Polishing matte stainless.

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tactical_tech

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The other half has a SAM Commander in matte stainless, and she really likes the shiny guns. So my question is, is it possible to polish matte stainless to a more shinny finish? I googled a bunch but did not find much info on matte stainless. Here's the gun in question.

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Get some scotchbrite pads and go to town. Cut the pads into 1" squares for the smaller areas. You'll have to disassemble to get it even all over or it will look like ass. Pick a direction and stick to it throughout the gun. Added bonus with this finish is that it will be a snap to touch up.
 
Scotchbrite pads will not bring your stainless ''mirror'', go to Can..... T..... in the section auto parts and buy sandpaper 1000 and 2000 grains, then :

NOTE : the following steps are not to be consider as recommendations on what to do with your gun, it is only informationsbased on what I've did on one of my gun, I will not be responsable for any results if you decide to go ahead with the steps I've made on my gun.

1- you can try the scotchbrite for a basic shine, maybe it will work, look at my Tokarev slide, I've began to remove the blue on the gun, I've took scothbrite pad to remove it.

2- I've took the 1000grains to make the basic shiny look

3- I've took the 2000grains to give the ''mirror'' look, I've made the final finish with a 3000 grains......, but it was already mirror with the 2000grains.

if you decide to try it, I recommend to make a test on a part (hidden part of the gun).

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pretty much like chrome for my Tokarev, you have to keep in mind that it is a 1945 with some history on the slide (deep scratchs.....), here is another pic :
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Casper said:
You could make the gun look like chrome.
The fastest and best way would be a felt polishing wheel, with polishing compounds.
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x2... But you have to be really careful doing it this way so you don't found any of the edges.

I used 0000 steel wool and Flitz and polished a few sst mags. That stuff from CT for polishing chrome might work. I think it's called Nevr-Dull or something like that.
 
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Polished stainless will resist rust more than matte (stainless CAN rust).

I cannot recommend a buffing wheel. You will round the edges and wallow out markings like serial numbers, etc. It will look amateur.

When you polish stainless, it should be done as though you are prepping it for blueing.

Get a fine file and wrap 200 grit wet/dry paper around it, then draw sand the flats. I would recommend keeping the curved surfaces matte for a better grip and to not be too reflective along the top of the slide, but these areas can be shined too. Use a flexible piece of hard plastic to cent a contour and use long even sanding strokes down the length of the slide or grip strap.

I should mention you need to totally disassemble it. Sights included.

Next move to 600 grit, then 2000 grit.

It will shine like the sun.

Trick is to use long even sanding so you get no finish wobble.

Get ready to see machining marks hidden by the cheap blasted finish. They will sand out too if you are persistent.
 
I agree with the 600 -> 2000 grit black-oxide wet/dry paper to bring it to (almost) its final finish. It is important to note that this paper SHOULD BE USED WET, NOT DRY!!

Look to Youtube for videos on wet-sanding metals for appropriate techniques. I, for example, use a piece of heavy plate glass with the sandpaper on top of it, then move the workpiece on the sandpaper, frequently wetting it (the water acts as a lubricant, and prevents the paper from clogging up).

This WILL take a lot of work, but you'll see constant improvement as you go, so it is quite rewarding.

To get the final, mirror finish, a buffing wheel with extremely fine rouge, used lightly & carefully (using caution to not round any corners), will literally leave a finish as perfect as custom chrome work.
 
Shiney flat sides and matt rounded areas on a 1911 looks VERY nice. The contrast between the matt and mirror really stands out as classy without looking overdone. It also preserves the grippiness of the matt finish on the front and back straps so the gun doesn't easily shift in the shooter's hands. Without checkering on the front and back strap areas I'd be hesitant to remove the matt finish for that reason.

There's lots of examples around of this style of finish. Find some pictures of stainless 1911's with the mirror/gloss combo and see if it tickles her fancy.

I echo Claven2's warnings about not using a felt wheel in a Dremel or similar. Yes, it'll be shiney. But it'll be far from flat and planar when done and will look like hell. It's the difference between two mirror finished custom knife blades where the $50 one was buffed on a wheel and looks wavy and indistinct and the $450 knife that was polished on stones or lapping plates and where you can actually see your reflection clearly instead of looking like a Fun House distorted mirror.

