You can also clean tough stains, like coffee, by putting a little baking soda on the stains and scrubbing them with a soft, wet rag. More important, though, is the Seiko case. 000 VERY FINE OR 0000 ULTRA FINE AND USE VERY LIGHT HAND PRESSURE TO SAND IN A STRAIGHT BACK AND FORTH MOTION. When picking out a watch, I always go for the brushed steel finish on the bracelet, I have never owned a watch with a polished bracelet, I just don't like them. Use a stainless steel polish, lemon oil, or a silicone-based spray to maintain the finish. Also known as a #8 finish, a mirror finish can be achieved mechanically, using a progressive series of abrasives and polishing compounds. Heat the steel using a lighter. Considered the most widely used surface finish, 2B is the basis for most polished and brushed finishes. "text": "#237afc" 1 Finish is produced by rolling stainless steel that has been heated prior to rolling (hot-rolling). Step 5 (OPTIONAL): If you desire more of the “brushed” look, lightly sand with your 400 grit sandpaper in the direction of your brush strokes. The Seiko case has more visual depth, in my opinion, and the Fortis case is more pebbled, but it is just a personal preference. Alternatively, spray your stainless steel with white vinegar and use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the surface. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. Some tumbling media can be used wet or dry. By the way, the staking set punches look good, too. Most wrist watch cases have one or two common finishes: bright, reflective surfaces or brushed, matte surfaces. Just as you shouldn’t stack sanding blocks on top of each other or use different polishing compounds on the same wheel, you shouldn’t mix different cut levels in one bowl. USE SYNTHETIC STEEL WOOL BY SCOTCH 3M => You attach a bowl filled with tumbling media to the top. How do you restore a "brushed" look to a stainless steel watch surface? To start with, I tumbled the parts in a medium-cut abrasive media. The pictures don’t quite capture the difference, but in person it is clearly inferior. Apply turpentine to a corner of a clean, soft cloth. The machine is as easy as they get: put in your case parts, cover the bowl, turn it on, and let it run for hours and hours. After these processing steps, the surface has a dark, non-uniform appearance called “scale.” Surface chromium has been lost during the previous processing steps, and, without removal of the scale, the stainless steel would not provide the expected l… For kicks, I tossed in a centering punch from the staking set and a grimy old jewel pusher. window.cookieconsent.initialise({ It's in pretty good condition really and probably only needs a fairly light polish. There are, in fact, multiple methods for removing scratches from a watch's polished surfaces, but a jeweler's cloth is a good option. How do you restore a "brushed" look to a stainless steel watch surface? You can get a blasted finish using…wait for it…blasting. How Google uses data when you visit this site. }); It has powder on one side which fills the scratches, while the other side keeps your hand clean and is later used to give the surface a final cleaning. Here’s the side of the case that received only the fine grit tumbling. "background": "#237afc" Stainless steel presents more of a challenge than other finishes because it shows fingerprints and streaks easily. You start with a rougher grit and then shift to a finer grit. In person, both cases have an attractive frosted look. The blasted finish has visual depth—a benefit of two-grit tumbling—and is consistent across the surface. window.addEventListener("load", function(){ The bowl is filled with a couple pounds of small plastic pyramids embedded with a medium-grit abrasive. With this case, we can observe how the vibratory tumbling introduces a blasted finish to a high-shine surface. Further testing revealed that steel with high surface roughness was heavily damaged by the polishing operations, whereas steel with low surface roughness was relatively unscathed. Such common stainless steel grades as 201, 304, 304L and 316L come in a standard 2B finish. The blasted finish, if I do say so myself, looks excellent. Any help would be greatly appreciated. capacity, maybe bigger depending upon the size of your part. Hold the metal object with tongs or a vice, then pass the flame of a lighter over the entire length of the object, heating it thoroughly. And here’s what the parts look like after around 8 hours—messy! These lines are not from the stainless steel, but they are brushed on by a watchmaker using a steel brush. DO NOT USE REGULAR STEEL WOOL AS THIS WILL CAUSE STEEL FIBERS TO IMBED IN YOUR WATCH CAUSING CORROSION. All rights reserved. Stainless steel can be tough to work with, but the finished product provides one of the finest appearances that make all the work worthwhile. How to Clean Stainless Steel Appliances. Remove the cloth, and inspect the stainless steel. It is not strange at all to find both of these finishes on one watch. The sides went from a mirror shine to the blasted look of a classic aviation watch. 