Sand, chemicals or blaster?

[afterglow]

I'm a total newbie in metal finishing and the only reason why I'm going into it is because I'm about to restore a 1950 Packard. Instead of sending everything out like the last car I restored, I'm thinking of doing some of the finishing in-house.

The bumpers and grille will be sent out since they're way too large to do economically. I'm thinking of doing the side trim pieces (stainless steel) and the handles, emblems, bezels and various small parts (pot metal).

I'm trying to figure out the best way to strip the parts of their old chrome and years of corrosion in preparation for buffing/polishing or nickel plating (in the case of the stainless steel) or Flash Copper/Acid Copper/Copy Chrome (in the case of pot metal).

I'm starting from a clean slate as I don't have any of the tools to get the job done. Should I sand the parts (need to buy a bench grinder but I do have a Dremel), use chemicals (need chemicals and pails--probably the cheapest way), or invest in a blasting cabinet?

[red911]

Welcome Afterglow,

Have you read the Caswell buffing write up here? That would be a good place to start.

Personally, I would only polish stainless trim and not plate it. Just my $.02.

Tom