"MM54" (mm54mk2)
06/04/2016 at 13:53 • Filed to: None
1
17|
"MM54" (mm54mk2)
06/04/2016 at 13:53 • Filed to: None | 1
| 17 |
I’m in the process of sorta-restoring a set of derby caps for my Chevelle. I have 7 of them, and will be using the best centers and dishes to make a nice set of four (they come apart). The centers are underway and going well (I’ll have a post on that eventually) so I need to polish up the dishes.
Unsure of how to re-polish stainless steel, I ended up trying three products: White Diamond Metal Polish, Turtle Wax All Metal Polish, and Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound.
For each product, I put down a piece of painter’s tape on one of the dented/bent dishes (which has a finish about the same condition as the not-dented/bent ones) and polished with a Mother’s Cone on one side of it for about the same length of time. I then buffed/cleaned up with a microfiber per the instructions.Finally, I removed the tape and used a microfiber to clean off the compound left at the tape edge itself.
The white diamond has gleaming reviews around the internet for working pretty well, and is priced to match. You can see the results below (black letters were written after the test so I could remember which product did which area).
As you can see, this product did nothing to actually polish. I tried it on assorted other metal things, and it does do a good job of cleaning, and leaves a waxy finish, but a polish it certainly is not. Very misleading, and disappointing after the reviews I’ve seen on it. It also smells funny.
Next up is the Turtle Wax All-Metal polish which I figured would probably do something (anything, at this point).
Hey! It did something! There is a faint edge where the tape was, showing the slight bit of clarity that has been restored to the metal. It’s not the mirror finish that these should have, but it’s something. Definitely did more than the White Diamond, and it was cheaper (and doesn’t smell like some weird combination of vanilla and toluene).
Finally I figured I’d try Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound, which I generally use to polish paint (considerably softer than metal, especially stainless). No idea what to expect with this but after the other products not doing much (if anything) it was worth a shot (especially since I already have it on hand).
Wow! It sort of polished! While it seems to have only dealt with the very minor surface scuffing and none of the scratches, this was the most polished any of the products got the metal.
So here we have the results, on podiums because I have nothing better to do with my time.
So... any of you have suggestions on what to use to
actually polish
these? Again, it’s stainless so it’s really quite hard metal. I don’t need brand-new-mirror but a few less surface scratches sure would be nice.
Not looking to spend much more money on this part of the project so I’ll probably try one more product before I say screw it and just use the meguiar’s (or whatever works best by then).
!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!
Baking soda/water paste (aka old-school toothpaste): Does nothing
#0000 steel wool: Also does nothing
1111111111111111111111
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 14:17 |
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Toothpaste...not the gel kind. Hershey’s chocolate will work too.
Needmoargarage
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 14:30 |
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I’ve always used the finest steel wool I can find lubricated with WD-40. Works better than metal polish. Some people will tell you it’s not a good idea on softer metals but I haven’t had any problems.
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MM54
> Needmoargarage
06/04/2016 at 14:35 |
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Just tried #0000 dry and it did nothing
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MM54
> 1111111111111111111111
06/04/2016 at 14:35 |
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Baking soda/water paste did nothing as well (just tried it now)
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1111111111111111111111
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 14:47 |
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If you really want them shiny then you’ll need a poster, like an angle grinder and buffing compound. If you have a dremel you can see how it would look.
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MM54
> 1111111111111111111111
06/04/2016 at 15:23 |
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I have an angle grinder (and a DA polisher). What sort of pad(s)/compound(s) would you suggest? This level of needing-cut exceeds my experience doing paint correction
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1111111111111111111111
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 15:57 |
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Ive use red rouge to get a high polish With polishing wheels, like a bench grinder but not a car polisher. I imagine it would be the same. Cloth wheel and red rouge. I’d try with baking soda since it’s handy.
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1111111111111111111111
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 16:00 |
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Also...you might have to work down to polish, like using wet sanding down to 2000+ to get all the little surface scratches out.
Kailand09
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 17:13 |
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The only true way to do it is wet/dry sandpaper. You’re not at that bad a spot so could probably start around 120 and work up to 1000 for a pretty damn nice finish, up to 1500-2000 for mirror shine.
It’s a lot of work though.
Die-Trying
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 17:52 |
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cheat...... get stainless polish, like what they use to clean restaurant equipment......
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MM54
> Die-Trying
06/04/2016 at 18:57 |
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Hmm, this may be something to consider!
JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 20:05 |
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This is your solution if you ACTUALLY want to polish them and make them mirror-shine: http://www.pjtool.com/stainless-stee…
http://www.pjtool.com/metal-buffing-…
you might start with brown tropoli rouge to get scuffing out and them move to white stainless compound to really make it mirror-smooth.
this kit looks good, but I’m not sure why it contains green rather than white...
http://www.pjtool.com/stainless-stee…
/polishes stainless steel on a semi-weekly basis.
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MM54
> JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
06/04/2016 at 20:11 |
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Have you ordered from this weibsite? If so (and they didn’t steal your card / actually sent the product) I may give it a shot
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JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 20:20 |
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I’ve not actually bought straight from thier website, but I have used thier products before, and my boss has purchased from them for his car restoration projects. Google reviews are mixed. They have an Amazon Store as well if you feel safer going through the Amazon Buyer Protection rigamarole.
http://www.amazon.com/s?me=A23SUD807…
Enkay has a similar kit for sale on Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Enkay-143-Stai…
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MM54
> JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
06/04/2016 at 20:38 |
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Cool, thanks. I think this is just what I need.
It seems they take Paypal so that may be the route to take. Many of the same products from their site are listed on the amazon store, but at a much higher price. I put together my own stripped-down version of their stainless kit (don’t need all those little cones, etc) and it should be quite reasonably priced even after shipping. I’ll give it a shot.
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Needmoargarage
> MM54
06/04/2016 at 22:30 |
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Weird...
Always has worked pretty well for my restoration projects.
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MM54
> Needmoargarage
06/04/2016 at 22:34 |
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It works very well on aluminum and such but this stainless is just too hard I suppose.