Sanding Stainless Trim

[tpawlik]

I am restoring a 62 Olds Starfire that has about 150 feet of stainless trim. I purchased the kit with the black, green and white compounds. Using black with the sisal wheel, green on a vented wheel, and white with a sewn wheel. I have been able to get a really good finish on pieces that had very fine scratches. The pieces with more or deeper scratches didn't come out as well. After reading some posts here, it appears that I have not been agressive enough with the sandpaper, using 1500 wet/dry. The sisal wheel with the black is not getting all the scratches out. Since all the trim is 1/2" to 1" wide would an expander wheel with 400 sandpaper be too agressive? It's gonna take forever to hand sand 150 feet of trim.
Thanks.

[woodjames]

The expander wheel with 400 grit would be way to aggressive. And you'd never keep it all flat, you'd get waves all over the place.

[Brintiff]

You need to move down in grit and use a greaseless, I haven't used Caswells greaseless but you want something like Polish O Ray in 240 or 320, I don't know if Caswell sells an equivalent. You WILL remove metal with these abrasives so be careful.

BROWNELLS : POLISH-O-RAY - World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools

[Rasper]

If you want those long strips to look perfect, and not have ripples, you had better bite the bullet and sand them by hand. 3M wet-or-dry paper is the best. I use it with plenty of water. It's a lot of work - stainless is hard as hell - but in the end the work takes a few weeks and you have to live with the results for years.

R

[baz]

i vote for greaseless also , i don t know what type of polisher you use but use the biggest wheels you have .
the larger the diameter the less waves you get on the trims .but be carefull most trims are very thin so you don t have much room for mistakes

[tpawlik]

I should have known that a sanding wheel would be too easy! I bought some 600 wet/dry sandpaper, that is working much better. I am still having some issues with removing very fine scratches. A vented wheel with the green and then a sewn wheel with the white seems to work the best, but it takes several passes to get the pieces looking really good. The sisal wheel made too much of a brushed finish on the pieces, that took even longer to smooth out. Is it possible to remove very fine scratches or am I expecting to much?

[Brintiff]

Your links always been in your posts? The site looks awesome and so do the pics, very nice work man.

i vote for greaseless also , i don t know what type of polisher you use but use the biggest wheels you have .
the larger the diameter the less waves you get on the trims .but be carefull most trims are very thin so you don t have much room for mistakes

[woodjames]

I always get really fine swirl marks from the wheels, and for the best finish I always rub it out by hand. Clear coat safe paint rubbing compound with charmin toilet paper, or even finer swirl mark remover for paint is the best finish you'll get. The sisal is to coarse for 1500 grit, you're actually moving backwards that way. 600 grit is usually about the finest that I'll sand to, keep it wet with soapy water or use wd-40 to lube or. Or like a few other recommended - use greaseless. However for just 1 vehicle worth of trim, it's probably overkill - just roll your sleeves up and continue with the 600 grit.

Keep in mind -
Don't start and stop with thin stainless, you can warp it that way. Start to finish, buff the same piece, don't take breaks. Don't start at one end, stop, and then start the other end. Work from one end to the other. You'll build up heat buffing, keep it uniform. You might be fine doing it without a method, but I've seen it happen, just giving you a heads up.

I should have known that a sanding wheel would be too easy! I bought some 600 wet/dry sandpaper, that is working much better. I am still having some issues with removing very fine scratches. A vented wheel with the green and then a sewn wheel with the white seems to work the best, but it takes several passes to get the pieces looking really good. The sisal wheel made too much of a brushed finish on the pieces, that took even longer to smooth out. Is it possible to remove very fine scratches or am I expecting to much?

[baz]

Your links always been in your posts? The site looks awesome and so do the pics, very nice work man.

thanks , yes they been there for a long time ,

[tpawlik]

I finally figured out why I could not get all the scratches out. About half the pieces on my car were "flash chromed" to compensate for variations in the quality of some stainless pieces used by GM in the 60's. The scratches I was trying to sand were not in the stainless, they were in the chrome. You can sand forever and not get all the chrome off. I had all the pieces stripped of the chrome at a plating shop, then I sanded deep scratches with 400 w/d and then 600 or 800 depending on how agressively I had to use the 400. The finished pieces now have a mirror finish.