Cleaning and Polishing Carbon Steel

Cleaning and Polishing Carbon Steel

These carbon steel parts had a blue coating on them that needed to be removed prior to polishing. Abrasive blasting was not an option as it could pit the metal and make it impossible to get a near mirror finish. Instead, a tumbling process was first used to remove the coating and then polish the part.

To remove the coating on this moderately complex geometry, the part was tumbled with Ceramic Media in a wet process. The abrasiveness of the media removed the coating over the course of a few hours and left the part with a matte, tumbled finish.

A second, dry tumbling step was used to polish the part. In this case, the Pegco™ GBW-3.9 Fine Premium Treated Tumbling Media was the ideal choice to get into the slots around the outside diameter of the part and not get stuck in the internal areas. Dry tumbling is often a longer cycle time and took about 12 hours to achieve the polish seen in the picture.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQS)

1. Why was abrasive blasting not used on these carbon steel parts?

The reason we did not use blasting on these carbon steel parts is that it could make holes in the metal surface and we would not be able to get a near mirror finish on the carbon steel parts.

2. What media was used to remove the coating from the carbon steel parts?

We used Ceramic Media in a tumbling process to remove the blue coating from the carbon steel parts safely.

3. Why was tumbling used after the blue coating was removed from the carbon steel parts?

We used tumbling after the blue coating was removed from the carbon steel parts because it helped to make the carbon steel parts shiny and gave them a smoother surface.

4. What made Pegco GBW-3.9 media a good choice for this work with the carbon steel parts?

The shape of the Pegco GBW-3.9 media was good because it could get into spaces, around the carbon steel parts without getting stuck inside the carbon steel parts.

5. How long did it take to polish the carbon steel parts?

It took the tumbling process around 12 hours to make the carbon steel parts look the way we wanted them to look.