Stainless Brushing / Polishing

[ToddFarr]

Interested to hear what you guys are using to Brush and Polish your Stainless Steel Bits with. I'm finishing up a frame with a few Stainless Tubes and Lugs I'm going to leave raw and clear coat. I really want to go with a brushed look like Dave Anderson does on some of his frames, but in the future I will be polishing as well so I figured might as well start a thread for both.

Any help or guidance you can give me is appreciated!

Thanks - Todd.

[Mark Kelly]

Beartex brown for "brushing", I use it wet with 5% oxalic for the first treatment; the oxalic chelates iron, increasing the percentage of chromium & nickel in the surface layer. Slice the pad into strips and whale away.

I've been told by a reliable source not to clearcoat stainless. We never use any surface treatment on the stainless winery equipment, it sits outside in the weather all year with no ill effects, of course it's more stainless (or is that less stainful?) than the grades used in bikes.

Life's too short to polish stainless.

[ToddFarr]

Mark,
I'm assuming this is the stuff Norton (662610-58000-20PK) Bear-Tex Maroon 6" x 9" Primer Prep Scuff Pad, (Case of 20) : Amazon.com : Automotive ?

and for the acid OXALIC ACID 5% W/V SOLUTION (500ML): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Isn't Oxalic the stuff they use in wood bleach? I can get that at Home Depot. Any problem with it hitting the regular steel bits? I guess I will leave the stainless raw then!

Thanks - Todd

[Mark Kelly]

Yes, that's the pad. Sorry for the misdescription of colour. I wish I got them that cheap.

The oxalic acid powder from the hardware shop is perfectly good enough, that's what I use. It's also useful combined with sulphuric for bond prep on stainless but I guess I do more of that than others do.

I don't use any non-stainless parts but oxalic is routinely used for rust removal from steel, so you'll be fine as long as you don't leave it in contact for too long.