What favorite Polishing Stone

[sniper350]

Need some experts to jump in here and give up some of their gunsmithing secrets ...........

What is your most favorite polishing stone for doing Sear and hammer hook prep work. As a final surface finish I have been using Flitz metal polish forced into some Denim cloth lying on plate Glass. But what grit stone should you use to get to the final polishing step ?? I am never in a hurry, so fast metal removal is never my goal.

There are many ways to get to the final destination ......... I am just wondering which path the experts use ??

I have a superfine 800 stone ....but found it is way too soft for this kind of work and I was told to try and avoid hard ceramic stones.

Thanks for any help.....

JF.

 

[rcmodel]

I use White Wash/ita & Hard Arkansas stones for final finish work.
(Can't spell it correctly because the language nanny changes it!)

I hear good things about ceramic stones but only have used them for knife sharpening.
They do nice work there, but don't provide quite as fine a finish as the natural Arkansas stones.

rcmodel

 

[Pweller]

I am not a gunsmith, but I do quite a bit of finishing work on small mechanical parts. I like to use two things:

1. The black, wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper works well and is available in many different grits (up to about 1500). Auto parts stores have the best selection. Just cut out a piece and lay it on top of your piece of glass for a perfectly flat surface. I generally use them wet.

2. The diamond 'stones' are also very good. They cut everything, even hard steel and carbide. I like the ones without 'holes' in the surface, the particular brand I use are called 'Eze-Lap Diamond Hone & Stone'. I think I got these from Smoky Mountain Knife Works. They pretty much last forever.

Both of these options have very evenly graded grit, so you can achieve a nice even satin finish if you wish. They also have the advantage of staying perfectly flat. Stones can wear unevenly which I don't like. They are both very hard as well, so you can easily cut/polishing hardened steel. (Actually, they will both also cut glass).

Just something else to try.

I see you are also looking for final polishing ideas. I like to use diamond paste, again it will cut everything and is very evenly graded. I use it on a piece of plexiglass slightly roughed up with about 600 grit sandpaper. The paste gets captured by the plexiglass and works pretty well. Lubricate it with gun oil when it gets dry.

 

[sniper350]

I see you are also looking for final polishing ideas. I like to use diamond paste, again it will cut everything and is very evenly graded. I use it on a piece of plexiglass slightly roughed up with about 600 grit sandpaper. The paste gets captured by the plexiglass and works pretty well. Lubricate it with gun oil when it gets dry.

Pweller - that's the kind of "stuff" I was looking for....... thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

Thanks to Rcmodel for your affirmation on the use of the famous Arkansas Stone !

JF.

 

[dfariswheel]

I used ceramic stones from Brownell's.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/catsearch.aspx?c=903&p=4800
I usually used the ones now made by Spyderco.