angry_jeremy Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 Howdy, I recently bought a Slammer Explorer from a friend of mine for cheap in order to screw around with it (I'm sure none of you have ever done such a thing ). The original plan was to cover the whole top with diamond plate aluminum a la James Hetfield, but that proved expensive and a pain to get a hold of. Anywho, I ended up getting a 8x12 bit of stainless steel from Canadian Tire and started givin 'er with my Dremel and about a dozen cut-off wheels. It looks decent enough (shiny!) but I was wondering if anybody else had ideas of what to do. I've thought of sanding the top to make it extra shiny but I'm assuming that you would have to put some sort of finish on to keep it that way. Maybe even rusty would look cool as long as I can control the rust. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted October 1, 2004 Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 If it is stainless it shouldn't rust, but I know there are different grades of stainless. If you're not sure of the grade you could give it a coat of sealer (polyurethane or vinyl). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 (edited) I've made a couple guitars with stainless pickguards and cover plates. It depends on what you have to start with and its real hard to keep things flawless. I have a sheet of 16 ga. commercial grade stainless that I've been cutting pieces from. Its got striations running in one direction that have to be sanded out. I usually start with 320 then 400, 600, 800 and finally 1200. From there I use 6 micron diamond compound, then 1 micron and finally 1/4 micron, all by hand! Thats a lotta sanding and polishing. Leave out any one step and you've got problems. The surface has to be taken down by each increment or the finer grits won't remove the coarser scratchmarks. Its hard to get a perfect mirror finish but I can still see myself clearly. You can expect to see fine scratch marks accumulate from regular playing. But that will happen with any material. http://img10.exs.cx/img10/9842/Cover.jpg Edited October 2, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 Generally speaking, you can polish up metal by wetsanding with 220, 320, 400, 600, 1200 (optional), and polishing compounds, altering the sanding direction by 90 degrees each grit. However, you -could take a sanding disc and do cool swirly patterns on the pickguard with 400 or something; that is one of my fave looks for stainless steel. Just do a random swirl pattern that looks good on the guit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 IMO I think that swirl patterns are not are not easy to achieve if you don't have a drill press, and you need to ba able to secure the pick guard good too so that it doen't dance all over the place (stainless and all sheet metal cut skin very easy). I will say to prep it really good, make sure that all the lines are straight and smooth and take it to get chrome plated. it will look outstanding with almost any finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 I've looked into it and was told that stainless steel cannot be chrome plated. Next time I'll just make stuff out of regular mild steel so it CAN be plated. And yes, you are right about cutting patterns etc. into stainless. Need some sort of incremental jig setup on a drill press to make sure everything is done evenly. I was thinking about using a dremel size (1/4" dia) flat faced sanding stone to get an overlapping "fish scale" pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 I had a custom made intake manifold for a 1966 VW turbo and they were SS and they got Chrome Plated, I guess we puertoricans don't care what some bady say that can't be done! We took it to a bumper chrome plating place and they didn't even said that it might not work, he just did it and it turn out great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 but that proved expensive and a pain to get a hold of. Have you checked: http://www.preciousmetalproducts.co.uk/ These guys have a great selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 On hard metals I like to use a technique called "jewelling"... which requires some automotive grinding compound, a drill press, and a very small wire "brush". It's commonly used on custom rifles and hot-rods. I'm having breakfast with another writer in a few minutes, but when I get back I will put together an explanation for everybody. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demon Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 if you have access to an acetylene torch, or a very hot blowtorch, what looks really cool is if you firstly polish the stainless to a high finish then get the torch close up to the metal until it starts to blacken slightly, then flick the torch in whichever direction you want, you end up with a kinda "paisley" pattern of burn marks, but because the stainless is highly polished, you get a kind of oily look, all fancy colours an ****. I'll try an get a pic up to show you, but i cant seem to get any of my pics to upload. try it on a bit of scrap, it really does look sweet. If you need to find diamond plate at any time, phone round factories and ask if they have any scrap, most factories seem to cos it gets used for flooring, kickplates etc, usually you will get it free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 Okay... I put together a short tutorial on "Jewelling" Your Metal. I hope that it's easy enough to understand. Be warned: it really does take a little practice and a LOT of patience. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdog Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 Dugz Ink......Nice job on the tutorial....I was wondering how long it would take for the correct terminology to "surface"!......(get it?).....surface? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angry_jeremy Posted October 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I was wondering how long it would take for the correct terminology to "surface"!......(get it?).....surface? Groan! Cool ideas all, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 I've thought of sanding the top to make it extra shiny but I'm assuming that you would have to put some sort of finish on to keep it that way. Maybe even rusty would look cool as long as I can control the rust. I've worked as a metal polisher, restoring motorbike parts and until recently I sold polishing kits, if you want to get it to a mirror finish I would buy a stainless steel polishing kit, the small 'hobby' kits for electric drills are easy to use and give good results after some practice. Because it's stainless rusting shouldn't be a problem if it's kept clean and dry. I would strongly advise not to lacquer it after polishing, the lacquer won't grip to the polished surface and will soon come off not to mention lacquer will dull the polished finish. If you do want to protect the metal there is one solution, you could get it clear anodised. I've polished motorbike frames for a race team, they anodised them when I'd finished with them and they looked really good although it still dulls the polishing slightly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angry_jeremy Posted October 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Where would I hunt for one of those stainless steel polishing kits? Auto parts stores? It would be sweet to get 'er real shiny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 I'm in the UK so I can't recommend anywhere in the US/Canada, you should find them in car and motorbike shops. http://www.caswellplating.com seem pretty good, they've got some tutorials on the site too. Here's there stainless kit.... http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/sspolkit.html If you've got any questions about metal polishing just ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angry_jeremy Posted October 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Thanks! Is that Zakk in your avatar? He rules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 yeah that's Zakk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Just a thought: a "real shiny" surface will show every fingerprint and smudge. A textured finish won't, and since guitars are made to be played... D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angry_jeremy Posted October 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 hmm, good call... I think that shin-er-up package of stuff is a little pricy for a little explorer p/g. I might do the whole sanding in progressively finer grits to get 'er real smooth, or more realistically I'll prolley just leave it the way it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratman Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 For polishing supplies try www.eastwood.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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