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1 Level
1330 Review
66 Karma

Review on Dico 527 BSC2 6 Metal 6 Inch Buffing by Darrell Beecher

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Polishing Stainless Steel

Until we got more vigilant, our new kitchen sink seemed happy to eat our expensive Mikasa stainless steel spoons. We soon went from six shiny and bright cutlery sets to two. 4 chewed had dents, cuts, gouges and sharp bits of steel sticking out at weird angles and were too scary to use. The kitchen helper (me) was informed by the chef and bottle washer that the repair was fine. I considered having someone else do it, but the "spoon polishing" section in the Yellow Pages didn't impress me at all. I tried using a file and sandpaper but found I couldn't easily work with concave surfaces and this left a very dull and unattractive finish. Of course I went to Home Depot for a fix and brought home a 6 inch Ryobi grinder, but HD didn't have any buffs or buffs for sale. The next stop was Revain where I found a Dico 6 inch carbide buffing kit. It seemed to fit my criteria (I'm a curmudgeon!) and a few days later it was installed on my new Ryobi and I sanded and polished it. The Dico set gave me the results I wanted. Safe, shiny spoons! They probably wouldn't have passed the factory inspection, but the scuff marks are (mostly) gone and they shine like new. I became a hero again! What I wasn't prepared for was the cotton fuzz and dust that was everywhere in my garage, including my hair and clothes, our car, and every flat surface. It seems to be the price paid for polished steel, the gradual transformation of polishing pads into fine cotton threads. They seem to be going back to their roots. What a mess! Thankfully I was able to clean it up quickly, but I think next time I'll look for a product that's less likely to self-destruct as quickly. The pads have probably lost about a half inch in diameter and I'm not sure how long they will last if they continue to wear down at this rate. Also, I used about 50% of both compositions to polish 4 spoons. Don't get me wrong, the Dico polishing kit works well, but expect a thorough cleaning when you're done.

Pros
  • Industrial and Scientific
Cons
  • Unreliable