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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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NEED help POLISHING and ROUNDING stainless steel
Q. Group- very glad I found this page and forum!
I am currently getting ready to launch our steering wheel company and are having difficulty with polishing and rounding the edges of our stainless steel wheel discs. These discs have been cut with a waterjet and some have minor scratches.
What would you suggest to solve our problem in ending with a mirror finish on the face of our flat disc, and in rounding the edges of the cut parts of the stainless? Time of course is an issue, and we would be interested in shops to take on the job, however, we are starting small, an in the near term we would be content doing it ourselves.
Any help would be greatly appreciated- we are located in Charleston, SC.
beginner - Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
2004
A. Mirror finish or bright? Most automotive reflective finishes are done in a steel burnishing systems. That normally leaves an excellent acceptable surface appearance. Meaning that it may not be very smooth but it is a mirror finish. As for edge radius, that is another problem. Mass finishing systems are not good at removing a lot of material; therefore, I suggest you look into a small portable belt sander for the ID areas, or abrasive wheel, and you may need to use a coarse and fine belt/wheel before burnishing the whole part.
AF Kenton
retired business owner - Hatboro, Pennsylvania
2004
A. Daniel:
To provide high finish as well as rounded edges you may want to consider electro-polishing. It is the electrochemical removal of metal producing a smooth bright finish.
Sincerely:
plating & polishing - Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.
2004
Thank you for your replies. Currently, we are looking to output only 5 disks a day, so mass production is not a requirement. We are not metal gurus, so we have had difficulty polishing these disks in house. We are very open to outsourcing this task.
We will be looking for a shop that can mirror the surface (evenly with no scratches and all imperfections taken out). We will gladly speak about details to those interested.
This would be an ongoing project, with wheels arriving in bundles at a time. First job will be a lot of 100 wheels, 60 aluminum and 40 stainless.
We are located in Charleston, SC, however we don't have a problem shipping our water jet cut wheels out (as long as they can be shipped after polishing in suitable packaging).
Regards!
- Charleston, South Carolina
2004
A. You can use DLyte. It is a new technology using solid particles as electrolyte. It polishes mirror finishing in one unique step.
Jaume Miras- Barcelona. Spain
December 27, 2017
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