Polishing paste for stainless steel to a mirror finish. Grinding and polishing of steel.

03.07.2018

You will need

- angle grinder (grinder);
- grinding wheels of various grain size;
- sandpaper or stone;
- joiner's glue;
- felt or felt circles;
- polishing paste.

Instruction

First, carry out a rough cleaning of the surface, remove metal deposits from the weld. To do this, use an angle grinder (grinder) and a fiber-based wheel with P60 grain. If the surface is fairly smooth, skip this step.

In order to remove the marks from P60 grain, take a wheel with P120 grain. If you don't have a circle with any grain size, make your own. To do this, take a felt or felt circle, evenly apply carpenter's glue to it with a spatula and carefully walk it over the abrasive crumb. Abrasive crumb can be obtained from emery skin or stone by rubbing them together.

Sand the surface of the stainless steel a few more times, each time reducing the size of the abrasive by half. Remember to rinse the stainless steel surface after each sanding. If possible, do not set the angle grinder to more than 4500 rpm.

Check that the surface after grinding should be completely smooth. Make sure that all coarse roughness is eliminated, otherwise these areas will have to be sanded again after polishing.

Take a clean felt or felt pad and polishing paste. It is important to choose the right polishing paste, because different brands are suitable different types pastes. Try to find a diamond paste that matches the grit of your metal, in a pinch, a regular polishing paste or GOI will do.

Begin finishing polishing the stainless steel, gradually removing visible marks. Gradually, after a while, you will see that the surface becomes more and more smooth, this is due to the fact that under the influence of high temperature the surface of the part melts and spreads. Try not to overheat the part, some metals may change color from this.

Every day we use a huge amount of metal objects. It can be both cutlery and tools for repairing something. The metal tends to oxidize. Its surface begins to become cloudy, over time, corrosion begins and rust appears. Therefore, metal objects require periodic polishing.

You will need

Polishing paste, old toothbrush, polishing wheels, old electric motor from sewing machine, paste GOI.

Instruction

Polishing can be mechanical and non-contact. The easiest way to polish the first way. It does not require any special conditions. The second, on the contrary, can be produced only in the presence of certain factors. Also, the contactless method is more expensive, so it should be used only for those cases when mechanical way does not help or cannot be produced due to the special characteristics of the object being polished.

The easiest option is to polish the item with GOI paste. It is a green substance that is sold in solid bars. It must be applied to the polishing pads or to the cotton cloth you are polishing. GOI paste is number 1, 2, 3 and 4. It is used for coarse, medium and fine polishing. You need to polish by putting a felt wheel on a special polishing machine. Be very careful when polishing, as you can easily injure yourself with a working device.

Small items can be polished by hand without using a polishing machine. Use an old toothbrush to polish small objects with complex shapes. Apply a little paste on it and start polishing the surface with quick movements. In addition to GOI paste, emery, chrome, crocus and lime pastes can be used to polish metals. If you don't have a polishing machine, you can use the motor of an old sewing machine. It is necessary to carefully fix the polishing wheels on the motor axle.

V modern world we regularly encounter stainless steel objects, because they have firmly entered our lives. These are interior elements on the street and at home, various fences, various utensils in the kitchen. In this article you will find the answer to the question: how to polish stainless steel, because even such durable metal may, under the influence of various factors, lose its original appearance.

What is household stainless steel?

Corrosion-resistant steel or, as it is also called, stainless steel is an alloy of iron and carbon with an admixture of special elements. Steel acquires high resistance to negative environmental factors thanks to these elements. The main one is chromium. The percentage of its content in the metal can be different, but not less than 10.5%. Steel products with 18% chromium content acquire very high strength, but it is difficult to process such an alloy technologically. Therefore, steel with an optimal chromium content of 13% is mainly used in everyday life.

Important! Products made of such stainless steel are characterized not only by durability and the possibility of long-term operation, but also by an attractive appearance with a mirror surface.

Due to the sufficient content of chromium, an oxide film is formed on the metal surface, which protects the stainless steel from corrosion. But still, humid air and other factors can adversely affect the state of the alloy over time.

