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Polishing stainless issue

T

Top Nurse

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 4, 2003
Messages
7,346
Greetings...

Need some help in polishing a stainless steel plate. The problem is that it has a brushed finish to it already and has been laser etched with important information on it. Here is a pic of what I am working with.


AquastreamFrontController3.jpg




I have been lapping the plate with some 400 grit W&D sandpaper (wet) and am starting to get a decent finish of which I can then polish to mirror finish. So what I need is a way to restore the writing. The plate still has the laser etching so do you think the best way is to rub paint into the etching and then wipe it off? Another thought was to apply some black Dykem ink and then lap off the ink that is on the plate and hopefully leave the writing intact. Any other ideas would be appreciated. :)
 
My thoughts would be to either A.) spend the cash to have someone laser cut it way deeper, or B.) Do it yourself slowly with the engraving dremel tool.

Then go ahead and sand polish etc away.
 
I think if you have enough etching left, go with the rubbing paint in and wipe off excess... That should work just fine... Getting someone to laser etch it again seems like too much trouble... The paint should give you the look you are looking for...
 
Mickey21 said:
I think if you have enough etching left, go with the rubbing paint in and wipe off excess... That should work just fine... Getting someone to laser etch it again seems like too much trouble... The paint should give you the look you are looking for...
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Agreed. And that writing looks way too small to have any kind of success with an engraving tool.
 
pigpen said:
Agreed. And that writing looks way too small to have any kind of success with an engraving tool.
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Very true, the engraving by hand or such would likely come out looking second rate. That writing doesnt look critical in any case, maybe just do without it completely...
 
Mickey21 said:
Very true, the engraving by hand or such would likely come out looking second rate. That writing doesnt look critical in any case, maybe just do without it completely...
Click to expand...

That may well happen as the polished stainless is more important than the lettering. I already know what the LED's mean and the Aqua Computer name gets to much free space on my case as it is. :D
 
Top Nurse said:
That may well happen as the polished stainless is more important than the lettering. I already know what the LED's mean and the Aqua Computer name gets to much free space on my case as it is. :D
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Hahahaha... Too much and you'll have to name the rig "Rice"... :)
 
I'd go with rubbing paint and a hair dryer to hope it dries within a couple weeks
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Just seems like if it's deep enough, it may never want to dry, ya know?
 
ok being a machinist i can tell you that the paint thing isn;t gonna work. As good as dykem looks it comes off quite easly, all dykem is used for is a marking surface. Your bet bet is to use a polishing wheel with a very big diameter, go at small rpm's and take your time.
 
I polished my Aquatube mount and the writing stayed on (not complaning, I like it)

I sanded using 400, 800 and 1200 grit, then followed polishing with Autosol.

img126.jpg


img127.jpg


It looks alot nicer in person mind :)
 
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