Reversing a Flitz job?

[bikemutt]

In an earlier post I chronicled my path to a stainless S&W 940 9mm revolver which the prior owner had seen fit to polish to a high shine. And a good job was done of it IMO, I've seen Flitz jobs that look tacky because only the easy surfaces to polish were attended to leaving a mottly overall appearance.

Some time back I picked up a model 67 cheap that was in excellent mechanical condition but the finish had numerous deep scratches and many more lighter ones. I had my gunsmith sand or bead blast that gun to an even dull matte finish and to a depth that caused even the deepest scratches to become invisible to my naked eye. The improvement to it's appearance I felt was considerable but it came with a price: anything with a grease or oil base stuck to that finish like glue, as did carbon deposits, the gun always looked "dirty". I suspect the pores created by the blasting created a perfect greasy dirt collecting surface. Additionally, even the slightest new scratch seemed disproportionately amplified, as if the finish was somehow made softer. So I'm not doing that again.

I spent some time examining an unmolested stainless S&W, a 625-3, which has the standard matte stainless finish. Now that finish is so smooth it almost feel as if it had been clear-coated. Nothing sticks to it like it did with the bead blast finish.

My question is can the 940's mirror polished finish be restored to something close, or exactly like it wore when it left the factory?

Below are a couple pictures of the subject.

 

[DT Guy]

I'd imagine a very fine Scotchbrite would work, as would wet/dry paper of appropriate grit. I think you could start at 2000 grit and work 'down' until you liked the finish.

That's typically how knife blades are satin finished, FYI.


Larry

 

[LAGS]

You get two votes on the Scotchbrite pads.
They will put that Brushed Stainless look back on your gun

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Yep, I have done it with a Scotchbrite pad.

 

[Coyote3855]

I used Scotchbrite to take the high shine off a pair of Ruger Vaqueros. Worked fine.

 

[bikemutt]

OK, Scotchbrite it is.

Now, as it turns out, nothing is ever as simple as it seems at first, there are lots of Scotchbrite pads

Here is a link to a PDF that enumerates them, if you guys wouldn't mind taking a quick browse and let me know which one(s), color code should be fine.

Thanks.

http://academic.evergreen.edu/projects/biophysics/technotes/fabric/finish.pdf

 

[LAGS]

I used the Grey or Maroon ones sold at Home Depot or your hardware store as Synthetic Steel Wool Pads.
They were labeled for metal rust removal.
But start with the finest grit to see how it does on your metal first.
I even cut it into 1" discs and put it on a Dremmel Mandral as a Buffing wheel.

 

[BCRider]

Regardless of the abrasive media you select start with the finer option. It's easier to go to some thing more coarse than it is to decide that coarse was too much and try to dress the scratches out with a finer option.

Scotchbrite pads in a variety of grits are handy things to have around anyway. So buy a pack of each or a mixn'match assortment if such a thing is to be found.

 

[RussB]

Glass bead blast will give you a frosted, smooth finish. Here's a stainless steel 1911 and a model 36 that I had re-blued. They are smoother than a factory S&W finish

 

[km101]

Stainless steel wool in 00, 000, or 0000 will work also. It is not as aggressive as the Scotchbrite pads and wont "round" corners or edges as much or as quickly.

Or you can send it back to S&W for refinishing. More expensive, but not as much elbow grease.

 

[RussB]

Anyone got a pic of their scotchbrited hand guns?

 

[AK103K]

A bead blast will give you a nice matte finish on SS. Ive done a couple in my buddies cabinet, and they came out real nice. You do need to strip the gun all the way down, so, if your not comfortable with that, you may want to let someone do it.


This is a SS Colt Commander I picked up cheap. It had a badly scratched polished finish when I got it, looks like this after it was bead blasted.....

 

[Jim Watson]

Agree, you could bead blast it back matte. If you don't want a coarse dust catching matte, use smaller beads and/or lower air pressure.

 

[sgt127]

Grey scotchbrite pads are as close to the grit of the original S&W brushed finish I have found. Two tricks, look at another gun to see the "grain" in the polish, the direction the "brush" goes. (I know exactly what I'm trying to say, it's hard to convey) and only wipe in one direction each pass. No buffing back and forth or swirling.