I bufffed the finish off my Glock. Will it rust?

[bang_bang]

Even though its stainless and very rust resistant, I would recommend that you use some type of polish on it. I would use Mother's Aluminum Mag Polish. Once...if that...a year I'll polish my stainless guns. Just takes a quick on/off wipe down and you'll be good to go.

 

[J.R.W.]

Now go back and take some 2000 grit paper and wet sand it, polish with felt dremel wheels, and then finish with a hand polish with some Nevr Dull. Should have it looking like a mirror.

 

[bang_bang]

I've done the same with the 2000 grit wet sandpaper.

It can be a bit messy, but totally worth it. Use the Nevr Dull or Mothers Polish in conjunction to the wet sanding and it will come out looking like a mirror.

Make sure the part is completely dry before you put it back together. Rub it down with a towel and use a hair dryer on it to help get rid of the moisture. Guaranteed that you'll sit back after it's all done and be glad that you put in the extra effort.

 

[CPshooter]

Looks decent. I would never have the balls to do it to my 19 or 26. I personally like the factory black finish, as I feel it is one of Glock's strong points in the first place. But hey, to each his/her own.

I would, however, opt for a nice matte nickel or chrome plated finish! Maybe one day if I get reeeally bored (Anyone know if nickel or chrome is a more durable finish??? Which is typically more expensive?)

 

[helz_mcfugly]

Even though its stainless and very rust resistant, I would recommend that you use some type of polish on it. I would use Mother's Aluminum Mag Polish. Once...if that...a year I'll polish my stainless guns. Just takes a quick on/off wipe down and you'll be good to go.

Mothers is what I used and what started this whole ordeal. so yea thats what I use on it now.

Now go back and take some 2000 grit paper and wet sand it, polish with felt dremel wheels, and then finish with a hand polish with some Nevr Dull. Should have it looking like a mirror.

thats exactly what I was told NOT to do to a Glock by the gunsmith, with other stainless slide guns that dont have the tennifer coating its fine and makes them like a mirror. but he told me sand paper on a glock is a no no unless im prepping it for refinishing. Glocks are NOT stainless. they just have tennifer coatings on them that gets into the steel, the black is only cosmetic which explains why it came off when i started on it with the mothers mag polish. Ill be contacting Glock personaly to ask about the coating and what I did and if its safe and how far the tennifer gets into the steel so as to not missiform myself or anyone else. Ill post my findings.

I would, however, opt for a nice matte nickel or chrome plated finish! Maybe one day if I get reeeally bored (Anyone know if nickel or chrome is a more durable finish??? Which is typically more expensive?)

no, the tennifer finish is the most durable finish you can get on a gun. watch this video, its on the home page of www.topglock.com and tells you about the finish being as hard as diamond http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmnoF5Z2ahQ makes me want to get a tennifer finish on my AR's

 

[helz_mcfugly]

I found this.

Tenifer is a trademarked name for the end result of a chemical bath nitriding process that embeds nitrogen into an iron-containing alloy to create a corrosion-resistant finish that is a dull grey in color and extremely hard. The generic term for this type of process is carbonitriding. Other trade names for carbonitriding include Melonite, Sursulf, Arcor, Tufftride, and Koline.

Glock utilizes this process to protect the slides of the pistols they manufacture. The Tenifer finish on a Glock is the third and final hardening process. It is 0.05 millimeters thick and produces a 64 Rockwell C (diamond cone) hardness rating via a 500 °C nitride bath. The final matte, non-glare finish meets or exceeds stainless steel specifications, is 85% more corrosion resistant than a hard chrome finish, and is 99.9% salt-water corrosion resistant. After the Tenifer process, a black Parkerized finish is applied and the slide is protected even if the finish were to wear off. Several other pistols also use this process including the Walther P99 and Steyr M/S series. understand it takes a diamond bit to drill through this surface treatment. wouldn't call it a coating as it is actually a metalurgical change to the surface metal.

 

[regal]

Lot of misinformation here. First Glock slides are not stainless steel.

Second buffing removes a finish and the metal in layers just like sand paper or a grinding wheel can. It is a mechanical process. I.E. If you buffed your glock slide for a few million hours it would turn to dust.

Third the idea that a carbon steel slide with no blueing or surface treatment other than oil will not rust is absurd, maybe if you kept the gun submerged in a 5 gallon bucket of break free!

I am a finishing engineer, what the original poster needs to do is send the slide back to Glock to correct his mistake.

 

[Darthbauer]

Or get the thing re-finished in NP3

 

[ljnowell]

I am a finishing engineer, what the original poster needs to do is send the slide back to Glock to correct his mistake.

So all the thousands of people who do this and dont have their guns rust are flukes? What about all those glocks out there with holster wear? You may be an engineer, sir, but you are obviously no glock expert.

 

[regal]

I know what I am talking about. Their guns don't rust after doing this because they baby them or they got lucky and didn't buff the .0001" top layer of treated metal.

