Buffing out surface scratches?

[brockgl]

I have been doing some gun-smiting on my Springfield Mil-Spec, and in the process I have put a few minor surface scratches on the stainless steel. These really don't bother me much, and I knew I would have a few slips my first time gunsmithing, but if there is an easy way to buff them out I might give it a shot.

Any ideas?

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

depends on how minor...do you feel them when you rub your finger across them? if not, a simpl bit of elbow grease with a piece of clean leather should even it out. if it's deeper...idk what to tell ya

 

[Wvladimire]

If they are deeper than the leather can get out, then you might try some jewelers rouge and a buffing pad on a dremel tool.

 

[rcmodel]

DO NOT use a Dremel & Jewelers rouge.

It will in no way even come close to matching the original polish, and will look far worse then the tiny scratches!!!!!

I don't have a clue what surface finish they used on your milspec, but things like slide flats and such are best polished on a flat glass plate with whatever grade of Black emory paper best matches the factory finish.

rcmodel

 

[Wvladimire]

If it's the SS mil-spec one I'm thinking of, then it has shiny side flats. And yes the jewelers rouge and dremel can be used to buff them out, if you take your time, and know what you're doing. You do not need to re-polish the whole side flat, unless it's s bead blast, matte, or speckle finish.

 

[nitetrane98]

Polishing and buffing anything is all about the art of taking big scratches and methodically taking them down to little scratches that you cannot see with the naked eye. Any kind of compound is simply a fine abrasive. If you have a 200 grit scratch on a 1000 grit surface and you buff it on a wheel or with a Dremel tool you will have a shiny 200 grit scratch. If you remove metal with your Dremel tool you will create a depresion in that area. A depression will reflect light differently than the surrounding area. So your scratch may be gone but now you have something else to catch your eye.
The only way to remove a scratch is to A: Fill it up to surface level. (good luck) or B: Remove the metal surrounding the scratch until it is at the level of the bottom of the scratch.
I agree with rcmodel. The only way to do it correctly is on a flat surface like glass. I use wet/dry sandpaper that you can get at your AutoZone or such. Or actually cheaper is to go to an automotive paint store and you can buy 1 sheet at a time. The real trick is to try and match the scratch grit with the first cut paper. You have to go up and remove each previous set of scratches with the next finer grit. In other words you can't sand out your 200 grit scratch and then jump to 800 or 1000 grit. All you will be doing is burnishing the big scratches. Get a magnifying glass and you will be amazed that what you think is shiny is just a bunch of itty bitty scratches.
And finally, if your slide is stamp lettered then you have to know that the edges of the lettering are higher than the slide surface. There is no going home when you've knocked those down and you can't pass it off as mint condition anymore or original finish. Well, you can to folks that don't know any better, but you know what I mean.

 

[JohnnyOrygun]

I did the same thing to my SA SS Mil-Spec, I was "melting" the area around the muzzle and inadvertently scratched the flat of the slide. So I started with about 400-600 grit autobody wet/dry sandpaper and worked my way to 2000 grit, after sandpaper I used metal polish such as flitz, now there are no scratches and I can't tell where I have polished and what is the original finish.
Lots of elbow grease and patience, you can do it.

JohnnyOrygun

 

[Wvladimire]

Yes you may agree with RCmodel, but if you do a whole slide polish for a few surface scratches, then you have just voided any warranty from the factory. And believe me, Colt, Springfield, and Kimber are sticklers regarding this.

Also using a cotton buffing pad on dremel tool, is not going to remove the amount of material needed to show a dip in the slide. And removing slight surface scratches is not the same as removing a scratch that is more like a gouge. Big difference.

 

[nitetrane98]

LOL. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that a factory warranty is the least of his concerns at this point. I can just see SA looking at the gun and saying, "Well, let's here, you've changed the trigger, the ILS, the grip safety and a few other things. That's OK we'll warranty it..... uh oh wait just a minute here, did you sand on this slide to take a scratch out? Sorry that's a deal breaker, you're on your own."

 

[frogomatic]

with stainless I've used scotch-brite to fix little scratches. Use the very soft white scotch-brite, be patient, use plenty of elbow grease and it'll work. I did this on my ruger redhawk alsakan, and on my puma92. Both are stainless, and no one can tell either ever had a scratch in them.

 

[krs]

Personally, I like to beadblast my stainless guns...AFTER sanding them glassy smooth using the technique described by RCModel above...

 

[nitetrane98]

That's a nice effect. Ironically, I redid mine because of the wear on the blasted areas. Mine was a duty gun that was in and out of the holster, gun lockers, trunks of cars, etc many times a day. Over the years it took it's toll. The area on the front of the slide and trigger guard was nearly slick. The bead blasting was a factory expedient to hide the rough machine marks without the necessity of labor intensive work to shine them up. If you look closely at the tops of the slides you can see the faint lines running through them. One of the troubles with stainless is that while it's strong, it's just not real hard.

 

[orchidhunter]

Next time tape around the area you are working on. orchidhunter

 

[DuncanSA]

Buffing etc. simply removes metal to the depth where the scratch is invisible. You have effectively lowered the surface to the bottom of the scratch.

I can't speak for the efficiency of an alternative - ie. burnishing. I have never tried it and can't remember where I read about it. Instead of removing more metal you push the displaced metal back into where it came from.

Hit Google and look it up.