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I have always sent my stainless trim out to a guy or company to have straightened and polished. After reading up on the subject I was tempted to try it but had not made the jump yet. That is until Harbor Freight Tools stepped up and offered this heavy duty 8" polisher for only $59.00! At that price it was worth a shot and if it didn't work out I wasn't out that much cake. A stainless polishing kit from Eastwood which costs as much as the buffer, and I was rewarded with three wheels and three compounds. Next, using a few pieces of left over 4x4 lumber I fashioned a wall-mount for the polishers kind of in a mailbox support stlye. It gave me enough clearance between the floor and wall to get all my trim under the wheel. |
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The three wheels that came with the Eastwood kit were a tight sisal wheel to get it started, a tightly sewn wheel for the majority of the smoothing and a loose flap wheel for final polishing. They key to polishing is to never mix up the polishes and wheels. Always use the same rouge on the same wheel and clean your trim between wheels so none of the other rouge is carried over to the next wheel on the trim |
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The first thing is to make sure your trim is clean, smooth and true. I used lacquer thinner to remove any sealer or goop on the trim then used a small block with some 800 wet paper to check for dings and dimples. In regards to removing the dings and dimples, you will find it takes time and a set of hammers and blocks to get them out. I used a vise with different chisels in it for a buck then a variety of shaped hammers to get them out. Run your 800 over the trim to ensure they are gone by looking for high or low spots. The next thing is to make sure the trim did not get bent in the removal process by trial fitting it to the car. If all is good to go then run it throught the sisal wheel to start the polishing process. |
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What you are doing in the polishing process is replaceing large scratches with smaller ones. So by starting with an aggressive wheel and rouge the scratches left over from the 800 paper are converted into smaller ones. Since the 800 paper was used along the long way of the trim and I like to polish against the scratches left by the previous step so I start sideways. |
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A little goes a long way so take your time and do not force the trim into the wheel. If the trim gets too hot to hold you are pressing too much. Don't get me wrong it will get warm throughout the polishing process but you want to avoid smoke off the wheels. Just keep some rouge on the wheel and light pressure against the trim and the scratches will start to fade. Did I tell you to keep a tight grip? If the wheel grabs the trim just let go and then worry about straightening it out later. No piece of trim is worth a finger. Seriously just a little common sense, a good pair of rawhide gloves (DO NOT USE NYLON WORK GLOVES) and some time and it will start to shine safely. |
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After a while you will notice that the scratches are almost gone. At that point you need to stop, clean the trim of any excess rouge and switch wheels and compounds. The lighter rouge starts by removing the scratches you put in the pieces with the last wheel and rouge and so forth. |
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For the final buffing I like to go with the grain of the metal so to speak and run the piece lengthwise through the buffing process. This hides small scratches and usually produces a more even shine that looks smoother to the eye. |
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