Polishing screws and pivot pin

T

The_Guide

Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
604
Hey guys,

I want to up the appearance factor on my XM18, and polish the exposed screw heads and pivot screw. I understand how to do it and am quite good at this kind of stuff, but I was wondering if anyone else has done it, and has specific grits/papers/progressions/techniques that worked particularly well?

Also, when polishing, do you polish in a circular motion, or do you go in one direction only? For most things I am concerned about scratch patterns, but since these parts are circular, Im not so sure what would be best...

Cheers!
:cool::thumbup:
 
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Here's some examples of polished standoffs. The bottom is stock, middle is brushed, top is brushed then polished. Next I need to do a mirror polish.

Hinderer XM-18 Polish Standoffs by ⓂⓄⒹⓘⒻⓘⒺⒹⓏ, on Flickr
The knife on bottom is a good example of how a Hinderer looks with polished hardware.

Hinderer XM-18 Knives Knife Folder by ⓂⓄⒹⓘⒻⓘⒺⒹⓏ, on Flickr
A drill & ultra fine scotch brite is what you need. I do not use sandpaper, don't want to remove metal, scotch brite does not remove metal. I might make a tutorial or a video some time in the near future. My XM's have a lot more character after refinishing the hardware.
 
MODiFiEDZ said:
Here's some examples of polished standoffs. The bottom is stock, middle is brushed, top is brushed then polished. Next I need to do a mirror polish.

Hinderer XM-18 Polish Standoffs by ⓂⓄⒹⓘⒻⓘⒺⒹⓏ, on Flickr
The knife on bottom is a good example of how a Hinderer looks with polished hardware.

Hinderer XM-18 Knives Knife Folder by ⓂⓄⒹⓘⒻⓘⒺⒹⓏ, on Flickr
A drill & ultra fine scotch brite is what you need. I do not use sandpaper, don't want to remove metal, scotch brite does not remove metal. I might make a tutorial or a video some time in the near future. My XM's have a lot more character after refinishing the hardware.
Click to expand...

I like the pimping, it's rare to see mods on XMs.

FYI, scotch brite does remove metal.
 
Jaytaylor said:
I like the pimping, it's rare to see mods on XMs.

FYI, scotch brite does remove metal.
Click to expand...

Exactly, if it didn't, you wouldn't accomplish anything. The woven material is embedded with abrasive, not all that different than sandpaper which has abrasive embedded into the surface of the paper.

I use Mirka Mirlon abrasive pads for many things, I particularly like the Red Very Fine (360) as it provides a nice brushed finish to metals. I can take my Ti water bottle, spin it a few times in my hand while holding that pad and it quickly restores the surface finish. Then, my pad and hand are full of black.
 
RDA said:
Exactly, if it didn't, you wouldn't accomplish anything. The woven material is embedded with abrasive, not all that different than sandpaper which has abrasive embedded into the surface of the paper.

I use Mirka Mirlon abrasive pads for many things, I particularly like the Red Very Fine (360) as it provides a nice brushed finish to metals. I can take my Ti water bottle, spin it a few times in my hand while holding that pad and it quickly restores the surface finish. Then, my pad and hand are full of black.
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that the imbedded abrasive was designed to scratch the surface & not remove metal. For an example I had a body screw that was very scratched up & I put it in a dremel at 3,000 rpm put the ultra fine scotch brite to the screw for 60 sec & all the scratches were gone but the screw dimensions were the same. I had another screw that I put some 2,000 grit sandpaper to & in just 10 sec, all the scratches were gone but I took about a .5mm off the surface so when I put the screw back in it was sitting deeper than the rest.
That's why I assumed that scotch brite makes its own scratch pattern & does not rapidly remove metal like sandpaper does, also there was no metal dust on my hands after a few hours of using the same 2"x2" SB pad on a lot of steel.
 
When you say drill and scotch brite, what do you mean? what are you using the drill for? Are you using a scotchbrite dremel bit in the drill or something? When I picture scotchbrite i think of those pads.
 
