Polishing Stainless Steel to a 2B Finish

[jtgilber]

I need to get a sheet of stainless steel to a 2B finish on both sides of it. If anyone can recommend a polishing kit or can give some advice on how to get to that finish that would be greatly appreciated. I have tried ordering a sheet of it but I can not find a distributor who can get me a sheet with the finish on both sides. I am willing to buy one also if anyone knows of how I can get it. Thanks.

[Rasper]

Most stainless comes in 2B finish, (that's the standard finish), unless you pay extra for 4 or polished. Any supplier of non-ferrous metals anywhere should have plenty of it.

If you all would put your locations in the info so it shows on your posts it would be easier to help you. I know a million metal suppliers but I have no idea where you are.

R

[jtgilber]

Sorry I am new to this site! But I am located at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass. This stainless steel is for reseach purposes. I have contacted a few suppliers but they can only get me plates with the finish on only 1 side. For the experiments I am running I need the plate to have the finish on both sides. Suppliers are telling me that they can not find a sheet like it. If you know of anywhere that may carry it that would be great! Thanks.
J

[Rasper]

Are you certain that 2B is what you want? 2B is a dull flat mill finish with no shine, but also no scratches. As far as I can tell it is the finish stainless has when it comes out of the mill. It looks like the finish that cold rolled steel sheet metal has. The 2B stainless I buy looks the same on both sides. I have never noticed any difference between one side and the other, and I have used a lot of it in my sculptures over the years.

R

[jtgilber]

Yeah a 2B finish is what I need. And unfortunately after your last post I looked into it on if both sides had the finish. Through the naked eye I could not tell the difference. The only difference i could see was that one side just came with a protective film on it. But we looked at the steel under an Scan Electron Microscope, and at the nano scale the surfaces of both sides were very different. But the 2B finish was exactly what it should look like. And asking around I am still unable to find someone who is able to supply me with a sheet, or even a kit, to polish it myself.
J

[Rasper]

I would say that to recreate a real 2B finish you would have to recreate the conditions at the mill, which is obviously impractical, and there is no way you could obtain a true 2B finish using metal polishing technology. My next thought is that perhaps it is not the 2B finish that you need, but a finish that has certain of the characteristics that a 2B finish has. You may be able to recreate those characteristics by some other means. Can you determine what they are?

R

[jtgilber]

I actually just got my hands on what I need!! Thanks for the info though, i was glad you suggested checking in to see if it was the same on both sides. Its a good thing to know. Thanks a lot for the help.
J