DIY polishing new chainplates?

[George DuBose]

When I made tangs to fix the Jordan Series Drogue to Skylark's stern, I just started with a belt sander and 180 grit, then 220 and switched to a palm sander with finer and finer grades. If the stainless is matte grey, I don't think a buffing wheel is where one should start.

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Most of the above advice is bogus. Just have them electro polished and be done with it. Why polish? cuts down on crevices that collect dirt and also helps the surface self heal from stratches(Yup,stainless needs access to air and will maintain itself if polished to a very smooth finish).

Manually doing it is arduous and you will never get as good a finish as electro polishing. Your metals will last longer, look better, be easier to clean, and be well worth the price.

Plus your health will not be damaged and you avoid lung cancer, rotting sinuses, and eye disintegration.

Apparently you have very little of an idea what you're talking about.

The first picture shows the grades of paper used, 80, 120, 180, 320, 600, 1000 and 1500.

The second shows the starting time of 3:56 on polishing a piece of raw 316 SS scrap.

The third picture shows the finish after 80 grit.

The fourth is after 120 grit. You can already see reflections.

The fifth is after 180 grit. You can read the large type.

The sixth is after 320 grit. Type can be read a little better.

The seventh is after 600 grit. You can see the dangerous cancer causing dust in the reflection of my fingers.

The eight is after 1000 grit. Large and small type can be read clearly.

The ninth is after 1500 grit. Type can be read even more clearly and the crappieness of my camera can be seen even in the reflection of the Sharpie.

The tenth shows the elapsed time of 21 minutes, from raw steel to high polish with just sandpaper. Plus I took 35 pictures during those 21 minutes, so maybe it's not so arduous.

The eleventh just shows how much of a mirror finish there really is...

Take a little more time and anyone can get as high a polish as can be achieved or wanted, how much is just a matter of time-cost/benefit.


And finally, what is up with these people who always say 'hire it out to some one' or 'pay someone else to do it', as if there's no possible way for anybody but a 'professional' to do anything? Seems like they're even more apt to say these type of things specifically when someone expresses interest in doing something themselves.

Well, foo on them.

Certainly there are times when it's necessary to get outside assistance, but those times are normally few and far between for anyone with the smallest amount of desire and willingness to learn. The more someone knows, the less likely they are to get into trouble or need assistance, and the more likely are they to be able to provide assistance if someone needs it, so by all means try things for yourself, make a few mistakes. It's a benefit for everyone.

[Jim Cate]

Thanks for that exposition, Jim! I'm impressed with the finish you attain using only sheet abrasives.

And while I'm a great advocate of electropolishing, it does not leave a surface like that. EP leaves a surface with the micro features polished out, but does little to remove or flatten larger irregularities, and the grinding or mechanical polishing does that well. In my previous incarnation I used EP to clean up the interior surfaces in ultra high vacuum systems, where the tiniest of flaws could be a contamination source... but I didn't care about general "flatness".

Anyhow, your scrap piece sure looks nice.

Jim

[chowdan]

Wow! Thats pretty impressive with just sanding!

is there any type of sand paper i should steer clear from?

It does amaze me how people always suggest one should pay for a pro, yet i feel like the sailing community is/was built on individuals such as myself, who strive to learn and do things on their own rather than breaking out the pocket book.

I'm not wealthy by any means, and spending $200 on something hurts the pocket book especially if I can do it myself for half of the cost or greater. Yes time can be considered money, but realistically, money is king in this world, the more i save, the more i can do!

That said, when someone tells me "its not possible" or "go find a pro to do it", i tend to use that as a reason for me to learn this even more.

I also believe in sharing knowledge. If one knows how to do something, our civilization as a whole will grow far greater and far faster if we have an open shared data set. It means one doesn't need to "rediscover" it since someone else has gone through that process.

Anyways end of rant.

Jim, you did an awesome job on that scrap metal! I'll be definitely going forward with doing it myself. I plan on using my old plates as a learning ground before tackling the new plates.

Ill probably just pick up a drill buffer wheel and use that for the buffing process. I see one on Harbor Freight's site tahts $6 bucks. Another $20 for sanding discs, and for less than $40 i can have something thats in decent mirror finish.

I do worry about the sanding process creating "small" microscopic grooves that give spots for rust to build. That said, I plan on keeping the boat for roughly 5ish years before selling, and if i decide that i am going to keep it afterwards, and an issue does come about such as this, ill deal with it then. Ill only be doing costal crusing in the Pacific NorthWest, so its not like ill be crossing seas.

Ill look into passivation as well to help prevent corrosion and such.

[bletso]

The real challenge is determining when it is best to get the pro versus DIY. Polishing a chainplate, OK. But cutting and drilling 316 X 1/2 thick I sent it out to someone with the right equipment. There has been very little on Vigah I haven't tackled myself, but I have networked to have a few more critical tasks done by someone with the equipment and know how.

