walter hornby Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Howdy guys well i got my brand new HSmith mag and it looks great. however when i put it beside my STI mags i realize how dull my STI mags looks. i would like to know what is the best way to polish up my STI mags. i am thinking a dermal with a felt pad, some rouge polishing compound and some patience. will this work? what i the best way to apply the polishing compound? do i use my fingers and apply it to the mag then Polish it? or do i put it on the felt and let it polish the mag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Howdy guyswell i got my brand new HSmith mag and it looks great. however when i put it beside my STI mags i realize how dull my STI mags looks. i would like to know what is the best way to polish up my STI mags. i am thinking a dermal with a felt pad, some rouge polishing compound and some patience. will this work? what i the best way to apply the polishing compound? do i use my fingers and apply it to the mag then Polish it? or do i put it on the felt and let it polish the mag? The Dremel with the polishing wheel and rouge won't really get you near Howard's work. They'll be a bit better than stock, but not too much from what I've seen. I think a bench mounted grinder with a polishing wheel and multiple levels of polishing compound is more what it takes and on the rougher tubes I'd expect some sanding beforehand with progressively finer sandpaper would be necessary but I have no idea what grit would be a good start and end point etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 (edited) I think a bench mounted grinder with a polishing wheel and multiple levels of polishing compound is more what it takes and on the rougher tubes I'd expect some sanding beforehand with progressively finer sandpaper would be necessary but I have no idea what grit would be a good start and end point etc. That's exactly how I did one (and only one) of my STI mags. Knocked it smooth with 600 grit sandpaper followed by wet sanding with what I believe was 720 grit paper and three grades of polishing compound on 6" wheels. I never would have thought it would be so time consuming. Getting the grooves polished to match the flats is a real pain. And people wonder why Howard has no spare time. Bill Edited March 7, 2009 by Flatland Shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00bullitt Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I don't know what Howard does but I found a 6" sisal polishing wheel to do the trick quite fast. They look darn near as shiny as Howards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstroyed Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 On Stainless regardless if its mags or what ever, i have found Mothers Polish in the little jar and a small felt wheel on a Dremel does well. If the SS won't polish up well some 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper does well at knocking off the dull to a pretty good shine then the Mothers and it is like chrome. Enough time with the 2000 grit and you can get a really good shine too its just hard work. I'm just an amature and don't do this for a living this is just what i have access to and what has work for me so your MMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I don't know what Howard does but I found a 6" sisal polishing wheel to do the trick quite fast. They look darn near as shiny as Howards. I'm not familiar with a sisal polishing wheel. Do you still need to add compound when you use one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 You will need to load the wheel up with compound from time to time when polishing your tubes . If you are using a bench grinder with the wheel use gloves as the tube will get hot. Think friction. Also when working around edges or the openings at either end make sure you have your gloves on and a good firm hold on the tube. The wheel will grab it and send it across the floor. Don't forget to polish the inside of the feed lips for obvious reasons. Clean the tubes inside after you are finished as you don't need any left over polishing compound rubbing off on your boolits and then going in the chamber of your pistola. Jantz Supply is a good source for wheels and polishing compounds if you do not have a local source. Look for jewelery making supply houses in your area. Take a tube and tell them what you are doing. CYa, Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter hornby Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 You will need to load the wheel up with compound from time to time when polishing your tubes . If you are using a bench grinder with the wheel use gloves as the tube will get hot. Think friction. Also when working around edges or the openings at either end make sure you have your gloves on and a good firm hold on the tube. The wheel will grab it and send it across the floor. Don't forget to polish the inside of the feed lips for obvious reasons. Clean the tubes inside after you are finished as you don't need any left over polishing compound rubbing off on your boolits and then going in the chamber of your pistola. Jantz Supply is a good source for wheels and polishing compounds if you do not have a local source. Look for jewelery making supply houses in your area. Take a tube and tell them what you are doing. CYa, Pat ok, that brings me to my next dumb question. how do you load the wheel? do you apply it by hand covering all of the wheel or do you let the wheel spin on the rubbing compound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Sorry I didn't address that earlier. The polishing compounds I use come in sticks or larger diameter (2" - 3" ) round sticks. With the buffer/grinder running you rub the face of the stick into the wheel and load it up across the face. Some stick are colored so you can watch the wheel change color as you load it. If you decide to buy a couple of different polishing "grits" then I would suggest buying a wheel for each. keep the stick(s) in zip lock bags so they don't dry out, turn flaky and won't adhere to a wheel when you load it up. If you can, do the polishing outside as the polishing dust and wheel material gets