The sides of the slide area easy. Get yourself a hunk of 1/2 inch plate glass from a glass shop. Oil up the back side of a sheet of 320 grit wetordry silicon carbide sandpaper and stick it down to the glass. Surface tension of the oil will hold it in place nicely. Oil the grit and begin sanding the flat sides until you have an even finish on each side. Switch to 600 and use up two sheets removing the scratches of the 320. Degrease and inspect for pitting from the matt finish or deeper scratches from the 320 paper. If you see pits switch back to the 320. If you see scratches use more 400. When even switch to 600 and do the same. Then 1000 grit. Finally get the start on a mirror shine by using 1500 or 2000 grit. After the last paper you can use a sheet of writing paper stuck to the glass with oil and charge the top side with a polishing compound. Mother's Mag wheel polish works nicely or the previously mentioned NevR'Dull. Smear some onto the top of the paper and then run the slide sides around on it as if it were sandpaper. The black you see is metal being removed. At this point you should have a nicely dead flat mirror finish that leaves the markings and edges crisp.

Doing the frame is the same but you will want to set things up so you avoid sanding the edges of the rails. All the sanding DOES remove metal. That's the only way to get the finish you're after. But you don't want to remove metal on the rails. The easy way around that is to set something up with the glass and some form of support so you can run the top of the frame rails against the guide so the sides of the rails are hanging off over the edge of the glass and sandpaper. Care will be needed to do this but it's not as bad as it sounds. Just a little care and some sort of jig to hold the glass and guide bar solidly. The guide bar can be just about anything other than basic construction lumber which would wear badly and be "grabby".
 
Just remember that the shinier you make it the more it will show minor abrasions and other assorted handling marks which look a lot worse on shiny stainless than they do on matte stainless. If you holster the gun regularly be prepared to repolish the gun on a regular basis.
 
Thanks for all the great advice guys! I figured the wet/dry sandpaper would be the best method. I planned on leaving the grip surfaces matte as well as the top of the slide to cut down on glare. Now I just need to go get some supplies.
 
Ted's right. So as you progress through the sandpapers show the results to the missus and see if she's happy enough with a smooth slightly brushed finish such as you'll see from the 600 or 1000 or even 1500 to 2000 before you step it up to a full blown chrome like mirror shine with the polishing compound.

The problem is that a genuinely shiney surface has very little texture to hold oil. As such even a simple wipe down leaves it cleaner than otherwise. And with so little oil on the surface you begin having issues with fingerprints showing. You can easily test for this as you go too. Perhaps when you got to the final polishing stage do only one side of the slide and then have her decide on which she likes. It's easy to go back to the 2000 or even 1000 grit finish. But at that point use a guide and pull it only in one direction so the brushed look is consistent and even and parallel to the edges.
 
This is a picture of my Taurus 1911.

everything shiny in that picture was matte stainless when purchased.

The recipe : wet/dry automotive sand paper, 1000 grit to start and 2000 grit to finish. Didn't even need to polish after that, but you certainly can.

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take your time, be a perfectionist, and you're good to go.
 
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sewktbk said:
This is a picture of my Taurus 1911.

everything shiny in that picture was matte stainless when purchased.

The recipe : wet/dry automotive sand paper, 1000 grit to start and 2000 grit to finish. Didn't even need to polish after that, but you certainly can.

5297611297_43b6824eb5_b.jpg
Click to expand...

This is what I've done with my Tokarev, 1000gr and 2000gr .....
 
Aside from the finish I would be curious as to how well the gun shoots,I have a SAM Commander-E .45ACP and it a very fine shooter right out of the box, I have to get out of the habit of riding the trigger as it has fired twice when I really only wanted to shoot once.
 
If you want a real shine you'll have to use some polishing compound like Blue Magic, I put that stuff on everything.

Work your way through progressively finer sandpaper, I recommend 3M automotive sandpaper, use it wet.
 
sewktbk said:
This is a picture of my Taurus 1911.

everything shiny in that picture was matte stainless when purchased.

The recipe : wet/dry automotive sand paper, 1000 grit to start and 2000 grit to finish. Didn't even need to polish after that, but you certainly can.

529761129743b6824eb5b.jpg


take your time, be a perfectionist, and you're good to go.
Click to expand...

Looks great, did you polish the trigger also?
 
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