Polishing stainless

[Daveville30]

Hi I done a bit of stainless polishing a while back.brushed effect can't seem to find the attachment I used on the ptx all I can remember was it was black.ive left the company now so can't really ask where they got there's.

 

[hotponyshoes]

A bristle wheel is about the only black ptx brush that I can think of.
They will leave a brushed finish on clean stainless but I would probably use one of the drum sanding wheels as they finish and grain in one operation.
If all you are doing is brushing then the bristle wheel might do just fine bit I would think a woven wheel would be better.
They might even be black to designate a particular grade but I don't ever remember seeing a black one.

Some of the wheels get discoloured pretty quickly so there is also the possibility the one you were using was not black when it started unless you were fitting new ones?

 

[Daveville30]

Could of been it was 40 grit on the welds to flatten then 80 then the black put the grain on it. Think it was rubbery texture

 

[hotponyshoes]

I don't think you would have been using the bristle brush after an 80g.

The 40/80g belts would have been fitted over the top of a black rubber holder (wheel)
But then you would have taken the black rubber wheel off completely and replaced it with a separate wheel to do the graining.

The final wheel would have been a scotchbrite type material and had the consistency of a dense sponge.

/\ that's how I would do it anyway.
I don't remember any of the ptx graining wheels being black.
It's perfectly possible that you were not using genuine ptx wheels though as loads of people make wheels to fit that machine.

Edit: or possibly the machine was not a ptx and that's just what it got called.
Same as everybody calls a bosch vacuum cleaner a hoover...

 

[hotponyshoes]

Random example but here are a selection of colours

60/80/120/180/240/320#/400# Polishing Buffing Burnishing Drawing Wheel Tools New | eBay

Also for smoothing wood surfaces. The utility model can rapidly grind, scratch and solder printing, and can effectively reduce the drawing line, and is convenient and quick to use, and the mirror effect can be achieved after polishing.

www.ebay.co.uk

It doesn't seem to say what grade the colours represent on those though.

 

[Daveville30]

So if I used 80 grit to take the weld down one of them in the picture would put a grain into it.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Sort of.
If you use 80g on the ptx and run it all in the same direction then you will get a grain anyway.
Obviously you want to use the 80g in the same direction as the final finish.
Then those types I linked to above will smooth off that course grain and leave a finish that looks and feels better.
But, they come in various grades as well.
If you wanted to use the course one then using it after an 80 would be ok.
If you wanted to finish with the fine one the you might want to work down through the grades or it might be quicker to go from 80g to 120g then use the fine one.

If you want to finish with something like extra fine then it might be quicker to start off with polished stainless and just grind/polish out welds etc with rolocs then run the extra fine over the whole lot to finish.

It really depends on the end effect you are after. I've made things that have been finished just using 40g to flat the welds down then extra fine directly after.
That leaves a finish that looks heavily brushed but shines in the sun. Feels rough if you run a fingernail over it but smooth if you run your hand over it.

There are also wheels available that have both sandpaper and scotchbrite flaps both mounted on the same wheel.
No particularly cost effective but quick and simple to use.

 

[Daveville30]

Cheers going to order a few bits for the drill then if I'm happy with the finish order the wheels for the ptx.

 

[Daveville30]

Found a picture of the one they use