Good hand tool for polishing stainless

[warby12]

Hi there, I'm living aboard a boat and will be doing some stainless steel repairs and polishing up what is there already. I've got a small lift tig welder and can squeeze a small argon bottle on board while we're in the marina for the next couple of years. I'm not a pro but I get by and have a lot of fun.

I'm just wonder what is the best hand tool to buy for polishing stain steel with the rag wheels and wax etc. a drill is too slow I bet. I'd appreciate a little advice if someone has time.

 

[cumbriasteve]

For small areas I recently used my Aldi multi tool ( similar thing to a Dremmel) but only cost about £12 I think it was

I used a self botched up buffing wheel with a touch of Solvol Autosol on it, the machine certainly has the speed and did a nice job, perhaps not suitable for large areas though.

Not sure you have Aldi shops down under but bound to be a similar supplier I would have thought.

 

[warby12]

Thanks Cumbriasteve! Sounds like a place too start. We do have Aldi down here now my wife loves it. I'll pop in. How did you make the flap wheel part can I ask?

Cheers (also) Steve

 

[cumbriasteve]

I basically used one that was a bit oversized and ground the shaft down to fit the machine, wore the roughness off it first on an old bit of scrap stainless until it was leaving the finish I wanted then used it on the real bit of work I was doing.

 

[warby12]

Thanks for taking the time Steve!

 

[the snooper]

you could get a die grinder, if you wanted something a little more heavy duty

 

[warby12]

Yeah that's probably going to be a bit more resilient. Wish I had room for my air compressor on the boat! Probably annoy everyone too much anyway But a nice electric variable speed one..