Scotch Brite to tone down stainless?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I've got a Taurus 44 with a high polish that I would like to tone down for hunting. Thinking about giving a rub down with a Scotch Brite pad. Any tips on color/grit, which direction to orient the grain, or anything else I haven't thought of?

[lefty o]

use a finer grade of scotchbrite, and it can be used to give a nice brushed look. for direction, follow the barrel.

[KCSO]

Tale a few scotchbrite pads and cut them square and put holes in the center for a buffer. Alternate the pads as you stack them on the buffer shaft so you end u with a more or less round wheel. Works just like a costly texturng pad and costs you very little. I run mine at 1750 rpm and it just about duplicates the factory brushed stainless finish.

[nhrifle]

Bead blasting is an option

[TCLouis]

Years ago I bought a Taurus 431 sight unseen.

When it was delivered,it looked like an extra shiny mirror.

Some would cry if they saw how good it looked after about an hour with a green Scotch Brite pad.

Still needed some finesse work, but sure was better. I let the guy that delivered it to me shoot it later and he asked why I had already traded off the one he brought to me.

He thought it was another gun . . .

It was, a great brushed stainless gun.

It shoots dang good too!

[GabbyM]

We used to use Scotch Bright pads on aluminum parts for a final finish on machined assemblies. Gave them a flat finish with no visible scratches. Can't help with the grit for an ideal SS finish. However if it's not what you want just keep polishing until it comes in. Standard store shelf pads may be to coarse but I've never tried it.

0000 steel wool may work nice also. But again I've never tried that on a revolver. SS pots and pans plenty of times. 0000 wool works great on super shine Polyurethane gunstocks followed by a couple coats of paste wax. BTW.

I agree that Taurus revolvers have a finish more suited to SS table ware than a revolver. That's just a personal preference however. It is far easier to knock off a fine shine than polish one on.

[country gent]

Not sure on grit buy several and work with some scrap steel to see what you get. Polish lines should run with the barrel and be consistent everywhaere on the gun running in the same direction. Another thing is to "block" the scratch pad as this helps keep stampings and markings sharp and bright instead of fuzzy looking. After polishing with Scratch pads sand paper or any grit type medium I would recomend an full disassembled cleaning as this dust will get every where and will accerate wear if not gotten out. Foe tight areas a popcucle stick with a piece of pad glued to it works well. A small dowel with a piece wrapped around ffor flutes and grooves.

[1911cherry]

Bead blasting is an option

+1
I bead blasted a Ruger and it turned out great -nice matte from a high polish , its hard to get a consistent finish with abrasive pads

[rogerstg]

If you don't want it to be permanent, you can use spray on Plasti Dip. It comes in flat colors including camo green. Gear heads use it to color their wheels. It peels off when you want to make a change, leaving the metal untouched.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Tale a few scotchbrite pads and cut them square and put holes in the center for a buffer. Alternate the pads as you stack them on the buffer shaft so you end u with a more or less round wheel. Works just like a costly texturng pad and costs you very little. I run mine at 1750 rpm and it just about duplicates the factory brushed stainless finish.

Gosh I wonder where you got that idea?

Use Red or Gray pads. But I don't think I'd do it under power for this job. Those square pads will take things away from you and sling them instantly until they wear round. Not exactly what you are looking for. Also you'll never match the grain using a buffer, everything needs to go the same direction. This is a hand job only.

Please don't use Steel wool on a stainless gun or stainless parts of any kind unless you are going to Passivate them afterwards. Plain steel brushes used to wire brush Stainless pipe after welding will make the contaminated area rust in a few days. Seen it many times!

This is NOT Speculation ! This will make your gun rust, period! It also discolors the stainless.

Randy

[6bg6ga]

A good grade of stainless will not rust under normal conditions. Check your stainless with a magnet. The magnet will not be attracted to good stainless. I should have added that welding is a different point and then again we're not talking about welding here but rather altering the finish of stainless steel.

[colonelsanders]

I use these and they do a great job.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-HP-HP-Scotch-Brite-Hand-Pad/dp/B00125PR5A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414064975&sr=8-2&keywords=7448

And the amazon reviews concur!!

1 Pad lasts an awfully long time...........

[Geppetto]

This is NOT Speculation ! This will make your gun rust, period!

Randy


This is absolutely true from a metallurgical standpoint. Doesn't matter if its a cheesy stainless like 201, a 400 series or something high power like 2205. If you introduce free iron to the surface, such as from a carbon steel brush, steel wool made from carbon steel, or if you use a contaminated stainless steel brush. The free iron has no more corrosion resistance than any other plain steel. This iron will rust and in doing so will destroy the passive layer on the stainless, allowing for rusting of the stainless.

The term stainless is a bit of a misnomer, because it most certainly can stain/rust in many situations. In most peoples service, its more than resilient enough, but I see corroded stainless steel on a daily basis, pretty much keeps the lights on at my place of work (failure analysis lab).

Most firearms are likely cleaned enough that it isn't that big a deal, but I personally would stick to clean scotchbrite or a clean stainless brush, just to make sure you don't have any potential problems.

[KCSO]

Back when my Dad was refurbishing stainless coffee machines and spending a fortune for texturing wheels a friend of his told him about making the wheels from the pads.

I was doing 5906 slides and finishing the work by hand and as long as you use the power wheel with caution and go in the right direction it works just fine. I have also bead blasted stainless with some sucess but it's a real bear getting the media out of every little nook and cranny.

Stain resistant is a better term for the stuff guns are made of as I have had Officers guns come in discoloured from leather holsters and various liquid spills.

[6bg6ga]

I can see where using a steel wool pad would make it rust. Not the correct thing to use the scotch brite pad is the way to go.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I had been told of this as a Weldor's Helper and kind of thought it was BS since most of what came out of their mouths was BS.

I went on a Millwright job at the Rocketdyne Test Site in Chatsworth CA in 1978. We were working in a building and when we went outside for a smoke break we saw a large pipe gallery made entirely of SS pipe attached to the wall of the building. It was some kind of a metering run for gas or something. It was made entirely from 321 SS which is the kind you use for Acid Lines. IE: it is very high Nickel/Chromium content, approaching Inconel.

EVERY SINGLE WELD on that pipe run was Rusted. Every single weld had been brushed with a steel wire brush. Other than the welded areas everything else was still in the white.

It was the most blatant example of this issue I have ever seen.

At that point I knew it was NOT BS.

They make SS wire brushes. They didn't come up with them to just brush your BBQ.

Randy

[6bg6ga]

http://sperkoengineering.com/html/Rust.pdf

[W.R.Buchanan]

6bg6ga: that pretty much covers it. Thanks Randy