Homemade Employee Project - How to Polish Stainless Steel Exhaust to a Mirror Finish - Eastwood

[@myturkishlife1777]

I think given the application this is perfectly acceptable... Also handling a big ol' piece is a good workout , I got too old for doing that so bought a mega duty flexy shaft hooked up to a big 3 phase motor. Made polishing motorcycle frames easier.. Respect

[@joshuaramos9676]

So by doing this will it stay like this or eventually go away?

[@derbigpr500]

One thing that bothers me about this, since it's a guide and gets the crucial part wrong. You will never get a perfect MIRROR finish doing it like this, at least if your definition of "mirror" is the same as mine, and to me, a mirror is not just shiny, but it also has no surface scratches. You will get it shiny this way, sure, but if you look at it from close up, you'll still see subtle scratches in the finish because you didn't sand above 600 grit. 600 grit is still very rough and you won't polish out the scratches. It might be fine for something like an exhaust, but for more delicate parts like interior details or things you look at from close up, you have to sand gradually up to at least 2500 or even 3000 grit before starting to polish. High end watchmakers sand stainless steel up to 8000-10000 grit before they start polishing them. You don't have to go that high, but 2500/3000 should be the minimum. That is the only way to get an ACTUAL mirror finish, where you can inspect the part from as close as your eye can focus on it and not see absolutely any imperfections on the surface of steel (or anything else). It's like trying to polish clear coat by wet sanding it to 600 grit and then going straight to polishing....never gonna happen. Again.... shiny is not the same as "mirror finish". Mirror finish implies a perfect mirror-like surface. I've returned parts to shops and asked for refunds because they half-assed it and often had to do polish my parts on my own to do it right.

[@timrayburn2461]

He stated that in the beginning.He said " near polish " not " mirror polish " finish.

[@michaelburry8332]

@@timrayburn2461 Yeah, but in all fairness I clicked on a video that said "Mirror Finish". This was "polished" or "chrome-like", but not at all a "mirror finish". I do love these videos and this channel, but the title on this one could have been better chosen. 👍🔧

[@AwesomeFinish]

I'm here to tell you I've been polishing for 16 years and I can remove 320 grit sanding scratches with buffing. I have videos on my channel showing how I do it.