Polishing stainless trim with sandpaper only

[bull]

I bought a stainless polishing kit a while back and the directions said to start out with 1200-1500 grit sandpaper to get rid of scratches. I found some 1200 grit paper and did just that but I wasn't satisfied with the results so I went down and got some 2000 grit paper and started over. It looked very good until I used the polish again so I knocked it back down with the 2000 grit and the finished it off with some Mothers paste-type polish. It looks good but still a little hazy (very faint) so now I'm thinking about bumping it up to finish with 3000 grit followed by the Mothers. I believe it will work quite well.

So my question is, have any of you polished stainless using sandpaper only? The plan on my next piece is to start with 1200, continue with 2000 and finish with 3000, as soon as I get my hands on some 3000.

[ws23rt]

I've tried sandpaper on stainless but it never got me to the finish I wanted.

One thing about sandpaper is the quality must be very good.  If a few grains on a sheet of 1000 grit are 500 size than there will always be scratches that the 1000 will not take out. Another thing that can happen is stainless shavings can ball up together and make their own scratches.

The best way to a shine is to follow your best efforts with sandpaper on a buffing wheel with the right compound.

BTW bringing a shine to something rough has always been my least favorite task.  It takes methodical patience.

[bull]

What would you consider to be the right compound?

[sanders7981]

I have had pretty good success with sand paper, then finishing up with a buffing wheel.  I just started on my stainless trim last night.  I used 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 2000, all wet sanding obviously.  I only started with so low of a grit because of some deep scratches in my trim.  After wet sanding, I finished up with some high luster, white paste polish I picked up at harbor freight.  I was not looking for a show-car finish shine on the trim, but it come out great for a DD.  However, depending on how much time you spend on each grit, you can achieve a great base for buffing it out to a nice shine.  I have also used my Dremel tool for polishing with good results too.  

[ws23rt]

What would you consider to be the right compound?

I've had good results using the black compound. It is aggressive enough to take out minor scratches and as it works it breaks down and gives a good finish. The white compound would follow.

[twodko]

Bull,

I used the exact materials and compounds suggested by Sanders7891 & ws23rt. The stainless
trim on my car turned out beautifully but the work does require a time commitment, patience, dedicated buffer motor (harbor freight) and a couple three different buffing wheels from Eastwood.

[sanders7981]

Correction. The white paste polish I got from lowes.  Harbor fright has two types that I also picked up, one for returning stainless trim to its natural look, a dark grey stick.  Kind of a brushed appearance.  And the other is a green stick that was for high luster polishing.  Two do is right though you do need a few buffing pads to get great results.  I used two, one for applying the compound and a loose pad for buffing it off.

[squeakfinder]

   I used turtle wax rubbing compound after the 2000 grit. Results were OK, not perfect. Maybee a buffer of some sort would have done the trick afterwords.

[sanders7981]

Bill,

  Here is the vinyl trim I polished up.  One on left is restored\polished.  I used 600, 800, & 1000 then a coarse emery buffing compound followed up with the white compound.  It is not a pristine show car condition polished piece, but really nice finish for about 30 mins of work. 

.

[bull]

It may be simple-minded but I figure if 2000 makes it look good than 3000 will make it look better. I have green, brown and black compound bars. Is white compound finer than green?

[Cooter]

I've found 2500 Grit Paper on a drill with a water bottle on high works wonders.
Then, I finish up with same compound I use on paint. [10K grit].

Once that's done, I go back with different pad [Wool] with Machine glaze to get rid of haze. Works Awesome.

[ws23rt]

White is finer than green.  I am simple minded as well  It makes sense that the finer the grit the smother the finish. My experience is trial and error. (lots of error).

Black is intended for steels. Green and white are intended for softer metals. When I use green or white on stainless I seem to get nowhere.

When using a buffing wheel the wheel should be dedicated to the grit you are using.

Also when using one grit on a wheel it will break down as you use it and become finer. But the wheel needs to be cleaned (raked) as you use it and add fresh compound. It gets aggressive again with fresh compound.

[sanders7981]

What they said....  You can't go wrong going with a finer grit.  I just don't intend on having show chrome on mine... It's going to be a DD, so I am not putting in the extra hours for it right now.   Plus I am under a time crunch to get this thing road ready.  I have order to japan this summer, and I may not be able to get them changed.