Stainless Steel Polishing Services

Shaw Stainless is an industry leader when it comes to stainless steel polishing including polished stainless steel tube, polished stainless steel pipe and other polished stainless steel products. We offer different grades and types of polishing to meet your requirements. Stainless Steel Polishing can be done either mechanically, chemically, or both. The type of polishing depends on the application. We have experts on hand to help you decide by your application and budget. Shaw Stainless is continuously looking into new technologies to provide the best quality polished products possible and supply more cost-effective options to our customers.

Contact our fabrication division for your polishing needs! To speak to a Fabrication Representative, please call (800) 241-8085.

Polishing Inquiry Form

If you are looking for a consistent surface finish, stainless steel polishing is a necessary process on mill finish stainless steel to produce an aesthetically pleasing polished finish. Our diverse stainless steel polishing equipment allows us to offer a variety of finishes on many different types of products, including:

• Polished Stainless Pipes
• Polished Stainless Tubes
• Polished Stainless Round Bars
• Polished Stainless Square Bars
• Polished Stainless Flat Bars
• Polished Stainless Angle
• Polished Stainless Plates
• Polished Stainless Sheets
• Polished Stainless Fittings

The Stainless Steel Polishing Process

Our stainless steel polishing technicians are experienced craftsmen knowledgeable in different surface finishes.

Extra care is especially required when taking a mill finish up to a #4 and higher polished finish because of all the steps needed to use progressively finer grits. A series of abrasive grits are applied in a successively finer sequence until the desired finish or surface roughness is achieved to achieve a polished surface. Incorrect polishing can cause distortion, discoloration, work hardening, or loss of tolerances. (See the grit size comparison chart.)

Stainless steel mechanical polishing is accomplished by utilizing abrasive materials on our specialized rotary equipment. This is achieved by using hand-held tools for difficult-to-access or unusually shaped parts. We provide automated processes for larger areas depending on the stainless polishing project requirements.

The complexity of the product affects how labor-intensive the stainless steel polishing process becomes. Polished stainless steel pipe or polished stainless steel tube is less labor intensive than, for example, polishing stainless steel fittings or an inside angle requiring hand-held tools. The duration and difficulty of the process determine the cost.

Stainless steel polishing is not a race against time. It is having the experience, equipment, and patience to provide our valued customers with consistent, superior-quality stainless steel polishing services.

Surface Roughness

Surface roughness is a measure of the texture of a surface. It is quantified by the vertical deviations of a real surface in its ideal form. If these deviations are significant, the surface is rough; if they are small, the surface is smooth. If your surface roughness is critical, a profilometer is used with a diamond-tipped stylus that automatically drags across a surface for a set distance providing results in many different formats. The most typical are Ra (micro-meters), Ra (micro-inches), RMS, etc. (See the profilometer diagram and surface measurements comparison chart.)

Standard Surface Finishes of Stainless Steel

Surface finishes on stainless steel products are generally selected for appearance. With fabrication, the degree and extent of forming and welding should be considered when selecting a raw stainless material. For example, starting with a higher-cost polished raw material, which will get scratched in the fabricating process, is not a wise choice. In this instance, it is often more economical to use cold rolled finish material and then polish.

Unpolished Stainless Steel Finishes

We offer a wide range of unpolished stainless steel products. Below is an outline of unpolished stainless steel finishes.

No. 1 Finish: Hot rolled, annealed, and descaled. Produced by hot rolling followed by annealing and descaling. Generally used in industrial applications, such as for heat or corrosion resistance, where the smoothness of the finish is not critical or of importance.

No. 2D Finish: A dull cold rolled finish produced by cold rolling, annealing, and descaling. The dull finish may result from the descaling or pickling operation or may be developed by a final light cold roll pass on dull rolls. The dull finish is favorable for the retention of lubricants on the surface in deep drawing operations. The finish is generally used in forming deep-drawn articles, which may be polished after fabrication.

No. 2B Finish: A bright cold rolled finish is commonly produced in the same manner as No. 2D, except that the annealed and descaled sheet receives a final light cold rolled pass on polished rolls. This is a general-purpose cold-rolled finish. It is commonly used for all but exceptionally difficult deep drawing applications. This finish is more readily available than No. 1 or No. 2D Finish.

BA Finish: (Bright annealed) bright cold rolled and controlled atmosphere annealed to retain a highly reflective finish.

Polished Stainless Steel Finishes

We offer a wide range of polished stainless steel products. Below is an outline of polished stainless steel finishes. (See the polished finishes chart.)

No. 3 Finish: A polished finish obtained with abrasives, approximately 100 mesh, which may or may not be additionally polished during fabrication.

No. 4 Finish: A general-purpose polished stainless steel finish widely used for restaurant equipment, kitchen equipment, storefronts, dairy equipment, etc. Following initial grinding with coarser abrasives, sheets are generally finished last with abrasives, approximately 120 to 150 mesh.

No. 6 Finish: A dull satin finish having lower reflectivity than No. 4 Finish. It is produced by Tampico brushing No. 4 Finish sheets in a medium of abrasive and oil. It is used for architectural applications and ornamentation where a high luster is undesirable and effectively contrasts with brighter finishes.

No. 7 Finish: A high degree of reflectivity. It’s produced by buffing the finely ground surface, but the grit lines are not removed. It is chiefly used for architectural and ornamental purposes.

No. 8 Finish: The most reflective finish that is commonly produced. This finish is obtained by polishing the stainless steel with successively finer abrasives and rubbing extensively with very fine buffing rouges. The surface is essentially free of grit lines from preliminary grinding operations. This stainless finish is most widely used for press plates, as well as for mirrors and reflectors.

Polished Stainless Steel Sheets

Stainless steel sheets can be produced with one or two sides polished. When polished on one side only, the other side may be rough ground to obtain the necessary flatness.

*Standard stainless stock polished finish is between 100 - 180 Grit (#3 to #4)