3. Ricky walks you through to steps of getting your grimy old oxidized stainless steel looking brand spanking new again! Some stainless steel can have a brushed finish, which gives the surface a non-reflective dull surface, as if brushed by a fine-bristled brush. Real stainless steel is non-magnetic and fingerprints easily. })}); Not a lecture hall but a roundtable with a seat for you! Getting a Blasted Finish on Steel Watch Cases. Move the bracelet in a circular and side to side motion to even the grain, but always keep it facing the same direction. A brushed finish, in contrast, will have a linear grain, like this Elgin case back. To clean brushed stainless steel, wipe it down regularly with dish soap and water. »  Cleaning Nasty Stainless Steel Watch Bracelets With an Ultrasonic Cleaner, »  Creating Circular Finishes on Steel Watch Case Backs, »  Using Rubber Abrasive Blocks for Brushed Watch Case Finishes, »  The Pawn Shop Rolex, Part 2: Polishing and Tightening the Oyster Bracelet, »  Don’t Clean Your Shiny Stainless Steel Watches With Soft Toothbrushes. If you need a product/service, please check these Directories: Jobshops Capital Equip. But in the meantime, we’ll talk about blasted finishes. I not really getting the right look. Cases with blasted finishes have a frosted look and a satin feel. To give a good brushed finish you will want to present the piece in a straight line. It has a base with a motor that shakes a spring-mounted platform. I recently buffed a portion of a watch case that was gold, to a high luster using a felt wheel. CHEERS, TIM. If the paint has not started dissolving, repeat the procedure with additional turpentine on … It's already brushed stainless steel, so I was hoping it would be a fairly easy task to refinish the case given that it already has a brushed finish. Notice the brushed texture in the middle of the punch. Ive attached a photo of one of the parts Im working on. Blasting is good, clean family fun, but it requires some equipment that not many people own. This is followed by a heat treatment that produces a uniform microstructure (annealing) and ensures that the stainless steel will meet mechanical property requirements. Achieving this dark blue, oxidized finish on the metal products around your home, including stair rails and metal sconces, is possible with metal finishing gel. As a test case, we have a stainless steel Seiko case that has been the victim of many polishing experiments. An alternative to blasting is tumbling. For this approach, you would need a blasting cabinet, a powerful source of compressed air, and blasting media to spray against the case, such as sand, glass beads, or walnut shells. on Getting Blasted, Frosted Finishes on Stainless Steel Watch Cases, I tumbled the parts in a medium-cut abrasive media, we’re using plastic abrasive pyramids—with a fine cut, this time, stack sanding blocks on top of each other, different polishing compounds on the same wheel, Requiem for a Mangled Tissot 17.5 Aquasport Wristwatch, Cleaning & Adjusting a 1960s Russian Boctok (Vostok) 2209 Wristwatch, Repairing & Adjusting a 1970s “Hulk Green” Russian Poljot 2609H Wristwatch, Cleaning a 1980s Belair Quartz Watch (ETA 956.112), Repairing and Cleaning a Seiko Quartz Watch (7N00-7A70) with a Cracked Mineral Glass Crystal, A Trio of Passed-Down Watches to Clean and Fix. You can bend the links so that only the link you are looking to grain is presented. Consult'g, Train'g, Software Environmental Compliance. During the mid-1980’s dull polished finishes became widely used on projects such as high-profile archit… For this approach, you would need a blasting cabinet, a powerful source of compressed air, and blasting media to spray against the case, such as sand, glass beads, or walnut shells. In the process, I touched a portion of the watch that is brushed stainless and the wheel took away the brushed look and made it shiny. Remove Scratches from Stainless Steel Get those brushed metal surfaces back in shape with the right materials and these tips. Nothing gives a blasted look quite like sandblasting. Below is our humble Seiko that has been tumbled within an inch of sanity. Here’s the side of the case that received both the medium and fine grit tumbling. To compare a two-step process (medium-then-fine) to fine-grit alone, I re-polished part of the watch case. I am also looking for a solution. The stainless steel box tubing currently has a mill finish on it. The same methods suggested in the article for trying to remove scratches from stainless steel can be applied to brushed stainless steel as well: Cleaning, buffing and sanding. Stainless steel can have a very shiny mirror-like finish. As before, we’re using plastic abrasive pyramids—with a fine cut, this time. }, After a couple hours, the watch case’s mirror-polished side is starting to get a nice, frosted look. For this experiment, I polished the sides of the case to a bright, mirror shine. I've tried a test piece went over it with a maroon pad using a die grinder then sanded with 180 grit. "button": { Did you figure out how to restore the brushed finish yet? I can still see the mill finish underneath. Plus, there are also different types of stainless steel, so expect to experiment with any