Stainless steel

[Davenc]

Hello. Any suggestions on cleaning and polishing older stainless? Is it worth the effort or will it just look bad again after a short time?<br /><br />should I just replace it? I'm redoing my rails (teak) and the stainless now looks worse.lol<br /><br />Thnx.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Stainless steel

Stainless will clean up real nice. It is not a coating so there is nothing to polish thru. Most stainless pieces are produced with a specific finish that could be hard for you to duplicate however I would get a ?rag wheel? for your grinder and a suitable compound stick, remove the pieces from you boat and go to town. You can make that stainless almost like chrome<br /><br />Once done it does not take a lot of care to keep it looking good for a good while. It is not in anyway like anodized aluminum.

 

[JB]

Re: Stainless steel

Are you sure it is stainless? Could it be marinium?<br /><br />Either way, Boomer's suggestion will work.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Stainless steel

Originally posted by JB:<br /> .... Could it be marinium?

Ok JB, please edewekate me! Could that be related to/same as Monel?

 

[bigbad 4cyl x2]

Re: Stainless steel

ive been into barbaque grills for awhile they actualy have some cheap chinese grills that are stainless plated . then there is drawn stainless, forged stainless, cast stainless. ive been reading magazines latley

 

[JB]

Re: Stainless steel

Marinium is a hard, strong alloy sometimes used to cast things like cleats and other fittings, Boomer. Boston Whaler uses it a lot. The reference to teak rails made me think of it. It won't corrode, but it does get gray. Harder to polish than aluminum and holds shine longer.<br /><br />Don't know what metals are used to make the alloy, but it is lighter than SS or bronze so it must include mostly AL.

 

[rdh2059]

Re: Stainless steel

Seems to me it doesn't take much for something to have a shine outlast aluminum... It corrodes and dulls within minutes of being buffed to a nice luster... <br /><br />That's why its so hard to get a good bond to with paint, and other kinds of treatments...<br /><br />Regarding Stainless, if you want a high shine, yeah, Boomyal's advice is just the ticket. Its a lot of work, but not something you should have to do very often if it really is stainless. If you are after a silk type finish, that requires some special equipment to do right, so its probably not worth doing unless you are willing to invest a lot of time and be really careful with the sand paper...<br /><br />Rick

 

[bigbad 4cyl x2]

Re: Stainless steel

i personaly would skip the rouge wheel and rouge . and go for some mothers billet aluminum cleaner....its a stronger formula than the mothers metal cleaner .I have a new rouge wheel in my toolbox ive had sitting there for years . im a billet and microfibere beliver, i also go after chromed brass when i can.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Stainless steel

aluminum oxide (oxidation) is tough stuff! I know we wanna try and keep it shiny, but ironically the oxidation is prolly the best protection for it...