Polishing steel?!?!?!

[MagnumCaliber357]

I recently got a new bent handle bolt for my mauser and want to polish it to a mirror finish. I dont know if i want to polish the actual bot but more the handle. Right now its pretty shiney but i want it to be like a mirror. Question, will polishing the actual bolt and not the handle ruin it? I would imagine it might, but not sure and dont want to risk it unless im sure it wont.

 

[Tomekeuro85]

As far as I know, you can't damage steel by polishing it. It won't wear too thin if that's what you're worrying about. ALl you're really doing is taking off the surface contamination. The only way I could think that it would have a negative effect is if it is not stainless steel and it has some sort of coating. Rubbing off that coating will open the surface up to rust, but that probably won't happen if you take decent care of the metal. Just clean off all the polish when you're done and I don't think there will be a problem.

 

[MagnumCaliber357]

what kind of polishes are out there? where an i get them? as far as i know there is no coating and it does look like stainless

 

[Tomekeuro85]

When I polish stuff, I first use those 3M scotch-brite pads to get off any grime/dirt/tarnish etc. Then I just use regular Brasso or aluminum polish or any other polish available at hardware stores. It shouldn't be too hard to find a good polish. Then just use a soft cotton cloth to apply it to the bolt and rub it for a while. It'll come out like a mirror.

Make sure to post some pics when you're done.

 

[chrisTx]

to polish it, you've got to sand it. most metal isn't 'finished.' you can use a fine grit dremel sander to even out the imperfections.

sand one direction with say 150 or 220 grit sand paper. sand 90 degrees of that with 400 until the previous scratches are gone, and all the scratches go in the new direction. do the same thing again with 600, sanding 90 degrees of the old direction until all the 400 scratches are gone. keep doing it through 800, 1000, until you get up to about 1500 or 2000 grit. you have to cross hatch your sanding so you know when the scratches from the previous grit are gone. when i'm done, i use mother's aluminum wheel polish to clean out all the metal dust from the metal. it works real good. it's a lot of work, but it's nice when you're done.

before:

after:

 

[colt.45]

i know a good bit about polishing steel to a chrome shine. go buy a sheet of 600, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper at an automotive or hardware store(you may not need the 600 grit). you also need a metal polishing compound, it looks kind of like face cream i use "mothers". sand the handle with the sandpaper going up from 600 to 2000 grit. the metal polish is kind of wierd, un the container it says to use a rag, i think this is a waste, so i scoop a little out with my finger and scrup till a black substance forms. people have PAID me to do this to various gun parts, knives and paintball guns.

 

[MagnumCaliber357]

sorry it required that many!!!

that 1911 looks AMAZING, it looks like it was finished with crome

hope my bolt could look half as good as your when im done