POLISHING advice sought / dremel/ by hand/ etc

[jg0001]

I'm seeking some polishing advice. I've searched a bit, but come up with more questions than answers.

I've seen a lot of nice shiny mirror finishes where the poster says they hand polished it (mother's mag & aluminum is a popular polish for this). However, no one ever posts the PRE-polish photo, so I have no idea if the leap they are intending to make is huge or tiny.

Anywho, as noted in another thread (diff topic), I did the Mother's + hand polishing on the barrel of my S&W 500 (10 1/2" barrel) to clean it up a bit. It now more closely matches the frame, which has a smoother finish (not sure how better to describe this). Anyway, I spent prob 3 hours on it and it's far from a mirror. I'm not sure if I even should take it that far.

I've read that some people also use wet sandpaper and/or a Dremel. Can anyone provide any guidance on when to use sandpaper or a Dremel? Is the Dremel useable for the ROUGH and FINE scrubbing or just the fine? Should/can I use Mother's mag polish with the Dremel or should I use a different polishing compound? Lastly what do people use for the tighter spots? What about where the gun was engraved with the gun name/caliber? Anything special to do there?

(slightly related) If I wanted to polish the feed ramp of my 45, is the Dremel okay here too?

 

[454 gunner]

Your gun's barrel looks as if it has a matte finish, almost like it has been heavily sandblasted. Polishing that will require some rather intricate work. The guns you have seen with that mirror like finish started out with a satin stainless look. Obtaining that lustre with the surface you have will be very difficult to do with a rag and polish.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

A Dremel is a wonderful tool in a professional's hands. It is the worst tool for guns in an amateur's hands.
Have your gun professionally polished if you want a shiny gun, or risk ruining it yourself. If you don't fully understand polishing methodology, It WILL end up looking very bad.

 

[Playboypenguin]

I agree with Bill that a dremel is a bad idea. I actually have a pretty good hand and I cannot handle the dremel. If you have a matte finish that needs polishing you need to first take some OOO synthetic steel wool pads and buff by surface down. Spraying the gun with a light coat of oil while buffing with the steel wool pads helps.

 

[jg0001]

I appreciate the commentary, especially the warnings. On other forums, it can be made to seem all too easy to go from matte to mirror, a finding I didn't really believe. I was mostly just wondering if I was doing something wrong, given the lack of apparent progress.

I'll probably do another round or two by hand, just to "clean it up". I imagine that it won't look like I did anything to it to an outside observer who didn't see it originally (I nostly want the barrel to be closer to the finish of the frame). But to me, it looks better now than how it came to me.

As far as internal parts, the only thing I'm tempted to do is go over the integral feed ramp of one of my other gun's barrels a few times by hand, but not nearly enough to do much more than clean it. I'm not fool enough to be removing material en masse.

Thanks.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have seen stainless guns brought from a bead or brush finish to mirror brightness, like a good old fashioned nickel plate. Some looked very nice.

A number of them were bright but wavy. Maybe the polishing was done with a Dremel which puts a small diameter abrasive against a flat or large radius surface. Or maybe he just did not control the work against a real buffing wheel well enough.

 

[ZeSpectre]

going from Matte to Mirror is not all that easy and depends on several factors including the metal you intend to polish.

The Dremel can be invaluable but you can't just start out with one and expect results. I've been building fine-scale models for more than 30 years now so I have a LOT of practice under my belt when it comes to the Dremel.

Not too long ago I decided to polish the hood of my 1911 because I didn't feel like the matte finish went well with the nice "satin nickle" of the rest of the gun.

I masked off the rest of the barrel with a double layer of electrician's tape and just polished the hood. This is the end result. You can tell before/after as the entire thing used to be matte.

This represents about 4 hours over the course of two days using a Dremel at low speed with polishing wheels and a fine jeweler's rouge. Then moving to fresh polishing wheels and a rouge of super fine grade. Then a cotton polishing wheel and Brasso polish and finally a soft cotton cloth, water, and talcum powder for a final polish (to remove swirls, this part took FOREVER).

It takes a lot of time and I don't think I've ever polished anything larger than a 2x2 inch square area so if you want to polish an entire gun or something you'll have to consult someone other than me.

 

[EVOIXGSR]

I would highly advise AGAINST using any power tool for polishing, especially something as valuable as a gun

 

[madmag]

Careful. Those groves just past the hood area are part of the locked-breech mechanism. The groves should not have any rounded edges.

 

[Playboypenguin]

However, no one ever posts the PRE-polish photo, so I have no idea if the leap they are intending to make is huge or tiny.

Here are the only pics I have that kind of show the before and after of a hand polishing. I did not take this one to a "mirror" finish, but it is darn close and I could if I wanted to do so. Ignore the purple color on the after pic. The room has purple walls and the gun is very reflective now.

Before

After

 

[ZeSpectre]

Careful. Those grooves just past the hood area are part of the locked-breech mechanism. The grooves should not have any rounded edges.

Hence the note about masking parts off with tape.

 

[Jim Watson]

It's just going to get scuffed up... if you actually shoot the gun.

 

[Playboypenguin]

And your clothes are just going to get dirty if you wear them. I still bet you wash them occasionally.

 

[rogertc1]

Purple walls!!
You know Charter Arms make a pretty purple/lavender revolver.
Really i found semi-chrome polish & old towel and hours in front of the TV works.

 

[CraigC]

A Dremel is a wonderful tool in a professional's hands. It is the worst tool for guns in an amateur's hands.
Have your gun professionally polished if you want a shiny gun, or risk ruining it yourself. If you don't fully understand polishing methodology, It WILL end up looking very bad.

I have to agree with Bill completely! It is impossible to get an even finish across large surfaces with a Dremel. Probably more good guns have been ruined by amateurs with Dremels in the last twenty years than the hundred before. If you must, wet sand it up to your desired luster then hit it with some polishing compound but leave the power tools out of it.