I use a wire wheel, and they come out pretty nice. I see some people that look to really be getting a good shine. I was wonder if there's something out there than is similar labor wise to a wire wheel, yet may produce a better appearance.

 

cotton wheel and rouge

pickling paste works well for cleaning SS but its really really toxic stuff

 

electropolishing

 

I use strip-n-clean discs on a mini right angle die grinder. Then polish.

 

I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you...

 

pickin paste eh?

Lots of crazy responses here...haha.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bailhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">electropolishing </TD></TR></TABLE>

What electrolyte do you use? Is there a feasible home setup using a battery charger, etc? Any internet info on an attainable home setup?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbodoug &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I use strip-n-clean discs on a mini right angle die grinder. Then polish.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Strip n clean discs? Where you purchase these?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sims &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you...</TD></TR></TABLE>

My hot asian girlfriend just read that and said you sucky

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sims &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you...</TD></TR></TABLE> w0rst response ever

 

Wet vibratory finisher

 

jesus christ, what are all these "high tech" items ? the one liners are definitly helpful and definitly informative. i mean, why bother if thats all its going to be, you might as well save your self the hassle of typing out the 25 letters.

 

Yeah....lol.....looks like it's wire wheel FTW

 

i think these (or similar material) are what people use to get that really shiny look. im gonna try it someday myself.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CoreyR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i think these (or similar material) are what people use to get that really shiny look. im gonna try it someday myself.

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Yeah those will remove more material in less time than the wire wheel, which makes them give the ss a "shinnier" look.

If you want the ultimate bling look on ss, I'd use these steps:

1. sand buff the surface to remove the rough casting.
2. use a medium grit buffing wheel with some polishing compound
3. use a fine grit buffing wheel to take off the polishing compund
4. hand finish with a microfiber rag.

I think i'd be possible to do that to a manifold if you welded up the runners seperately, then welded them to the finished peice. I don't know how you'd accomplish that with a finished manifold.

Once heat cycled the manifold should look like 14k gold...lol.

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"></TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly.

There was also a manifold (full-race I think) that Miller had polished or chromed. Looked freakin sweet.

 

No, not lookin for ultimate bling by any means. I am just trying to get a little more luster on my pre-welded els. I like what the extra shine does for the look of the weld. People are all about appearance of the finished product.

All my local buyers are impressed with my product, I just like to stay ahead of the game and improve in any way I can. I DON'T want to add alot of labor time though. My hourly income is very desirable right now, and my constant work on jigs is making it better due to being more efficient. My constant goal is to decrease work time, yet increase the quality of the end product.

 

The H22 runners were polished individually before being welded to the collector. The K-series manifold was polished after the fact and you can see where they couldn't get between the runners. I love the way polished SS looks after it gets some heat in it. It's pretty easy to maintain too.

 

With the correct size vibratory finisher, you can drop an entire manifold in to it and walk away have it polished with in a few hours. Yes they are expensive and loud, but they require no labor to have the polishing and deburring done.

An Example of what one looks like, you fill it with media and drop your item in and away it goes

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


What electrolyte do you use? Is there a feasible home setup using a battery charger, etc? Any internet info on an attainable home setup?

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There is a place that does it across from my old job so i dont know any DIY stuff. He does heads for presure vessels, process piping and other medical and food fittings. I used to give him downpipes and little parts and in a couple hours he'd bring them back. As long as the surface is smooth it comes out just like this part;


I just googled it and there is A TON of info online. I'm sure you can find some info on it. I know his electric bill was pretty high haha

 

slowmotion does this alot, i'm pretty sure he does it all by hand...
here's some pics
http://www.slomomotorsports.co...=3559

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Howitt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">With the correct size vibratory finisher, you can drop an entire manifold in to it and walk away have it polished with in a few hours. Yes they are expensive and loud, but they require no labor to have the polishing and deburring done.

An Example of what one looks like, you fill it with media and drop your item in and away it goes
</TD></TR></TABLE>

That would be the ****.

 

This one was outsourced years ago. Way too much work IMO to get it to this point! lol don't know how he did it other than putting hours into it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bigTom &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This one was outsourced years ago. Way too much work IMO to get it to this point! lol don't know how he did it other than putting hours into it...


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Thats the one! It's still probubly the most sexy turbo manifold I've ever seen.

 

LOL.....how did this turn into a bling thread??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">LOL.....how did this turn into a bling thread??</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll answer that for ya...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whats the best method to really make stainless el's look good?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

doing it by hand is a rough way to spend your time...let a machine work for you!