Important! Having noticed the first signs of corrosion in the form of clouding or tarnishing, it is necessary to polish the metal.

If there are scratches or welds on the surface of the products, it also becomes necessary to polish the stainless steel.

How to polish stainless steel?

If there is a need to polish the metal, then there are two options for possible actions.

Option number 1. Specialized assistance

Nowadays, many specialized companies provide high-quality services for polishing stainless steel products. If you do not have the time and opportunity to polish the metal yourself, then contact one of these companies that will give your product a second life.

Option number 2. Polishing at home

At home, you can also get a polished, shiny and flawlessly smooth stainless steel surface. To do this, there are several ways that will help restore the product to its impeccable appearance. Consider how you can polish stainless steel.

How to polish stainless steel to a mirror at home?

To polish stainless steel to a mirror at home, you will have to make some effort. But they will be more than justified when you get the result of your work.

Primary processing

Before polishing stainless steel, it is necessary to clean the product. To do this, you can use dishwashing detergent:

Dilute detergent with water to make a soapy solution.
Wipe the metal surface with the prepared solution.
Rinse off the soapy residue clean water.
Dry the item.

Some foods, certain household tools, and chemical fluids can help polish stainless steel at home. It is with their help that you will continue to polish the stainless steel to a mirror.

Olive oil

This method is suitable for polishing tarnished products. You will need olive oil and a soft cloth:

Apply olive oil to a clean cloth.
Smear the oil so that the entire surface of the product is covered with an oil film.
Press the oiled cloth firmly against the surface and polish the product in smooth circular motions.

Important! Polishing should be continued until a noticeable change in the structure of the product is felt.

So that the polished surface does not fade, you need to remove excess oil. This can be done with a dry towel or napkins. Wipe the product with intensive circular motions until the surface is dry.

Flour

You can polish stainless steel with flour. This method is more suitable for flat surfaces such as a sink or saucepan.

Mode of application:

Sprinkle the product with flour so that it covers the entire surface.
Spread the flour evenly over the metal.
Use a dry cloth to polish the stainless steel in a circular motion with your hands.

Important! Instead of a cloth, you can use a medium hard toothbrush.

Remove any flour from the surface.

Fine mechanical polishing

You can polish stainless steel to a mirror not only in specialized companies or factory conditions, but also at home using small-scale mechanization.

Important! This method is suitable for cleaning welds, repairing scratches, to give beautiful view homemade products.

To polish stainless steel you will need:

an angle grinder, better known as a grinder, as a polishing tool;
grinding wheels of various grain sizes;
sandpaper, you can stone;
polishing agent;
felt or felt circles.

Polishing steps:

To begin with, it is required to remove metal deposits from the weld, in other words, to carry out a rough cleaning of the surface. To do this cleaning, you need to use an angle grinder and a fiber-based wheel. The grit of the wheel should be P60.

Important! If the surface of the stainless steel product is sufficiently smooth, this step can be skipped.

Sand the metal again with P120 grit. This action is carried out in order to remove stripes from the previous grain.

Important! If there is no circle with desired parameter grain, you can make it yourself. You need to take a felt or felt circle. Using a spatula, apply carpenter's glue on it and walk it over the abrasive crumb. Such a crumb can be obtained by rubbing a stone and an emery skin together.

Each time, halving the size of the abrasive, sand the stainless steel surface a few more times.

Important! After each grinding, do not forget to rinse the surface of the stainless steel. If possible, do not set the grinder to a speed of more than 4500 rpm.

Make sure that all coarse roughness is eliminated. The surface of stainless steel after grinding should be perfectly smooth.

Important! If defects remain on the product after polishing the stainless steel, these areas will have to be sanded again.

Take a polishing agent (in most cases it is a paste) and a clean felt or felt circle.

Important! It is necessary to choose the right polishing paste. There are different types of similar tools for different grades of stainless steel. It is best to use a diamond paste that is the most suitable grit for your metal. If there is none, then GOI paste (chromium oxide) or ordinary polishing paste will do.

