Stainless Steel Restoration

There are many similarities between the restoration of stainless steel and aluminum.

Sometimes, the stainless steel has been painted or chrome plated (also known as Flash Chrome). It is important to remove those coatings before starting the actual restoration.

The metal is then hammered from the back (to remove nicks, dents, bends, etc), and filed to smooth out the straightening marks.
It is not uncommon to manufacture custom tools for specific jobs.

The next step would be the hand polishing of the metal. It is a very delicate operation, not only because the polishing lathe is a very powerful machine, where the operator needs total concentration to avoid possible accidents, but overheating on stainless steel is detrimental, as the metal losses it's flatness. Once a part has been overheated, it is nearly impossible to bring it back to it's original shape and form.

The last step is the passivation of stainless steel in a citric or nitric acid solution.
Passivation will prolong the life of your stainless steel components by creating a thin oxide layer at the surface of the metal. thus, the stainless steel will hold the specular finish for longer periods of time without further repolishing.