Brushed steel finish

[inchpincher]

Just picked up a lovely 50's filing cabinet but the paint is very tired so thinking of hotrodding it by striping it back, panel beating and giving it a bare metal brushed look... Is it just a case of flatting with approx 240-400 grit or is there a powertool attachment that'll get the finish more 'uniform'...?

 

[fox]

Garryflex blocks would do it. Abrasive-impregnated 'rubber' blocks. Blue is coarse and brown-ish is fine. Strip the paint off, and just 'stroke' them in one direction; don't use them like sandpaper or it'll mess up the grain they'll leave.

Bufflex wheels would also do it, and faster, but they're designed for polishing-motors, not drills, so I'm not sure how you'd mount one. Easy to get the grain all over the place too, unless the object's small enough to keep parallel to the mop IME.

HTH.

Al.

 

[Hitch]

Belt sander works if you can keep it straight enough.

A straight grinder, or even a specialist polisher fitted with a wide flap wheel is often used.

 

[Welderpaul]

I did some big stainless plates with a belt sander. Not ideal but it does the job. I clamped a big piece of box to the plate on the unfinished side, and used that to run the sander along. Do a run, then move it over, same again. Allow the 'runs' to overlap.
Finished off with a big flap wheel. Looked the dogs.

Its suprising how coarse the grit of the abrasive needs to be to get a fine finish. We do smallish stainless profiles on our linisher; a 60 grit belt gives a 320 grit finish once it has been given a quick going over with a scotchbrite pad.
I do have some 300 grit linisher belts somewhere Doesnt even take the muck off the plates

 

[inchpincher]

Ahhh, belt sander and an impromptu guide fence, good idea chaps... May even get a friend to pinstripe it once it's straight. Going to remove and weld up the holes left from the card holder bit on the front. Was toying with the idea of a polished finish but i think the brushed will mean i don't blind myself when welding at a later date...

 

[Welderpaul]

Hmm. I wouldnt bother.

The slightest little ding (never mind the big ones) wont polish out unless you start digging at it to get into the low parts.
Theres a lot of work in it. I don't think your going to get the look your after tbh.

 

[inchpincher]

I know what your saying, for the time and effort involved i may not get the desired finish but i reckon it's worth a crack, once it's striped and the drawers blasted i'll put some pics in the projects section. You should see the price these go for on ebay, should it turn out half decent i'll take early retirement

(Plus I'm a glutton for punishment )