Now proceed to the final polishing of stainless steel. Consistently remove visible risks. Over time, the surface of stainless steel will become more and more smooth. This is due to the redistribution of the structure of the top layer of stainless steel. Under the influence of the active components of the paste, air, heating and friction, the old oxide films are destroyed, and when the product cools, new ones are created.

Important! Do not overheat the metal, from this it can change color.

Mechanical polishing by hand

It should be borne in mind that ideal smoothness and gloss are not created in places that are inconvenient for access. Therefore, if the product has such areas, then they must be finished by polishing manually. You need to be patient, as polishing stainless steel to a mirror in this way takes a lot of time and labor. For this you will need:

a piece of felt;
abrasive paste.

Polishing steps:

Apply the paste to the felt.
Polish the product until the desired mirror finish is obtained.

Important! Polishing pastes can be harmful to the body, so gloves and a protective mask should be worn when using them.

Chemical polishing of stainless steel

This method is suitable for processing small parts made of stainless steel. It does not require a lot of time and a lot of physical labor. Chemical liquid can be prepared according to one of the following recipes.

Option number 1:

Option #2:

Prepare a solution with the following ratio of acids to the full volume: orthophosphoric 20-30%, hydrochloric 3-4%, nitric 4-5%, methyl orange - 1-1.5%.
Soak the part in such an aqueous solution for about 5-10 minutes at a temperature of 18-25C.

Option number 3:

Prepare a solution taking into account the amount of acids per liter of composition: hydrochloric acid - 660 g, sulfuric acid - 230 g, orange acid dye -25 g.
In such a solution with a temperature of 70-75 degrees C, the stainless steel should be kept for 2-3 minutes.

Important! All components are very aggressive. Therefore, when this method polishing stainless steel need to provide yourself full protection eyes, hands, face and respiratory organs.

Polishing steps:

It is necessary to immerse the pre-cleaned part in a container with a chemical solution, which consists of reagents and distilled water.

Important! To obtain the desired concentration of the solution, adhere to a strict dosage of reagents.

The liquid must be continuously stirred - for the completeness of the chemical reaction.
After the specified time, the part must be removed, the residue washed off chemicals clean water and wipe the product with a napkin with polish.
When exposed to liquid reagents for a certain time, all the roughness of stainless steel is eliminated.

Important! Be sure to know the brand of stainless steel for right choice components and their concentration in water.

Stainless steel care

Polished stainless steel looks very impressive and beautiful. But in order for it to remain so for as long as possible, it is necessary to protect the mirror surface and ensure proper care for her.

For these purposes, polishes are used. They are available as concentrates and liquid emulsions. The polish should be used immediately after polishing the stainless steel. It is also recommended to use such funds regularly with some frequency. This will help ensure your product glossy surface for a long time.

The technique for using it is very simple:

It is enough just to apply the product on a napkin and wipe the product evenly, in a circular motion.
After processing, remove excess funds.

Important! If you have the opportunity and desire, you can use a special power tool, for example, a grinder with a speed of no more than 1500 rpm.

With occasional polishing, your stainless steel products will be protected from abrasive dirt, corrosion, and other natural elements. But still, if you need to polish stainless steel, then choosing a method that is more suitable for you, described in this article, you can even give products a smooth surface and a mirror shine even at home.

The smooth surface of the metal is damaged by careless handling, due to the targeted actions of a person. Not every trace can be removed polish for stainless steel and soft cloth. In the home workshop (garage) there are many ways to process volumetric, flat, curved surfaces of alloy products. Appropriate equipment and reagents are required.

Grinding with mechanical polishing

After damaging metal processing (cutting, welding, drilling, cleaning with hard rotary brushes, impacts), defects of various sizes are formed:

scratches, dents;
seams, sagging, shells;
chips;
cracks;
burrs.

These surface degradations reduce wear resistance, reflectivity, and resistance to complex loads. To eliminate roughness, to give shine to such a hard material as stainless steel, you will have to perform 4 - 5 operations. Grinding is carried out using an electric grinder and replaceable abrasive wheels. With a felt / felt circle, after rough cleaning, they begin to polish the product. Convenience of processing of difficult details from stainless steel gives an endless tape.

