Any reliable ways to remove scratches from stainless?

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MLeake

New member
My DW CBOB had a minor cosmetic accident in the gun safe (more accurately, it wasn't as securely in its shelf rack as I had thought it was, when I took my hand off it...); it now has three parallel scratches on the left front end of the slide.

While I won't lose any sleep over it, it's still kind of a bummer. Short of a full re-finish, are there any ways to buff out scratches that won't actually weaken the metal? Or am I better off leaving it as is?

Thanks.
 
M

MLeake

New member
Unfortunately, it was on the polished slabside; the top is matte... Murphy strikes.

Thanks, guys. Guess if it bothers me enough, I'll get an eventual re-finish. For now, I'll just look at it as character marks.
 
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drail

Moderator
If you're talking about the flat side of the slide it can be fixed with sandpaper (if they're deep) or Scotchbrite pads if they're not. It's generally better to do the whole flat rather than try to blend it in. Although sometimes you get lucky. Use a flat stick (a paint stir stick is good) with the sandpaper, don't use your fingers or you will round off the corners. You can get successively finer grits of sandpaper at an auto parts store that sells auto body and painting supplies. Start with 320 and work your way down to 400 to 600 grit. Most manufacturers finish with a 400 grit. If the scratches are deep start with 220.
 
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woad_yurt

New member
It's kinda like sanding wood. Go in one direction, starting with a coarser grit (600?) and work your way up gradually to one that's fine enough to give you the desired results.
 
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hhb

New member
Another way

Clean 5" felt wheel on your grinder. Buy a bar of red jewelers rouge and apply the rouge bar to the wheel, then carefully polish the area where the marks are. Works like a charm, and doesn't take long.
 
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Standing Wolf

Member in memoriam
Nah. Forget all that. Get the biggest, fastest Dremel tool you can find. Get some duct tape. Get a big hammer. Get out all the cuss words you know. Have at 'er, buddy! By the time you get done exercising all that, you'll be in the mood for a brand new gun.

Somewhat more seriously: scratches and dings help remind me of mistakes I've made, and in theory, at least, encourage me not to repeat them.
 
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Tom Servo

Staff
One of the charms of polished stainless steel is the ease with which you can remove small scratches. (It would actually be harder to remove them from the matte surfaces.)

I'd echo the suggestion to start with Flitz, which is what I use to ameliorate holster wear on stainless revolvers.

If that doesn't do the trick, consider jeweler's rouge or a buffing wheel. If that doesn't work, consider more aggressive means like sandpaper.

Get the biggest, fastest Dremel tool you can find. Get some duct tape. Get a big hammer. Get out all the cuss words you know. Have at 'er, buddy!
Click to expand...
Wolf, you have no idea how often I see the results of that exact mentality. I've also made an appreciable amount of money fixing the results of it :)
 
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gyvel

New member
First of all, how deep are the scratches???

I have had great success for several decades now with Micro Mesh abrasive paper. It's not cheap, but it works great on stainless guns. The grades I use are 2400 to 8000, although I believe they go all the way up to 12000.

My first experience with Micro Mesh was working as a mechanic for a major airline. We used it to polish the passenger windows on the aircraft. I soon discovered at my second job as gunsmith that it had a myriad of uses in restoring bad stainless steel surfaces to a like new factory appearance.

You can Google "Micro Mesh" to learn more about it.
 
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Sport45

New member
Keep in mind that you aren't really removing the scratches with the polishing procedures mentioned above. You are just covering them up with more scratches that are much closer together. ;)

To maintain flatness, you have to polish the entire surface the same amount. That might mean using progressively finer abrasives on a flat lapping surface until the scratches are hidden. When you're done the reflection of a straight line in the finish will be, well, straight. If you just work on the area that's scratched you can easily wind up with a wavy finish. It might be shiny, but it could look like a cheap paint job when viewing down the length of it.
 
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publius

New member
I would try flitz first on a slow felt wheel (bench mounted variable speed on low or dremel on low.) You do need to do the whole slide to make the finish match. If that's not aggressive enough use the papers, you want to use the least aggressive possible to achieve the desired results. You say the sides of your slide are bright and the top is matte. I would do both sides of the slide so the brightness will match.
 
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