What are your thoughts on polishing stainless?

[Hot Rod Reverend]

Some of you may have already seen this video of these nice OEM 1955/56 Ford rocker panel stainless trim pieces I acquired sometime ago. I have some good news on that front - Burton's Antiques in Dayton, Ohio (who is the only company I know of that is reproducing those trim pieces) just sold me the template I needed to drill the holes in the appropriate locations. I paid $20 for what looks to be a quality piece of steel that will put me in the right place when I install the clips.

https://vimeo.com/411735195

However, I do have an interesting story that is relative to the stainless trim. I walked into a metal polish/chrome shop and decided to see what the estimate would be to straighten and polish the stainless steel moldings in the video. The manager examines both pieces on this counter, then tells me, "I am going to have to get my brother to look at this, he polishes all the stainless at the shop here anyway."

No problem. A few minutes later, here comes the brother - he has the appearance of being in the middle of a polish job as his clothing and condition/removal of his thick leather gloves would prove. He too looks the pieces over but in much more detail, running his fingers over every ding, etc. Then he announces, "Ah, they ain't in all that bad a shape; shouldn't take anymore than 2 hours each to get them where they need to be."

Manager: "You sure about that?"
Polisher: "Yep, look at them - these things will straighten up just fine." (he flips them over for the manager to look at again.) "Not much to it..."

The manager and the polisher disagree right in front of me as they discuss a few things further.

The polisher leaves and the manager looks at me and says, "Ok, we charge $60 an hour for labor," and proceeds to take out his work order pad. "But, these things are going to take 5 hours."

After all this, I briefly explain how the car is a driver, if these were show pieces I would gladly spend that much, etc.

I left the shop reminding myself why so many of us DIY on certain items like these. Brightwork is expensive, I get it. Chrome is expensive enough, and if you work on stainless there are dings that need to be straightened and then the polishing, etc. What got me in all this was the discussion in front of me between the man who was trusted to know his stuff and then the manager who decided to high-ball it on me for an estimate.

I wonder how many of you on the forum polish your own stainless or how many of you send it out to a shop? I would assume that $60 a rate is about average?

[58Yeoman]

I polished all the SS on my 58 Chevy wagon, but there really wasn't a whole lot of it, being the bottom line wagon for that year. My wheels are only 6", I imagine that his are much larger and do a faster job. I think I'd pass on the deal, just for the principal of it. The polisher guy should know more than the guy up front.

[Daves55Sedan]

I have fearlessly tried my hand at both straightening dented stainless trim pieces and polishing. My un-objective assessment of my own results is less than desirable.
I used a clean swept concrete garage floor (perfectly level) with a piece of plywood laid down AND a thin flat strip of rubber on top of that. I invented and manufactured a few of my own punch tools (some out of wood and some out of thick steel plate ground to the shape I wanted. No matter how careful I was and how long I tried, most of the dings I wanted to get out could still be noticed (at least close up).
Ford polishing, I removed the wire-wheel off my bench grinder and replaced it with a buffing pad. I had a cut-out plastic gallon container filled with a mixture of metal polishing compound and water (to make a paste). The motor spins at 1270 RPM, so the compound slings everywhere. So I re-thought my plan of attack. Coat the whole piece with the mixture and allow it to dry, then use the buffing wheel to polish it down. This process causes the compound to become embedded in the buffing wheel (good). Still did not get as good a shine as I wanted BUT, I did not have the finest polishing compound either. Probably could have if I had gotten a finer compound.
Anyway, this is really nasty work. You get compound all over you, in your hair, and breathe it. Must wear work goggles. It gets all over the garage wall and the floor. If the concrete floor isn't sealed, you will never get it all off the floor.
I tend to try to do EVERYTHING myself, but often don't have the right tools, or homemade tools. If you saw my place you wouldn't believe I did body-off-frame resto of two '55 Fords here. But I did. If you knew some of the shenanigens I got away with to get something done, you wouldn't ever try it.

[Daves55Sedan]

I've dealt with several chrome-plating and stainless/aluminum polishing places over several decades. There is ONLY one I will stick to when it comes to good quality and good business ethics (honesty). All the others fail on both fronts. BUT, the one I do like has never done bumper plating. They'll do bumper guards and bumperettes, but not long, heavy full car bumpers. They have the tank and material to do it, but they say they can't compete with the other guys prices on bumpers.
There are some who have a runner that uses a pickup truck to pick-up and deliver within a 300 mile radius of their location. They'll meet you at a location off the hiway close to your home at a specific time and give you an estimate on the spot. They deliver back to you the same way, you write a check and your done.

[paul2748]

On my 48 and my 54 I did most of the polishing on the stainless. Used the compounds form Eastwood and their buffs.. They came out very nice, better that average driver quality but not like a pro job. Biggest problem was any kind if dents and like above, made my own tools out of wood and metal. There still was a few minor ripples in a piece or two of side trim.


