Re-polishing A Brushed Ss Case

[ryyannon]

Here's one for the heavy metal people:

Is it possible to polish a brushed stainless steel case back up to its original finish (shinyness)?

I've a vintage with a brushed case and I think it would look better with its original mirror-finish.

Your suggestions and advice will be appreciated....

[Usil]

It is easier to go from brushed to polished than polished to brushed but having said that I would have to qualify what I would do.

I tried this just last week on a case back that was brushed. I was trying to clean off a small nick and of course this polished the case in this area. Polished against brushed looks awful so I proceeded to polish the entire back. It took an hour and I decided I did not like it so went back to the brushed look. I did this by spinning it on the top of a green 3m scour pad. It worked but only because it was flat with no nooks and crannys.

Polishing an entire case would be very difficult because of the bends and angles. Lots of small dremel polishing points and rouge, however, should work. If you decided you did not like it and wanted to go back, I do not think this is possible to the level of quality we see. Brushing uniformity would be very difficult.

Polishing is a dirty process so the watch should be completely dissasembled so just the case is involved. I did this on a 'cheaper' rep just to see what was involved. It takes patience and an hour or two of having nothing else to do.

I scratched a PAM case when I tightened the strap screw and left a mark a few months ago. I got anal about it so decided to see if I could polish it out. I did not take the watch apart but put it inside a plastic bag and made a small hole in the bag where I pushed the strap tang out for polishing. This worked perfectly and kept the mess off the watch. A dremel and red polishing rouge removed the scratch left from the screw driver perfectly.

Usil

[By-Tor]

Here's one for the heavy metal people:

Is it possible to polish a brushed stainless steel case back up to its original finish (shinyness)?

I've a vintage with a brushed case and I think it would look better with its original mirror-finish.

Your suggestions and advice will be appreciated....

Polishing it to mirror finish is easy. You need to buy abrasive stainless steel polishing paste from a jeweler. I have never used a dremel...just used a lot of hand force. Perhaps dremel gives even better shine? Giving the brushed finish back is surprisingly easy too. There are lots of things you can use to brush (Garryflex, Scotch Brite Pad). Of course it's more difficult from small areas (lugs, around the crown, etc.) but bracelet and case back are easy.

Here's a good article of polishing a Seamaster Pro (from TimeZone).

http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/article/maso...let_refurb.html

I used that method with my rep. Worked like a charm.

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=4509

Good luck.

Edited June 30, 2006 by By-Tor

[supermanx]

I ordered a scratch pen off of ebay, the vids make it look very easy to get a very good brush job, they even use a pam and an omega smp in the samples.

I'll post a review when I get it.

[ryyannon]

Thank you all for your input! :-)

(rubba-dub-dub....)

[Highflyingclive]

I ordered a scratch pen off of ebay, the vids make it look very easy to get a very good brush job, they even use a pam and an omega smp in the samples.

I'll post a review when I get it.

These things work well - I used to use them a lot, for cleaning up white-metal castings, prior to soldering. They work very well... BUT...

Wear rubber gloves. Or spend the next week picking tiny, invisible, glass fibre splinters out of your hands.

Edited June 30, 2006 by Highflyingclive

[Guest avitt]

The key to a polishing job like this is using the right tool. You can polish with a dremel, but it's a real pain in the ass, and it's difficult to get an even finish when you're using a tool with such a small surface area.

I recommend getting a 6" or 8" benchtop grinder (I picked one up at Harbor Freight, with a gooseneck lamp, for $29). Remove the guards, and the grinding wheels, and replace them with cotton polishing wheels (hard and soft wheels are available at Sears, Home Depot, or similar stores). Also pick up some polishing compound of various grits.

For about $50, you'll have a tool that you will use all the time. I definitely use this setup more often than my Dremel now (Dremel is reserved for cutting or shaping).

As an example of what can be done: I had in my drawer a quartz Ebel 1911, from the late 80's. I wore it for about 10 years, then put it away. Wondering what I should do with it, I realized it's just about the right size for a modern women's watch. So I popped off the bracelet, and removed 10 years of dings and scratches, returning the stainless to a mirror-like finish. After reapplying the brushed areas, the watch looks almost new. It's now one of my wife's favorites.