Hey guys, im in the process of swapping over to manufacturing instead of car fab. My first client is having me build some SS enclosures for electrical controls.

i have the pieces cut out of an already brushed stainless sheet so the major part is done. however after i weld them together, i need to get rid of any welding marks (puddles/seams) grind them smooth and put on a 'brushed' finish to match the rest of the unit.

any suggestions on how to achieve this?

example of the finish im looking for.

 

Steel wool w/ the grain of the material

 

Flap wheel or a scotch brite wheel will achieve that look, or a finer grit belt on a belt sander

 

no way to use a belt sander as this box is quite bulky, 24x16x12 and i need to be able to get into somewhat tight spaces.

 

for stainless steel? wouldnt that take years of scratching by hand to get it to even touch the stainless?

 

Nope. Your not actually trying to put depth scratches, just trying to match a scuffed appearance. Many different textures of steel wool just have to test what matches best. has worked for me many times on SS tables/benchs and similar applications.

 

we do stuff like this at work all the time the grain will be brighter but loog good when your done we use 2 different tools one is a dyna file with a scotch brite belt the other is a air powered drum sander also with a scotchbright drum. I recomend you tape approx 1/2-3/4 inch behind the welded area and do the grain with the tape on to make a nice clean line.

 

intense, any way you can post pics/links to the tool/pads you use? thanks!

 

this is the belt for the dynafile we get the brown ones
http://catalogue.3m.eu/en_GB/GB-asd/...ive_Belt~SE-BS

and this is the rolls i was talking about for a common 4 1/2 inch grinder its a pdf page but it gives a good idea of what im talking about
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...%20section.pdf

 

EXACTLY what i was looking for! thank you!

 

no problems also if you can make a fusion weld pickling paste will clean the haze off and leave no need to sand. Just a side not if you do get those belts they have a decent bite to them when new, so we do a rough pass with a new belt and then use a used belt to do the finishing

 

I didn't read all the replies in this thread, so if this is a repost forgive me..

When we were making v-10 headers for a big named exhaust manufacturer they requested that the headers be specifically finished with 3m gray scotch brite wheels

this is very similar to how they came out when finished

 

When I use to TIG weld food grade machines, They would have me use scotch brite. Usually the Red stuff.

 

scotch brite pads and elbow grease..
its how I did it for the parts on the Confederate hellcat and wraith

 

im doing this on high volume production pieces...