[chowdan]

Cutting and drilling material isn't that hard. For me it's just lack of equipment to do the cutting

[reed1v]

Eivently JImjunkyard has a lot of time on his hands. Why spend half your life grinding away when you can take the fittings to get electropolished which will protect the surface way more than grinding your hours away on the fitting. Nice that he only shows flat bars. For a couple of bucks i would rather have fittings electro polished so i can spend my time doing other tasks.

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Eivently JImjunkyard has a lot of time on his hands. Why spend half your life grinding away when you can take the fittings to get electropolished which will protect the surface way more than grinding your hours away on the fitting. Nice that he only shows flat bars. For a couple of bucks i would rather have fittings electro polished so i can spend my time doing other tasks.

Originally Posted by jimbunyard

Apparently you have very little of an idea what you're talking about.


The second shows the starting time of 3:56 on polishing a piece of raw 316 SS scrap.

The tenth shows the elapsed time of 21 minutes, from raw steel to high polish with just sandpaper. Plus I took 35 pictures during those 21 minutes, so maybe it's not so arduous.



Take a little more time and anyone can get as high a polish as can be achieved or wanted, how much is just a matter of time-cost/benefit.


.

I rest my case, and add tentatively that someone may need to sharpen their reading comprehension and memory skills... you may wanna look at the post just before the one where you called the opinion of a large percentage of people who posted previously 'bogus', to see some examples of non-flat, highly polished (sanded?) SS fitments that have been exposed to a marine environment for several years, with no signs of corrosion at all.

So please, spend your money wherever you want, but keep your asinine and uneducated comments away from people trying to learn new skills and save their hard-earned money.

Junkyard Jim

[Reefmagnet]

Linished stainless has good corrosion resistance. Look at how most urinals are made. My chainplates where they are exposed inside the cabin I left 120 grit linished for aesthetic effect.

A lot of so-called mill polished tube is also only linished to 600 grit during manufacture, too.

Sent from my SGP521 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Terra Nova]

Electropolishing can actually destroy a highly polished surface finish. And machine polishing, after all the sanding steps, produces a higher luster which seems to be more corrosion resistant, the higher the finish. This is desirable on chain plates.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

de. My chainplates where they are exposed inside the cabin I left 120 grit linished for aesthetic effect.
Sent from my SGP521 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

There is no doubt aesthetics has a place but inviting corrosion seems to go beyond aesthetics.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by Guy

There is no doubt aesthetics has a place but inviting corrosion seems to go beyond aesthetics.

Really? Better start tearing out all those brushed finished architectural s/s rails that are very popular.

Sent from my SGP521 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Rick Williams]

OK, I read these all the time looking for nuggets and those nuggets are the experience that real people have successfully doing real things. Please, please stop flaming real people who have had success and gone to the the trouble of offering their experiences by saying anything is bogus or useless or unworkable just because you don't do it that way! I want to continue to believe the sailing community is one where I can find refuge from ignorance.

[chowdan]

Originally Posted by Rick Williams

OK, I read these all the time looking for nuggets and those nuggets are the experience that real people have successfully doing real things. Please, please stop flaming real people who have had success and gone to the the trouble of offering their experiences by saying anything is bogus or useless or unworkable just because you don't do it that way! I want to continue to believe the sailing community is one where I can find refuge from ignorance.

Would completely agree with you. I dont like to argue, i dont like to force one way or another to someone, however I would prefer giving my opinion and advice based on my prior experience.

I would HOPE that others out there have the same concept as me, however that hope seems to be a false one at best. I like to hear and see how people HAVE done it successfully, to allow ME to make the decision that I am most comfortable with. Sure theres many ways to doing one thing, sure they all may work, sure some may not, but thats the point of asking a question to people who have experience relating to the question.

Now i highly doubt most nay-sayers on this forum are really that "bad" of a person when talking face to face, sure some may be, but most probably arent. Text is often translated in a way that seems to be taken as an aggressive approach.

That said, I'm going to be getting a buffing wheel for my drill(still under warranty so ill just return it to HomeDepot if i burn it out, or may just buy a good one, use it then return it).

Ill be sanding the plates down with either an angle grinder or more likely a random orbit sander that my SO father has. Ill be working my way up from a low grit based paper(150-600) and finish at around 1000-6000 grit depending on what i can buy.

Once sanded, ill move on to a polishing compound and then do a passivation on them if i still have energy remaining.


On a side note, I am having the 6 of 8 chainplates being fabricated as we speak. My boats a deck stepped mast, and I successfully pulled 2 of the lower fore stays to get the chainplates for templates. I am using halyards in place of the shrouds, and all is standing well. Seems like some say you can't pull any of them without fear of a mast falling, but I am hear to say it is working so far...

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by chowdan

...I'm going to be getting a buffing wheel for my drill(still under warranty so ill just return it to HomeDepot if i burn it out, or may just buy a good one, use it then return it)...

Nice ethics.