Turning high polished stainless to brushed.

[Mn Fats]

I turned my brushed stainless S&W 686 into a mirror a few years back and would like to return it to a brushed finish.

Any exprience with methods, tools or products to use would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have used a foam sanding block and stroked the gun in one direction... Start with fine grit and go coarser until you get the desired finish.

 

[Rembrandt]

Brushed finish can be done with a Scotchbrite pad, available in different aggressive textures. As mentioned above, make sure you keep all strokes going in the same direction. You could also bead blast it for a soft silver satin look.

 

[Mn Fats]

You could also bead blast it for a soft silver satin look.

I'm not a fan of the satin finish as much. Brushed looks nicer to me. I have a Ruger SR1911 coming next week that, IIrc from years ago, is satin. Not sure that can be addressed though as I assume id have to polish it, then brush it. Probably wind up ruining it.

I have used a foam sanding block and stroked the gun in one direction... Start with fine grit and go coarser until you get the desired finish.

Simple enough. I was about to touch sandpaper to it too but started to over think it and stopped to see what THR members have done.

 

[Sebastian]

I would use a scotchbright pad.

 

[shoobe01]

I LOVE the look of my bead blasted S&W autoloader. But yeah, Scotchbrite and caution. A pad. By hand. Not a Scotchbrite wheel or anything!

It will look like nothing at first, go slow.

Do as much as possible disassembled, as gaps, seams, corners, etc. will make it look dumb. Definitely remove the sights, and other small parts. You will end up slightly rounding the corners of screws, so do NOT do it with screws in place. Okay to brush the screws, but individually, with the brush strokes running along the direction of the screw slot.

Practice first. Find a chunk of scrap or go ruin the toaster or something to get the gist of not just how much pressure, but how to make the directions consistent so it looks good.


In manufacturing, it is done with machinery. Belts or wheels.

But, it is still a manual process, as you hold the work, and there is generally one pass so you do it well or ruin it and get fired from the factory. Don't risk ruining it with power.

 

[shoobe01]

Example article, re-brushing your stainless watch. Ignore them referring to polishing. They are brushing it

https://www.60clicks.com/remove-desk-diving-marks-stainless-steel/

 

[Mn Fats]

Don't risk ruining it with power.

Thanks for the info and link shoobe01, I had the bench grinder set up with my softest wire wheel and got cold feet. Set up the Dremel and had the same cold feet problem. I figured my gun would be very rounded off by the time I was done.

Scotchbrite looks like it takes the cake.

 

[shoobe01]

Unless you like the rounded look! I did a melt on a pistol long ago, and it's nice, but even then: did it all manually. My other metal experiences have shown me it is very easy to move from breaking a sharp edge to changing shapes entirely.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Scotchbrite is the preferred method.

7448 is ultrafine gray
7447 is very fine maroon
Brown is a bit coarser

Do a sample on a scrap of metal to see which you like best. They'll all produce a different finish.

As said, disassemble the pistol completely as this process will produce grit. This also allows full coverage on the parts.

If you can, put the barrel in a lathe and do it at low speed. I use the maroon at higher speeds for a very fine brushed look on random stuff I make.

 

[BCRider]

Scotchbrite is the preferred abrasive to do this. But instead of a grinder with a SB wheel on it which will run fast and dig in see if you can rig up a slower turning option. It might be a hand drill belted down to the bench or you may have a drill press you can set up to run at around 200 to 300 RPM. You'll get the finish you want with the right grit but it won't be so aggressive that it gives your gun that "used up bar of soap" look. With a slower speed you can use the pressure needed but the wheel or mop won't cut anything like as deeply.

This applies to a Dremel. Do NOT use a freakin' Dremel. The wheel you would use is way too small and it can't spread out the pressure like you want. It'll end up looking like tear tracks down a dusty face due to the inconsistency.

And to do this right you will need to srip down the gun so you can do each part separately. If you try to do it while it's at all together there will be lots of spots where you can't reach down into or get a good run at the whole length.

The other option is strip it down again for the same reasons and use hand held pads of the SB sheets. With a bit of care you can make a really nice consistent pattern by hand with single direction smooth long swipes . It take a little practice but if you don't like it a couple of swipes over it will fix that.

As mentioned get two or three grits and start with the finer choice first. I believe that's the grey. If that's not brushy enough then go to the green. But don't go to the rust brown. That's way too coarse when the pads are new.

Which raises another point. If you go too coarse the surface of the metal won't feel smooth anymore. It'll start to feel a bit like sandpaper due to the depth of the scratching and the raised burrs caused by the coarser abrasive in the coarse pads. And that sort of finish becomes really hard to keep clean. Better a smoother and finer brushed finish which feels smooth and is easier to clean.

 

[BigBlue 94]

White is the finest, then 7448 gray, then 7447 maroon. There are two greens, one is the coarsest that 3M makes, and is for stripping paint.

 

[MikeInOr]

I turned my brushed stainless S&W 686 into a mirror a few years back and would like to return it to a brushed finish.

Any experience with methods, tools or products to use would be appreciated. Thanks!

May I inquire why you no longer want the mirror finish? Does it show wear and tear too easy? Or is it mostly just an aesthetic choice? Just curious.

 

[Mn Fats]

Scotchbrite is the preferred abrasive to do this. But instead of a grinder with a SB wheel on it which will run fast and dig in see if you can rig up a slower turning option. It might be a hand drill belted down to the bench or you may have a drill press you can set up to run at around 200 to 300 RPM. You'll get the finish you want with the right grit but it won't be so aggressive that it gives your gun that "used up bar of soap" look. With a slower speed you can use the pressure needed but the wheel or mop won't cut anything like as deeply.

This applies to a Dremel. Do NOT use a freakin' Dremel. The wheel you would use is way too small and it can't spread out the pressure like you want. It'll end up looking like tear tracks down a dusty face due to the inconsistency.

And to do this right you will need to srip down the gun so you can do each part separately. If you try to do it while it's at all together there will be lots of spots where you can't reach down into or get a good run at the whole length.

The other option is strip it down again for the same reasons and use hand held pads of the SB sheets. With a bit of care you can make a really nice consistent pattern by hand with single direction smooth long swipes . It take a little practice but if you don't like it a couple of swipes over it will fix that.

As mentioned get two or three grits and start with the finer choice first. I believe that's the grey. If that's not brushy enough then go to the green. But don't go to the rust brown. That's way too coarse when the pads are new.

Which raises another point. If you go too coarse the surface of the metal won't feel smooth anymore. It'll start to feel a bit like sandpaper due to the depth of the scratching and the raised burrs caused by the coarser abrasive in the coarse pads. And that sort of finish becomes really hard to keep clean. Better a smoother and finer brushed finish which feels smooth and is easier to clean.

Nice write up BCRider. I have all the tools mentioned above and have decided to do it by hand. This is going to sound stupid or even moot but what stroke direction? I feel like veritcal. Or was it horizontal. I can't remember which way on my 686 the brush went in general.

May I inquire why you no longer want the mirror finish? Does it show wear and tear too easy? Or is it mostly just an aesthetic choice? Just curious.

It's aesthetically gorgeous imo. It doesn't show wear or tear, it shows smudges. Which doesn't sound bad. But you find yourself constantly taking your t shirt and wiping them off so it can look perfect again.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I dont know the proper way they were brushed but I would stroke diagonally on the frame, from the barrel towards the bottom of the grip. Barrel needs to be brushed around the circumference.