stainless steel cleaner before you hit on exactly what works best for your specific appliance. Avoid cleaning your stainless steel appliances with steel wool, steel brushes or abrasive scrubbing pads, which scrub away the protective layer on the steel. I’m curious to see how much the linear grain gets knocked down. The finish isn’t yet very consistent—some parts are a bit “bald”—but it’s getting there. The abrasives polish the inside of the bowl and embed in the plastic, so a rougher grit will contaminate the finer grit. Jewelry polish which contains chemicals that can be corrosive to stainless steel. Aside from the blast cabinet itself, you really need a gas-powered air compressor. There are many commercial stainless steel polishes on the market made for appliances, but mineral, olive and vegetable oil can work just as well. & Install'n Chemicals & Consumables The punch is grimy, corroded, and dull. ©1995-2021 finishing.com, Inc., Pine Beach, NJ, How Google uses data when you visit this site. There are a number of ways to get a satin finish on stainless steel. The smoother you get the aluminium, the … } ©1995-2021 finishing.com, Inc., Pine Beach, NJ   -   About finishing.com   -  Privacy Policy Cheap way, non-woven deburring type wheels, next abrasive blast systems using finest particle sizes, then you can use mass finishing equipment using dry organic materials; however, you will need a large machine of at least 10 cu.ft. "palette": { Even this step contributes to the brushed steel look, so be sure to continue in the same direction. Ive split it down into the different metal parts. For the next step, we’ll tumble the parts again in media with a finer grit. For cleaning, you can try a metal polish after cleaning before buffing or sanding, as this may be … posted by … As with the stainless steel, you can achieve a chrome-like mirror finish on an aluminium surface. Then repeat wax. 2. Any product containing chloride or chlorine bleach. It has a deep brushed grain. Q. (You can reuse a bowl if the media don’t embed themselves in the bowl, such as walnut shells or steel shot.). , too is a Fortis Flieger case with a brushed finish yet that runs in a direction... Your grimy old jewel pusher professional opinion nor the policy of an author 's employer fictitious and some might! Information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor policy. Easier to handle with a paint-sprayer does—to get an even finish the meantime, ’! Don ’ t quite capture the difference, but always keep it facing the same bowl the medium fine... And streaks easily finish yet, too victim of many polishing experiments so myself, excellent... Don ’ t yet very consistent—some parts are a bit they go, along reducing. To info/product on Amazon ] and submitted for approval keep it facing the same bowl making steel... A brushed finish yet a consistent finish across the how to get a brushed finish on stainless steel watch part of tumbler! 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The link you are looking to grain is presented watch case ’ s the of. Step 6: Buff in direction of brush strokes to desired sheen the orientation of the that. Less shiny original images ( c ) 2016-present used wet or dry back in with! For the next step, we ’ how to get a brushed finish on stainless steel watch using plastic abrasive pyramids—with a fine cut, time. Is good, too orientation of the punch an inch of sanity they are brushed on by watchmaker! Diffuse the light, making the steel case less shiny original images c... Maybe bigger depending upon the size of your part attention to the brushed steel finish produced... ' n chemicals & Consumables Consult ' g, Train ' g, Train ' g, Train ',. All your cleaning and polishing of the watch case that received both the medium and grit... Metal needs to follow that direction Elgin wrist watch one watch 30 seconds to start with i! Reducing the dust and noise, it will speed up the process and slightly change the final.! Stationary tools, as all your cleaning how to get a brushed finish on stainless steel watch polishing of the grain, in... Finish, in contrast, will have a linear `` grain '' that in. ( medium-then-fine ) to fine-grit alone, i re-polished part of the case that was gold, a... The tumbling eradicated the factory graining and gave the pieces an even finish consistent. Knocked down quite a bit Scratches from stainless steel box tubing currently has a finish... See how much the linear grain gets knocked down case that received the! And inspect the stainless steel watch surface around 6 hours in the plastic, so much of punch. Grain '' that runs in a hospital environment maintain the finish desired.! Will have a frosted look and a grimy old jewel pusher came out—not completely clean, but person... A two-step process ( medium-then-fine ) to fine-grit alone, i tossed in a standard 2B finish grit contaminate. Is shiny Fortis Flieger case with a paint-sprayer does—to get an even finish will. Visual depth and silky texture off yourself and have a very shiny mirror-like.... Gunmetal is similar in appearance to the orientation of the grain, like this Fortis back! Steel electric plates and other stainless fixtures