Have you ever tested a Glock slide in a 336 hr ASTM Salt Spray chamber? Glock puts these finishes on for a reason, to mess with it is a COMPROMISE. This was a buried Glock with the coating ground off:

 

[helz_mcfugly]

ok I just called Glock in Smyrna, GA and talked to John in their tech support. I asked him about the tennifer coating and told him exactly what I did. he said I should be safe as long as I didnt sand or grind into the metal, which I didnt. he said the black on the slide is just a finish and is not the tennifer it only adds to the durrability, and that the tennifer is a coating process and that is IN the metal. so I said " It's in the metal?" his responce "yes it does make it into the metal in the tennifer coating process which makes our tennifer coating the most rust resistant coating available on a firearm" he said I would have had to had buffed off some of the metal to have taken the tennifer coating off. He also said that I do rick rust having puffed the finish off of it and it is more likely to rust now then it would had I left it alone, Well DUH. he also said I voided the warrenty and would have to pay out of pocket if I want it refinished, which I already knew. so there ya go, straight from the mouth of a Glock representative.

 

[regal]

send it in, why live with risked rust?

 

[helz_mcfugly]

Regal, thank you for your input. sound like you would have givin me the same answer as Glock did. If you refinish firearms for a living I sure you know your sh1]. and Im sure if you are a finishing engineer youve learned about the tennifer process, which is just Glocks name for it, other manufacturers do offer the same finish they just call it something else, which im sure youve come across more then once. there is alot of missinformation in this thread like some said the Glock slide is stainless. Ive been researching since I did this to my gun and trying to clear up these missinformed posts. your help is welcomed man.

 

[helz_mcfugly]

I probably will get it refinished in the near future, but im going to go with the dull nickle. im going to leave it as it is and see how long it will go without rusting. as soon as it even starts to turn colors its off to the shop with it.

 

[Funderb]

if you polish a poop......

 

[regal]

I don't do guns, but I put the factory finish on the best American motorcycle made (guess who.)

BTW, the tennifer (which is in the metal's very top layer) has almost zero scratch resistance which is why Glock puts the protective coating on the top. Without the coating the tenn will abrade off in micro-spots and you will get rust.

 

[helz_mcfugly]

I know some LEO's who have Glocks with major holster wear, they look like ass, lol and they still treat their guns just like they did from the beginning. but hell i know some LOE's who dont know dik about guns. its insane.

 

[helz_mcfugly]

hmmm, factory? best american motorcycle made? must be Saxon, maybe Victory, no wait American Eagle. cuz Glocks dont make motorcycles.

 

[regal]

Victory - please

 

[ljnowell]

I know what I am talking about. Their guns don't rust after doing this because they baby them or they got lucky and didn't buff the .0001" top layer of treated metal.

Have you ever tested a Glock slide in a 336 hr ASTM Salt Spray chamber? Glock puts these finishes on for a reason, to mess with it is a COMPROMISE. This was a buried Glock with the coating ground off:

Ok, number 1 this guy didnt grind his slide. He buffed it, like countless other people with a glock pistol do. If he took it to far then he will have problems. If he didnt go through the layer of tennifer treated metal, then he will have no problems, as no one else does. Grinding and buffing are two totally different things. Your fear mongering of the OP to make you look smart doesnt change the facts that people do this all the time and the guns dont rust. They arent babied either. Why dont you go tell all the LEOs with holster wear down to the grey that their guns are going to start rusting. I imagine they would laugh in your face, like anyone else that knows about glocks.

 

[regal]

nowell, I guess you should write the engineers at Glock and tell them they are stupid for the using the flourocarbon coating. According to you it is a waste of their time and money. Maybe they will send you a check for all the money you save them

 

[wrxguyusa]

Before all these miracle coating people had blued guns. After time blue wore off and the metal rusted. Rarely did this effect the function of the gun. Raw carbon steel will last longer than you if kept clean and oiled even if a little rust does form from time to time. This is really just a cosmetic issue if you are talking about the outside surface of the slide.

 

[ljnowell]

nowell, I guess you should write the engineers at Glock and tell them they are stupid for the using the flourocarbon coating. According to you it is a waste of their time and money. Maybe they will send you a check for all the money you save them

I didnt say it was a waste of time or money, dont try to put words into my mouth.

I didnt mean to offend you, I am just saying that contrary to your opinion there are TONS of people who have in fact buffed off the black finish and never have rust issues. Just like all the people with holster wear down to that layer. They still dont rust. Yes, if you remove the layer of metal that has been tennifer treated it will rust, but if you dont do that it will be fine.

 

[bang_bang]

You could always spray some type of clear coat to help prevent rust. Car wax would even help seal it.

 

[helz_mcfugly]

lol,, you guys are brutal. I say leave it at that and IF it does rust Ill come bring this thread back to life. In a month from now if it is still as it is now and rust free Ill come post on here and bring this thread back to the top. just so when I do repost. I polished the gun the night of 1/5/09. as you were