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Refinishing a stainless steel bed frame

 

I bought a bed sold to me as " Stainless steel". It now has started to rust. I was told by a local metal working company, that it is not stainless, and they don't know how to achieve the look of the original finish. What can be done so the bed, once again has its shiny swirl finish without the rust?

Thank you, Susanne

Susanne P [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Fort Wayne, Indiana

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There are many possibilities, Susanne, so it's hard to know where to start. The frame could be polished stainless, or it might not be. What you could be seeing is the metal itself, or a clear lacquer over the metal, or even an opaque powder coating designed to look like polished stainless steel.

Good grades of stainless steel, under good dry conditions, can remain essentially rust-free. But I don't think they will remain shiny, so I tend to doubt that the bed frame is polished and unlacquered stainless steel. If you can attach photographs, someone may be able to give you a more insightful answer and some real suggestions about how to get it to look the way it used to.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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Greetings,

300 series stainless steels are non-magnetic (or low enough so they appear that way). 400 Stainless steels are magnetic and can be hardened, however they will rust almost like regular steel.

Polishing stainless steel to a mirror finish can be done, however to purchase an item like a bed frame with a mirror finish would probably cost as much as a good used car.

The way that I found this site was searching for stainless steel bed pictures.

I have been thinking about manufacturing custom bed frames and headboards with a brushed (badered) finish in 303 304 or 316 stainless steel.

Is there a market for this? I would love to build some of these.

Thanks and I hope some of the info helps.

Steve

Steve C [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
argyle, New York

I really want a brushed stainless steel low full size bed frame. It can even just have the "look" and not actually be stainless steel. If you've decided to produce them, great, let me know. If not, can anybody out there help me?

Kalani H [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Cleveland, Ohio
March 27, 2008

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To Steve from Argyle,
I hope you do manufacture steel bed frames (modern and minimalist!). I've spent hours looking through metal beds online to no avail. There's an abundance of scrolly headboards but very little (if any) simple, modern and clean designs. I think there is definitely a market.
Moni

moni c [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Brooklyn, New York
October 23, 2008