Polishing SS
 

New boat has the powdercoated railings, I want polished SS, so thinking removing coating and polishing.

So.... How are the rails polished without getting the high gloss mirror finish?

The first thing is get the powder coatiing off. You have several methods to experiment with. Powder coating is pretty durable and does not come off easily. Stripper does work and then you need to clean the part real well .
Then you would need to rag wheel the surfaces nice and clean.
If you want a dull look on the stainless I have seen people glass bead the surface. That will take the shine off and dull the surface up a bit. If you want a duller texture you can experiment with different grits of glass bead, the coarser the bead the more textured the part will appear.
Why do you not like the mirror finish?
Good Luck
Brian

Thanks, I don't want a real dull look, just what is normal. Which appears to be a 'brushed' look, I think ??????
The mirror finish would be too much for me.
I am getting a qoute from Fountain on new rails. That ought to be interesting. ;)

Removing Powdercoat
 

The easiest way to remove powdercot is to use PVC Primer. Its clean and faster than stripper. Dab it on with the dabber let it sit for a min or so and wipe off.

just don't get any on the gell coat or its there to stay.

For the brushed look, what we used to do where I worked was to take a bench grinder motor and made a long cylindrical sleeve for the spindle. Then take fine steel wool like you get at the hardware store and unravel it. They usually come apart pretty easy. Then take and wrap that around your spindle, using 4 or so to begin with (make sure you wrap in the correct direction so it doesn't come off). Then turn it on and start buffing like you would if you were polishing.

I used to use Scotchbrite on my Freedom Arms 454 Casull- 17-4 stainless, brushed finish.

A belt sander with some 120 grit will give you a really nice "brushed" finish.

I don't think he wants to have to wear gloves to use the rails, Cord!! :D :D

It's actually not that aggressive of a finish. I sanded some stainless just the other day with some 60 grit and it looks really nice. I thought that that might be a bit to agressive for his taste, so I suggested the 120. The finish is smooth, with the grit only giving the surface some texture.