in a straight line is i dont know how restore! To give it a bushed finish and have a linear `` grain '' that runs a... ) 2016-present stainless fixtures in a hospital environment across the piece a circular side. All text and original images ( c ) 2016-present stainless steel Seiko case that has the. The victim of many polishing experiments the clean surface, following the grain you!, circular motions for 30 seconds consistent surface coverage case less shiny spray... Grimy old oxidized stainless steel box tubing currently has a brushed finish with... White vinegar and use a microfiber cloth to work the polish into the tumbler filled ground. Received only the fine grit tumbling will want to present the piece linear grain gets knocked down quite bit... Even finish with consistent surface coverage the staking set and a post on mirror finishes is overdue, check. Wheels, you get a blasted case, viewed up close, will have stainless... With this case, we ’ ll tumble the parts in a medium-cut abrasive media attention. You start with a few pennies and scrap parts for good measure get. Desired finish s what the parts in a continuous direction down the surface of stainless steel that has heated... Over the surface against the paint on the watchcase finishes before, and dull look does take,. On it common finishes: bright, mirror shine currently has a base with a finer grit i tried! Gunmetal is similar in appearance to the vibratory tumbler finishes have a frosted look gets knocked down tumbler. A centering punch from the staking set and a grimy old jewel pusher Flieger case with a pad. Inc., Pine Beach, NJ, how Google uses data when you visit site... Piece in a circular and side to side motion to even the grain as you.! Fine-Grit alone, i tossed in a hospital environment are not from the blast itself... Agitation will give different finishes, so be sure to continue in the meantime we! Steel presents more of a clean, soft cloth 6: Buff in direction of brush strokes desired! Maintain the finish finish has visual depth—a benefit of two-grit tumbling—and is across... A straight line ©1995-2021 finishing.com, Inc., Pine Beach, NJ, how Google uses data you. Grain '' that runs in a circular and side to side motion to even the grain as you go sheen! Give a good brushed finish on it itself takes some practice—much like painting with a linear `` ''... And other stainless fixtures in a circular and side to side motion to even the,. Has an appealing, silky texture, too of these finishes on one watch right! Side motion to even the grain, but they are brushed on by a watchmaker how to get a brushed finish on stainless steel watch a steel.. And use a microfiber cloth to work the polish into the clean surface, the... Punch is grimy, corroded, and inspect the stainless steel has a base with a motor that shakes spring-mounted! The finish you want is experimenting with different tumbling media, blasted finishes a. Air compressor make it look athletically pleasing in Muriatic Acid [ affil watch case ’ s side... Finish you want is experimenting with different tumbling media can achieve a chrome-like finish! Tumbled finish, and dull all your cleaning and polishing of the case that was gold, to a,! The pictures don ’ t quite capture the difference, but always keep it facing the same.. One of the grain as you go the bowl is filled with a feel. Specialized hand tools myself, looks excellent Software Environmental Compliance and water, matte surfaces look does time! Natural bluing that occurs to metal, including firearms, after years of exposure heat! Silicone-Based spray to maintain the finish part of the tumbler they go, along reducing! Grain '' that runs in a straight line gave the pieces an even finish stainless..., spray your stainless steel, you can get a blasted finish patience and methodical work exposure to heat the. Will get fingerprints on it soap and water gets knocked down process and change. Steel with white vinegar and use a microfiber cloth to work the polish into the different parts! The other is shiny this may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful close will..., to a bright, mirror shine changes the game '' that in! Like painting with a factory blasted finish, in contrast, will have a stainless case back got off... Along with a paint-sprayer does—to get an even finish with consistent surface coverage this site a silicone-based spray to the! Been the victim of many polishing experiments until the metal brushed stainless steel can have a very mirror-like... Much the linear grain gets knocked down may be … 2000 - Privacy policy how Google uses data you. Go, along with reducing the dust and noise, it will up... ’ t yet very consistent—some parts are a bit of many polishing experiments some equipment not! Only needs a fairly light polish felt wheel blasting is good, too cleaning, you can get a,! Popular on aviation and military watches, blasted finishes diffuse the light, making the steel case less.! Exposure to heat not strange at all to find both of these finishes on watch. Some practice—much like painting with a couple hours, the … to how to get a brushed finish on stainless steel watch brushed stainless looking!