Stainless Steel polishing tools

[Dimension]

I posted on here a while back about having some stainless steel work done to clean up all the trim pieces of my '69 convertible RR and overwhelming the response was to do it myself. I watched a 3 part video series by Cuda Cody on youtube. While watching them I did not realize that so many different tools were going to be needed to truly do the job correctly. Here is what I have specced out as the tools that will be needed to do this correctly and wanted to get some feedback on them:

Harbor Freight 8" bench buffer - $140
Bench to mount buffer on - $60
Maverick Abrasives compounds bars: black, green, purple - $50
Maverick Abrasives 8" Airway buffing wheels: red, pink, 86/80 ubm - $43
Eastwood Anvil with Stand Stainless Steel Trim-Forming Tool - $30
Woodstock D2670 4-Ounce Cross Peen Hammer - 20
2 3-inch Mini Orbital Sander da sander Air Dual Action Sander Air Polisher Super Smooth and Swirl Freely for Auto Body Work (RED) - $46

Grand total: ~$400

I did not include any sandpaper for I have no clue how much I will end up going through but my rough guesstimate to do the entire stainless steel trim work is between $500 and $600. Does this estimate fall in line to what you all paid to do the polishing yourself? How many hours of labor do you think you have in polishing the stainless yourself? I figure that this is going to be very labor intensive project to get all the dings and pits out of the trim pieces and get them to show quality. If you had it done by a professional how much did it cost you? I and wonder what the cost savings will be in the end which is actually the labor cost savings of doing it myself since I have to buy the tools needed to do the polishing myself.

 

[Dodge33]

I posted on here a while back about having some stainless steel work done to clean up all the trim pieces of my '69 convertible RR and overwhelming the response was to do it myself. I watched a 3 part video series by Cuda Cody on youtube. While watching them I did not realize that so many different tools were going to be needed to truly do the job correctly. Here is what I have specced out as the tools that will be needed to do this correctly and wanted to get some feedback on them:

Harbor Freight 8" bench buffer - $140
Bench to mount buffer on - $60
Maverick Abrasives compounds bars: black, green, purple - $50
Maverick Abrasives 8" Airway buffing wheels: red, pink, 86/80 ubm - $43
Eastwood Anvil with Stand Stainless Steel Trim-Forming Tool - $30
Woodstock D2670 4-Ounce Cross Peen Hammer - 20
2 3-inch Mini Orbital Sander da sander Air Dual Action Sander Air Polisher Super Smooth and Swirl Freely for Auto Body Work (RED) - $46

Grand total: ~$400

I did not include any sandpaper for I have no clue how much I will end up going through but my rough guesstimate to do the entire stainless steel trim work is between $500 and $600. Does this estimate fall in line to what you all paid to do the polishing yourself? How many hours of labor do you think you have in polishing the stainless yourself? I figure that this is going to be very labor intensive project to get all the dings and pits out of the trim pieces and get them to show quality. If you had it done by a professional how much did it cost you? I and wonder what the cost savings will be in the end which is actually the labor cost savings of doing it myself since I have to buy the tools needed to do the polishing myself.

The price you quoted on buying most of the equipment is pretty reasonable IMO. If you buy a hf buffer, get the more expensive one with the extended shafts. Plus you have not figure in the price for buffing and polishing wheels, I did not think. Also, you need a buffing rake to clean all the wheels off so you the full effect and benefits of the wheels. And yes...... it is a very intensive labor job doing everything that needs done. Fixing dents, lots of sanding, and many more steps
to get the finished product, just the way you like/want it to look like. Also I wanted to use as many wheels 2 or 3 compressed together, so you have a wider buffing/polishing surface to use on narrower trim,so of which you will be doing. This is a big NO-NO, DO NOT MIX COMPOUNDS ON YOUR BUFFING WHEELS! If you need to use a different compound, get some different wheels for the job your trying to accomplish. You d

 

[Dodge33]

Continue- you do not want to know what a professional charges, like in one of the national books charges for their services. You can do a great job yourself, if you have plenty of time, and want to do it that way. Lots of satisfaction this way! I do have the equipment here a the shop, but I stopped doing other patrons stuff,
because of the issues I was having regarding
the amount of time it was taking to do a show job. The sky is the limit on this stuff,
and pricing is all done on condition, no matter what it is. I send you great luck, if you are doing it yourself!

 

[Dimension]

@Dodge33 Thanks for the reply and I did include the buffing compound and wheels in my original message. As for a rake do I need them with the Airway wheels? I have links to the wheels again in my original message.

 

[dadsbee]

If you go look at my Superbee restoration thread and others I've done. You'll see I have nothing but a cheap bench grinder that I already had and a $45 wheel and compound kit from Princess Auto (read Harbour Freight). Other than that, a few sheets of sand paper and what ever dollies and hammers I have lying around does some amazing work on grills, trim pieces, etc

I'd never done it before myself, but after my paint shop sent all my Bee stainless and chrome out to Pro polishing and repair to the tune of 5 grand i figured it was time i figured it out myself!

 

[dadsbee]

Wear gloves... GOOD ones. Make sure that the wheel is pointed at nothing you care about!

