You can get a nice brushed finish on stainless by using Scotchbrite Surface Conditioning Wheels made by 3M. They're available in differeing grades from MSC Industrial Supply and other places. You'll have to experiment to see which grade is right for your particular application.
If the customer really wants the "color" of nickel or pewter, then you have a tougher problem. Nickel can be plated over stainless, after first plating with copper, but it isn't cheap and you'll need to do the brushed finish first, then plate, the lightly brush finish it again after the plating. You don't want to buff all the plating away with the Scotchbrite wheel, so you need to do most of the work before the plating.
The pewter color is going to be the toughest to get. You might be able to get it by first doing the brushed finish on the stainless then etching the surface with an oxalic acid solution. That should give you that dull grey color, I think.
The bottom line is, you need to do some experimenting.
Reply
Random image
who is chatting
Who's online
There are currently 3 users and 172 guests online.
Sandra, You can get a nice
Sandra,
You can get a nice brushed finish on stainless by using Scotchbrite Surface Conditioning Wheels made by 3M. They're available in differeing grades from MSC Industrial Supply and other places. You'll have to experiment to see which grade is right for your particular application.
If the customer really wants the "color" of nickel or pewter, then you have a tougher problem. Nickel can be plated over stainless, after first plating with copper, but it isn't cheap and you'll need to do the brushed finish first, then plate, the lightly brush finish it again after the plating. You don't want to buff all the plating away with the Scotchbrite wheel, so you need to do most of the work before the plating.
The pewter color is going to be the toughest to get. You might be able to get it by first doing the brushed finish on the stainless then etching the surface with an oxalic acid solution. That should give you that dull grey color, I think.
The bottom line is, you need to do some experimenting.