MODiFiEDZ said:
I was under the impression that the imbedded abrasive was designed to scratch the surface & not remove metal. For an example I had a body screw that was very scratched up & I put it in a dremel at 3,000 rpm put the ultra fine scotch brite to the screw for 60 sec & all the scratches were gone but the screw dimensions were the same. I had another screw that I put some 2,000 grit sandpaper to & in just 10 sec, all the scratches were gone but I took about a .5mm off the surface so when I put the screw back in it was sitting deeper than the rest.
That's why I assumed that scotch brite makes its own scratch pattern & does not rapidly remove metal like sandpaper does, also there was no metal dust on my hands after a few hours of using the same 2"x2" SB pad on a lot of steel.
Click to expand...

It depends on the grit and the type of abrasive, none of which you mention. Regardless, scotchbrite pads and the like typically all have abrasive embedded into the material. Heck, copier paper or facial tissue is an abrasive.

How do you think scratches are removed without the removal of material? Do you think the scotchbrite pad miraculously fills them? Just because you couldn't accurately measure it doesn't mean it wasn't happening. Also, you might not have been removing the scratches, you may have only been somewhat hiding them by imparting a new, more even/fine scratch pattern.
 
The_Guide said:
When you say drill and scotch brite, what do you mean? what are you using the drill for? Are you using a scotchbrite dremel bit in the drill or something? When I picture scotchbrite i think of those pads.
Click to expand...

I only use ultra fine grey scotch brite pads. To get a perfect circular scratch pattern you put a small pc of tape over the threads to protect them & put the screw into the drill. Run the drill at med to high speed & put the scotch brite onto the screw head while it's spinning. The scotch brite is making a consistent scratch pattern, if you use sandpaper you will quickly remove a lot of metal which is not good.
I guess I'll need to do a more scientific test to see if UF scotch brite is actually removing steel or if it's acting like a strop & burnishing/scratching the steel.
Just scotch brighted a standoff pin on a 3.5" & wrote down the dimension & weight, after polishing it was the same. When I used 2,000 grit Silicon carbide it removed a noticeable measure able amount.
(just measured with digital calipers in mm & weighed on a digital scale accurate to .0005 grams with no weight or dimensional change) Both tests were spun at 2,000 rpm & held the abrasive on for 60 sec.
 
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MODiFiEDZ said:
I only use ultra fine grey scotch brite pads. To get a perfect circular scratch pattern you put a small pc of tape over the threads to protect them & put the screw into the drill. Run the drill at med to high speed & put the scotch brite onto the screw head while it's spinning. The scotch brite is making a consistent scratch pattern, if you use sandpaper you will quickly remove a lot of metal which is not good.
I guess I'll need to do a more scientific test to see if UF scotch brite is actually removing steel or if it's acting like a strop & burnishing/scratching the steel.
Just scotch brighted a standoff pin on a 3.5" & wrote down the dimension & weight, after polishing it was the same. When I used 2,000 grit Silicon carbide it removed a noticeable measure able amount.
(just measured with digital calipers in mm & weighed on a digital scale accurate to .0005 grams with no weight or dimensional change) Both tests were spun at 2,000 rpm & held the abrasive on for 60 sec.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing your abrasive pads have residue on them after using them on these parts.
I think that would prove it's removing material and depositing it in the pads.
Are you removing enough material to affect function... I dunno.


Either way, I am impressed by how nice your XM looks with the polished hardware. :D
 
The_Guide said:
What do you do for the standoffs? I like the look you've achieved :thumbup:
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Same thing, put tape on stand off pins & insert into drill. The standoffs I put tape on a dremel bit so the standoff fits snuggly on the bit, spin @ high rpm & put the scotch brite to the standoff. Make sure to get inside the standoff crevices with a thin portion of the pad.
 
The only way to smooth or polish a metal surface without material removal is burnishing.

ALL other methods involving abrasives remove metal.
 
I have polished the screws on mine using a translucent arkansas stone and polishing compound the finish is like a mirror ill post pictures later
 
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