For rough grinding of stainless steel, the abrasive grit is 30-40, finishing 16-25, polishing with micropowders with a grit of M7-M14, bringing to the state of a mirror - industrial ready-made compositions (polishes).

The mechanical action of the soft wheel with the applied paste removes a very small amount of metal. Glossy alignment occurs due to the redistribution of the structure of the upper layer of stainless steel, and not by cutting it. Under the influence of air, active components of the paste, heating from friction, old oxide films are destroyed and, immediately, upon cooling, new ones are created.

After mechanical polishing, ideal smoothness and, accordingly, gloss are not created in places that are inconvenient for access. In this case, finish polishing by hand. Bringing a mirror finish to stainless steel with your hands is a laborious, long-term operation, but doable. They start creating a mirror by polishing with pastes, and finish with liquid polishes.

It is necessary to subject the entire visible plane to the process - partial local processing will be noticeable. It is not possible to eliminate visible differences by applying a polish.

Chemical method

Small stainless steel parts are processed by a method that does not require much physical effort and several hours of work. Using circles can be just awkward. Immerse the cleaned workpiece in a bath with strictly metered reagents, diluted to the desired concentration with distilled water. Per sufficient interval time, under the influence of caustic reagents, all steel roughnesses in contact with the liquid active medium are eliminated. Deep scratches, traces of welding are first smoothed out with emery wheels, then smoothed out with soft circles with a paste of the desired grain size (GOI). Otherwise, all major flaws will also be polished while maintaining their shape.

For the correct choice of components, their concentration in the water mass, it is desirable to know the brand of stainless steel:

Brand Х18Н9Т is immersed in the following composition: acids: 230 ml sulfuric, 40 ml nitric, 70 ml hydrochloric. Acid black dye - 6 g, wood glue - 10 g, sodium chloride - 6 g are added to 1 liter of solution. The liquid temperature is maintained at 65-70 ° C, time 5 ÷ 30 minutes.

Other options:

Acids in relation to the total volume: nitric 4 ÷ 5%, orthophosphoric 20 ÷ 30%, hydrochloric 3 ÷ 4%, methyl orange - 1 ÷ 1.5%, in an aqueous solution with a temperature of 18 ÷ 25 ° C, Approximate exposure time 5 ÷ 10 min .
Per liter of the composition, the amount of acids: sulfuric 230 g, hydrochloric 660 g, acid orange dye - 25 g. Maintain a temperature of 70 ÷ 75 ° С, time 2 ÷ 3 minutes.

To complete the reaction at all points and remove the resulting products, the liquid in the container is continuously stirred. You can move the steel part.

The components are aggressive. Protect the skin of the hands, face, eyes, respiratory organs.

Chemical alignment of the line of the outer border of the stainless steel (polishing) occurs because the reaction is more intense on the protrusions of the profile. To prevent the accumulation of interaction products in depressions, recesses, corners, fluid movement is forcibly created. After washing off the chemical reagents, rub it with a napkin with a small amount of the composition - polish.

Anode method

Electrochemical processing reduces the time spent in relation to the mechanical procedure by 4-5 times, increasing the purity class of the mirror by 1 or 2 positions. To polish in this way, the complexity of mating, the curvature of the planes becomes unimportant. When electricity is connected, the solution becomes an active electrolyte, interacting more intensively. The sample to be processed must be connected to the anode of the installation. For each chemical composition of stainless steel, reagents and mode parameters are selected.

The method requires a freshly prepared electrolyte, power consumption, and the use of protective equipment by the worker. Preliminary preparation of the outer layer (especially after welding) is required. But the reflectivity of stainless steel after all operations is the same as freshly polished silver or nickel.

The method of manufacturing a stainless steel element affects the time spent in the bath:

stamping 4÷6 min;
welding, heat treatment 10÷12 min;
casting after sandblasting up to half an hour.

We polish with plasma

The technology differs from the electrochemical procedure in the following parameters:

the solution is not aggressive, disposal does not require special cleaning;
voltage is higher (220 V);
temperature around 100 °C.