everywhere. CYa, Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter hornby Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 (edited) Sorry I didn't address that earlier. The polishing compounds I use come in sticks or larger diameter (2" - 3" ) round sticks. With the buffer/grinder running you rub the face of the stick into the wheel and load it up across the face. Some stick are colored so you can watch the wheel change color as you load it. If you decide to buy a couple of different polishing "grits" then I would suggest buying a wheel for each. keep the stick(s) in zip lock bags so they don't dry out, turn flaky and won't adhere to a wheel when you load it up. If you can, do the polishing outside as the polishing dust and wheel material gets everywhere.CYa, Pat thanks Pat. so now i have some jewerly's rouge and it is fairly hard but it is stored in a "pill" type container. is it still good? Edited March 8, 2009 by walter hornby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
born-in-45 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Here's a few links that I have found helpfull. Polishing Stainless: http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/usca/stainless.html Polishing Kit: http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/sspolkit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Only way to find out if it is still good is to try and load it onto a wheel and then start polishing a tube. Depending on how many tubes you have to polish you may need more only you will know. CYa, Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 A good truck stop will also have bricks of Jewelers Rouge. FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketCity1911 Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 I recently purchased some 140mm mags built by Superior Firearms in 9mm from Shooters Connection. The mags run great, but don't have that shine like some I've seen. Considering how much they cost plus the cost of the gun, I decided to put my polishing wheel to work and see if I could make a cosmetic improvement. The 170mm mag in the pictures is from Brazos and has a mirror like shine. For an hour or so of work, I'm pretty happy with the new look. I used some polishing compound from Lowe's (the green stick) and just let the wheel take care of business. The Brazos mag looks like it might have some type of finish on it like a sealant or something. Before: After: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred fague Posted February 15, 2010 Share Posted February 15, 2010 Polishing compounds contain silica and are not friendly to your lungs. I suggest wearing a good filter mask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanfogliofan Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I had gone through the laboring of just doing it by hand. I started with 220 grit, moved up to 400, 600, and lastly 2000 grit that I got at a auto parts store. The 2000 grit i started with regular car polish and you wouldn't believe the finish. I'll take photos tonight and get them posted. They look great! Complete mirror finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgunz11 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 SVI or STI tubes Bench mounted grinder/polisher combo 3/4HP capable of 3600 RPM with an 8" Wheel orbital sander 8" muslin polishing wheel 6" 3M Medium Wheel Sand paper in 500 and 800 grit Green Rouge for stainless steel STI SVI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Bobby, What do you use to polish the inside of the tube? Not the compound but the "whatever" you load the compound onto and spin up to polish the inside of the tube. Where is the "whatever available from? Thanks, Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgunz11 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Wow Pat, you want all my secrets huh? LoL, just kidding. I use a wool mop designed to clean paint ball gun bores chucked up in a drill mounted in a vise so the mop is vertical. I start the inner polishing with a lapping compound and finish it off with another mop with a SS polish. I must admit though, I haven't polished the inside of any mags for a little while now as I saw little to no benefit from it. The feed lips are still polished inside and out, but not the rest of the inner tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Thank you sir! CYa, Pay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjanglin Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 Get your self some 1/4 flats like pieces of nylon or wood that are narrow than the mags inside by some ,then get yourself some 320,400,600 and 1500 emery paper or a good quality cloth sand paper and cut the paper so you can tape the edges to the flats and go with an in and out motion , you can get the insides of the mags like a mirror. jim/Pa Sailors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketCity1911 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 SVI or STI tubes Bench mounted grinder/polisher combo 3/4HP capable of 3600 RPM with an 8" Wheel orbital sander 8" muslin polishing wheel 6" 3M Medium Wheel Sand paper in 500 and 800 grit Green Rouge for stainless steel STI SVI Nice Job! Did you put the numbers on them or did they come that way? If you did the numbers, please let us know how you did it. I've since polished mine some more and got a pretty good mirror finish, but you're the king! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgunz11 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 We have a dealer forum here on Enos where you can get more information. Go to the "Vendor Tents" forum and look for "Freedom Gunworks" or just click on the link in my sig line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 why not save time and just chrome plate your mags? It would be the simple thing to do right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastarget Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 why not save time and just chrome plate your mags? It would be the simple thing to do right? drop them a few times and they start flaking...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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