Polishing Stainless Steel

After heat treating and laser cutting stainless steel parts, the edges generally need to be deburred and the surface needs to be cleaned from scale and discoloration prior to polishing. A two-step vibratory tumbling process is normally used to achieve a uniform surface finish.

The part on the far left in the picture shows the burrs and slight discoloration on the edges. The first step was to tumble the parts with a Ceramic Media to get a the uniform, tumbled, matte finish shown on the part in the center of the picture. For this particular part a 2 hour cycle time with a general purpose tumbling compound resulted in the finish seen.

The second step (far right in picture) was also a 2 hour vibratory tumble with a Precision Ceramic polishing (porcelain-type) media and a high lubricity tumbling compound. The surface is improved to a more uniform and brighter finish and the part is ready for a clear coat or further polishing as needed.