The reagent used is ammonium salt with a concentration in the solution of 3.1 ÷ 6.0%. The density is set electric current with a value of 0.35 ± 0.15 A / cm², gas bubbles are intensively formed in the contact zone of the electrolyte with stainless steel. Discharges pass in the vapors inside the fluidized bed, ionizing the medium. Plasma tongues appear, which purposefully act on the steel, polishing it. The time for one dive is spent within 6 minutes, based on a power consumption of 5 Wh / cm².

For a stable process of polishing the surface of a certain area by the electroplasma method, an appropriate power of the installation is required. You can not reduce its value, hoping to increase the duration of treatment in the bath. The conditions for the appearance of a plasma-ionized layer will not be met.

Unscrupulous mechanical preparation will manifest itself clearly. Residual traces of welding seams, scratches, dents cannot be hidden with a polish.

Periodic maintenance of appearance

In addition to periodically polishing the structural front elements to the condition of a shiny mirror, the zealous owner takes care of them constantly. Restoration of the condition of the coating of car parts in the service is carried out 2 times a year. To protect the induced gloss, polishes are used. Production is carried out in the form of liquid emulsions and thicker formulations, concentrates. The packaging of polishes for stainless steel is very different - from tubes (75 ml), bottles, cans to barrels (20-100 l). This is everyday protection against the abrasive effects of dust and dirt, the corrosive action of natural factors. The technique is simple: soft napkin, circular movements, no gaps. Apply polish evenly, remove excess. If desired, you can use power tools with a frequency of rotation up to 1500 rpm. Rotation parallel to the machined plane, so as not to damage the end of the circle.

The product will shine like new, even if it was restored by welding piece by piece.

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Metalworking involves a whole range of activities. The final procedures include grinding of metal products and polishing of steel. Although the two technologies are similar, there are some differences between them:

Grinding of steel is carried out using an abrasive;

Polishing of steel is carried out by chemical action of aggressive products.

Steel polishing in Moscow

Steel polishing is carried out either as an independent process or together with grinding. The result of this procedure is the mirror surface of the metal. For polishing, special leather circles are usually used with a special mixture of zinc and tin applied to them. If alloys are processed, then the components of the mixture may be different. Polishing allows you to achieve the smoothest possible surface. The final touch of processing is the drying of metal products.

Working with stainless steel

To work with stainless steel today, there are many tools, in particular:

Roughing and fiber discs;

Cutting and petal end circles;

Steel grinding belt;

Carbide burrs;

Sanding skins on fabric;

Grinding wheels self-locking, etc.

Matt polish

Matte polishing of steel is widespread. The price for this type of service is fully justified by the aesthetic and quality characteristics of the finished products. For it, fine abrasive polishing wheels are used, as well as special pastes that can soften friction with a metal surface. However, there are other methods, for example, chemical or electrochemical polishing of steel.

steel polishing price

The cost of polishing metals depends on the characteristics of the material, the complexity of its processing. The most time-consuming is the polishing of stainless steel products. The reasons are simple - high viscosity, significant hardness, poor thermal conductivity. If we compare stainless steel with non-ferrous metals, then the latter are much easier to process.

Grinding any steel

Grinding of steel is an abrasive treatment, as a result of which upper layer metal is removed, the surface is leveled and becomes smooth. Depending on the material, the equipment is also selected. The quality of the final surface can also vary depending on the tools used. She may be:

Matte if the abrasive is located between 2 hard surfaces;

Brilliant if abrasives are placed on a soft surface.

Grinding the surface of stainless steel

Grinding of stainless steel must take place under special conditions. In particular, one cannot first use abrasive tool for ordinary steel, and then for stainless steel. All surfaces to be machined must be completely free of waste generated during the grinding process. Smoldering sparks must not fall on stainless steel.

Metalworking ordered in our company is carried out in the shortest possible time!

Why grinding and polishing of steel is ordered from us:

steel grinding price

Today, polishing and grinding of stainless steel is in demand in the construction, foundry, automotive and shipbuilding industries. Trading house ADS-Metal provides a full range of metalworking services at excellent prices. Grinding and polishing stainless steel, as well as other metals, in our company is cheaper than most of the closest competitors. This is very profitable proposition. Contact us!