Used my bench grinder for the buffs - actually the bench grinder is on a stand which makes it a lot better to do bigger pieces

[packrat5]

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I have a professional polishing setup. We do our own polishing only. I have done it for other people, and they all say the same thing, "that much?" Well, for one thing, it is not fun. If you are not extremely careful, you can get considerable injury. Like big time stitches. The pads, and there are a big assortment of them, are not cheap, and a small snag can ruin a pad easily. There are several compounds as well, and they are not free. Also, we start out by sanding the scratches out by hand, also time consuming, and not fun., but it saves wear and tear on the pads, and makes the polishing go faster.
Also, this is a skill, and everyone wants to get paid for their skills. (or for that matter lack of it too) What you want to charge is your business, but my opinion is that $60 dollars an hour for shop labor is not profitable, and frankly, not worth the effort.
How much is painting per hour? How much is a mechanic per hour? how much is a attorney, or doctor, or any other skill per hour? Get the picture?

[bobss396]

I did a bunch on my car using Harbor Fright cloth wheels and polishing sticks. I'm normally anti-glove when it comes to spinning machinery, but you need them for polishing.

I have a Baldor buffing motor, I should make an extension shaft to do deeper pieces. Just take your time and be careful not to warp thin sections. I have all of my finished trim in cardboard tubes ready to go on the car. The rest is loose waiting.

I've had good luck straightening dings and other damage. I made up some blocks from old phenolic material, I've used old pieces of oak flooring too.

[58Yeoman]

Daves55, you should've used the 'sticks' of compound from Eastwood. Not as mess. My bench grinder is also mounted on a stand, and no guards so I can work from the sides, too. I was lucky, I had no dents to work out, so it was all polishing only.

[Hot Rod Reverend]

Alrighty, you would have thought I asked a question about oil - - pass the popcorn this week lol.

I have already finished straightening and buffing out 99% of the stainless on the 55 Ford Fairlane using a HF buffer motor, pads, and Eastwood compound. Since the shop was right next door to the place where I picked up my template I thought I would take in the pieces and get an idea of what I would be looking at, etc. Of course, I wanted to ask what others here on the forum have done - the comments are mostly helpful.

The issue with the estimate I received was the disagreement between the manager and the guy who does the actual polishing. The information in my original post wasn't given to attack anyone in that field of work or to complain about labor costs.

I do appreciate the helpful advice fellas - carry on.

[JimNNN]

I polished the stone guards for my driver quality '54 Ranch Wagon (after putting it off for many years) and I got what I would call pretty good driver quality results. In other words, you'd have to be 6 - 9 inches away before you notice the flaws...and there was a fair bit of pitting on the original surface. I achieved these results by going to youtube and researching the subject. I found an instructional video from a company that sells the polishing equipment for professionals (I have no link, as I did this about a year ago.) I didn't buy the polishing equipment, since these parts are fairly small.

The main gist of the instructional video, though, is that you go in 90 degree different directions every time you move up to a finer grade of abrasive or compound. So, I started with like a 400 (or maybe coarser, I can't remember) wet sandpaper..moving in only one direction.

Then I would go to a finer wet sand paper, moving ONLY in a direction that was 90 degrees different (perpendicular) from the direction of the previous (coarser) abrasive. I would keep with this procedure ONLY until the abrasive marks from the previous (coarser) abrasive had disappeared.

Then I moved to the next finer abrasive, working in it in a perpendicular direction from the previous abrasive. And so on and so on, until I got up to about 2000 grit or more. Remember, every abrasive is worked in only one direction. Then I polished, and it was shiny. When I started the process, I thought, this isn't going to work, but it did. Hopefully you can find that video. Good luck.

[Ford blue blood]

Eastwood stuff, buffer was on sale. Practice, practice, practice. Always buff away from the edge! Got a 62 Bird fender piece caught wrong on the wheel and that bad boy flew nearly 50 feet before landing! Not sure why it didn't turn into a pretzel but it landed on the grass flat....

[34pickup]

I have a 56 Chevy Bel Air that I straightened and polished all the stainless on. It was really time consuming but I like doing everything possible by myself. I also used the Eastwood polishing sticks. Pretty much burned up the old motor I was using for it. Had to buy another one. If you aren't in a hurry, you should be able to gently pick out all the dents, smooth them down and then polish them. The more you do it, the better you get.
And yeah, gloves are a necessity. Stuff really gets hot.

[Ford blue blood]

Buffing stainless is kinda like watching paint dry. It is good mindless work with an edge to pay attention to what you are doing. Once you get into the rhythm it moves along, but at a slow pace. It is my fall back when nothing else hits the "what am I going to do today" mood.

[Fortunateson]

I enjoy colour sanding and SS polishing. Kind of a Zen thing for me. Good music on and I get to see results fairly quickly. One piece of advice... on long pieces use a pice of wood as a backer so it doesn't get bent if it snags. One more pice of advice... make sure that you polish with the downward part of the wheel spin or you will be calling for search and rescue!