) but you will not get professional looking results without using professional grade equipment and skills.

The biggest thing that I used to differentiate between a professionally restored shell and an amateur one is the waves in the side of the shell being removed.

[cp5491r]

I do it myself. There's a great article in:
How to Restore Your Model A: Volume 2.

[Ray in La Mesa]

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If you are polishing the cowl band mount it on a piece of plywood. Cut the sheet to fit inside the band then taper the edge to fit inside the band itself. Add brackets to attach the lower mounting bolts to. Cut the center out about 4"-5" inside the band so you can maneuver it on the wheel--but still be careful about the wheel grabbing it.

[Kevin in NJ]

It is tough work.

Very labor intensive and you have to learn when to move on to the next paper.

Then there is removing the waves from the sides of the shells.

I am trying to learn the process. I have done the cowl band and head lights. It is not cheap to do right. You will need a lot of the successive grits of paper. The cheap paper from Harbor Freight and other sources is a waste of your time. The real 3M paper lasts much longer, you know the difference real fast.

A real buffer with the right buffs is also important. You need decent equipment to handle all the parts on the A.

The big learning curve is knowing when you have the piece level and then working your way up the grits. You need to sand out ALL the previous scratch before moving to the next. You also need to select a course enough grit to level the area without out creating to much extra work by selecting too course a grit.

Leveling the side of the radiator shell requires a lot of metal working skills and learning to work the stainless is a whole new area. It works much different, but the same as body steel. The big difference is the amount of force it take to move it. Way more force is needed, but you do not want to overdo it cause you cant fix your overdo like you can on sheet metal.

I recommend that you practice on one of the many junk shells that easily found and are cheap. Though the price seems to have gone up because these 'rod' guys are looking for them for those rat rods ugly creations. I recently sold a bunch of shells I did not consider repairable to a guy for more money then I expected.

As for good info on the process of buffing, I have not found a good source. They are all very general and I do not think the quality of the work from some of the youtube videos was as good as they made out. I have asked questions in the past and not got great answers. I have bought from Tarheel parts and they are willing to answer questions, but they are tired of people calling with questions and never buying anything.

Working under florescent tube lights is not ideal for buffing work. The finished product may look worse then if you look at it under sun light. So you may try to chase the finish too much and make it worse.
Tube light are nice for picking. The distortion of the tube light reflection when you are working the metal will let you know when you are back to a constant surface. Any dents will show up like the distorted mirrors at a circus.

[mot]

just happens with this nice weather ive been out polishing some marginal stainless handles and bumper clamps
heres a few handles im working on
the one handle was sandblasted when they sandblasted the door
it was too nice to toss
you can see the barrel where half is still sandblasted and half is polished
i use the 3M scotchbrite wheels to remove the scratches
the med grit is pretty aggressive but will take out a surprising amount of scratches (pictured)
the fine grit will clean up the medium git marks(its on the buffer its white in color)
i use the fine grit to prepare it for buffing
the barrel was fine grit then polish.no unnessisary sanding
i took it from sandblasted to what you see ,just using the fine wheel,then buffing
ive done this with headlamps with equally good results
just lightly buff it with the 3M wheel.
if there are small waves ,i first go over it with a fine flat file,to even it out
then to the 3M wheel ,then to the cotton wheel with rouge
you really need a buffing motot not a grinder
its amazing how much better the Baldor is
tom

[Charlie Stephens]

I would use the source referenced in post #5. One technique I like is to mark 2 inch squares with a felt tip and buff a square at a time and then go to the next. Obviously don't let the wheel catch the edge. Don't run the buffer at too high of a speed and locally heat the metal as it will leave ripples that you cannot get out. Buy buffing supplies from company that specializes in buffing supplies (see post #3) and not the local hardware store. Set aside a full day for the headlights, it is not a quick job if you do it right.

Charlie Stephens

[mot]

heres the same barrel that was sandblasted
i wouldnt have considered using it ,but i needed one to finish up a damaged door handle
the first photo is how i started (I did this after i posted the previous message)
,the second one is after maybe two minutes of light buffing with the 3M fine wheel
the third photo is after maybe 5 minutes of buffing with the cotton wheel and rouge
my next project will be a headlamp that was also sandblasted
tom

[mot]

ok
i just went out and found an old stainless headlamp
some idiot had sandblasted it
its in good shape otherwise
i picked two areas to show as an example what the 3M wheel and buffing wheel can do
the whole time was less than 10 minutes
starting out the script was very faint
\this is not a fine point shell,it just is a learning tool
the side came out great i didnt go further on the script,although its a lot better and is useable for a driver
he sandblasted the top pretty good

look at the reflection in the side
tom

[miff]

Why would you sand blast stainless steel head light. I polished my parts on my 30 .It just takes time . Good luck . Miff

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by miff

Why would you sand blast stainless steel head light. I polished my parts on my 30 .It just takes time . Good luck . Miff

How about you want to paint them black to use on a commercial and the ones you have are too rough to polish?

Charlie Stephens

[mot]

i was just making a point

and showing how you could polish even the worst stainless i could find
the handles were scratched almost beyond use ,yet they came back to near fine point ,i have dozens of headlamp shells and picked the worse one
i also have commercial shells and no need to paint them
I need to finish 10 of the best ones for my cars
tom