Getting a Mirror Image on Stainless Steel
There’s no doubt about, a Mirror finish on Stainless Steel looks and feels amazing. You will quite often see Mirrored Stainless Steel applied to art features and architecture around Melbourne. Other than looking great though, there are also practical benefits to such a highly polished metal. Because it is smooth, there are no grooves or tiny pits for dirt and germs to lurk in. This is of course why Taps, Modern Furniture as well as Post and Pans are often finished to a mirror polish.
Industry also has uses for highly polished Stainless Steel, especially where precision engineering requires accuracy. The minimal peaks and troughs in the materials allows for the manufacture of precise components used in aircraft, medical and other critical parts.
Best seen and not touched
While Stainless Steel with a mirror finish looks great in art and engineering, it may not look quite so nice where it comes in contact with sticky fingers. While Polished Stainless Steel Handrails are common place around Melbourne, Mirrored Handrails would quickly become unsightly.
How do we get a Mirror Affect in Stainless Steel
The first step to get a Mirror Image on Stainless Steel, is to remove any welds or joins with a Flap disc. With a finer blend disc plate we then smooth out all of the scratches and pits. Using an even softer Blending Disc made from Silicon Carbide Abrasive and Nylon Fibres, we gently smooth over the surface of the metal. We keep the disc speed slow and pressure to a minimum to enhance a brighter finish.
At this stage your Stainless Steel is well polished and refined of imperfections and scratches. We reduce the speed of our grinder even further to 2000-3000 RPM. Then, we apply a White Polishing Compound to a Felt Disc. Where the material is still hot from the previous polishing process, we may even apply the compound directly to the Stainless Steel.
With minimal pressure to the grinder, we stroke up and down the metal, regularly topping up the White Polishing Compound. This can take quite some time as this high level of polishing can reveal imperfections missed earlier in the process. In these instances, we may return to the earlier polishing process to remove those tiny scratches and pits.
The results are staggering. While the process can be tricky, the end result is worth the wait. Here at Stainless Steel Projects, we are highly skilled in this process and offer a Mirror Image on Stainless Steel service across Melbourne.
Of course, if you have any questions about Mirror Image on Stainless Steel, please do not hesitate to call one of our experts.