 

[Islandkent]

You will be able to do a nice job yourself. I watched those video's also and anything else I could find. The key thing s patience. Certainly don't think your going to a great polish job in a few minutes. Well I guess you could if the trim is in decent shape. One thing I think was mentioned in those vids is Don't be to aggressive. I've had one of my wheel well trim pieces get torn out of my hands. Pushing to hard?? Too much of a angle?? Wasn't holding my tongue the right way?? Many factors. Yes sir! Find a old piece of trim to get the feel of it. It will bend slightly and catch on the wheel. Next thing you know it's bent or flying through the air. So be very careful. Hence the practice piece.
You did mention sanding paper many many grits. I have some up to 3000. But I have never used it. 1800 is as fussy as I seen fit. The compounds do a wonderful job. And yes keep your wheels stored separately. I store mine in big zip lock bags. A different wheel/bag for every color compound. You mentioned a rake. I use a hack saw blade.
Now depending how rough your trim is you will need files. Fine, machinist files. Jeweler files/needle files work nice pick them up at HF also.
As for anvils anything will work . I've used nails/screwdrivers/pieces of steel, aluminum, hard wood. Even rags. That little anvil you listed is nice.
Once more patience. Can't stress that enough.
Here's a few pictures of a wheel well trim I have 8 hours in. Including a trip to a welding shop for a little tig action.

 

[kiwigtx]

Wear gloves... GOOD ones. Make sure that the wheel is pointed at nothing you care about!

...and good quality safety glasses.

 

[Dimension]

You will be able to do a nice job yourself. I watched those video's also and anything else I could find. The key thing s patience. Certainly don't think your going to a great polish job in a few minutes. Well I guess you could if the trim is in decent shape. One thing I think was mentioned in those vids is Don't be to aggressive. I've had one of my wheel well trim pieces get torn out of my hands. Pushing to hard?? Too much of a angle?? Wasn't holding my tongue the right way?? Many factors. Yes sir! Find a old piece of trim to get the feel of it. It will bend slightly and catch on the wheel. Next thing you know it's bent or flying through the air. So be very careful. Hence the practice piece.
You did mention sanding paper many many grits. I have some up to 3000. But I have never used it. 1800 is as fussy as I seen fit. The compounds do a wonderful job. And yes keep your wheels stored separately. I store mine in big zip lock bags. A different wheel/bag for every color compound. You mentioned a rake. I use a hack saw blade.
Now depending how rough your trim is you will need files. Fine, machinist files. Jeweler files/needle files work nice pick them up at HF also.
As for anvils anything will work . I've used nails/screwdrivers/pieces of steel, aluminum, hard wood. Even rags. That little anvil you listed is nice.
Once more patience. Can't stress that enough.
Here's a few pictures of a wheel well trim I have 8 hours in. Including a trip to a welding shop for a little tig action.

Thanks for the file suggestions. I had seen those used and mentioned in the video but was still researching as to which files would be needed and how aggressive to fine I needed to get.

 

[dadsbee]

...and good quality safety glasses.

And an N95 dust mask at minimum...

 

[Islandkent]

Wow took me a bit to find those pictures lol
But goes to show you what you can do if your not in a hurry.

 

[Islandkent]

Oh. One thing to add. If possible. Do your buffing out side. Man oh man, what a mess. Little cloth particles of the wheels go flying every where. I'm lucky that I have a out side bench out behind the shop that I use to do all my cutting, grinding, wire wheeling, buffing anything messy. All of my wood working cutting, sanding I do. And even painting when the warm weather. Certainly comes in handy. Once you start buffing you will know what I mean.

 

[Dimension]

Oh. One thing to add. If possible. Do your buffing out side. Man oh man, what a mess. Little cloth particles of the wheels go flying every where. I'm lucky that I have a out side bench out behind the shop that I use to do all my cutting, grinding, wire wheeling, buffing anything messy. All of my wood working cutting, sanding I do. And even painting when the warm weather. Certainly comes in handy. Once you start buffing you will know what I mean.

Yeah, I have heard that from other people and that is why the stand I picked out is able to easily be moved around so that I can let the mess go all over the ground behind the shop.

 

[440 4 speed]

If you go look at my Superbee restoration thread and others I've done. You'll see I have nothing but a cheap bench grinder that I already had and a $45 wheel and compound kit from Princess Auto (read Harbour Freight). Other than that, a few sheets of sand paper and what ever dollies and hammers I have lying around does some amazing work on grills, trim pieces, etc

I'd never done it before myself, but after my paint shop sent all my Bee stainless and chrome out to Pro polishing and repair to the tune of 5 grand i figured it was time i figured it out myself!

You should be somewhat happy that your Bee doesn’t have as much stainless as a first generation Charger.

 

[Islandkent]

Thanks for the file suggestions. I had seen those used and mentioned in the video but was still researching as to which files would be needed and how aggressive to fine I needed to get.

Well it all depends right? If your into something like I showed filing down some weld a fairly aggressive file will work for a few strokes. Then work your way down then change up to the paper or emery cloth. Now to take out a dimple you made trying to remove a dent a small finer file for starters then to the courser paper to the finer to remove the scratches and finish off with compounds. Stainless is very forgiving, but keep your dimples small and don't file to much or you will be off to a welding shop near you. lol Make sure if you do need to weld up a crack or hole, get yourself a good welder who knows what he or she is doing. You have heard the of guys that can weld razor blades or pop cans? Those are the people you need. This stuff is thinnnn.
Once more give it a try on a scrap piece of trim. A little dent and scratches are easy. Now once the dent is behind a crease now your in for some fun.