New Number 1 DIY disaster

[Halo Jones]

Well, it's a new year and I have probably just made my biggest DIY disaster to date!

Last year I posted about making an island unit with a stainless steel top Stainless steel for island.

Yesterday I was doing the final touches routing the oak lipping so it was flush with edge of the stainless steel. All was going well and was doing the final edge when I caught the corner and the router kicked up across the top causing:


Now, a huge part of me is just very happy and relived that it was the stainless steel and not any of my fleshy parts that got caught. My better half doesn't quite see it like that at the moment .

Scrapping the top and starting again is not going to happen so I have to try and minimise the impact. Does anyone have any ideas about the best way forward?! I have seen kits like repair kit, perhaps used in combination with steel putty. Or, if anyone knows of a company that might be able to fix dings like this and they are in the Edinburgh/Fife/Dundee area then please let me know! The last thing I want to do is take abrasives to the area and make a big patch that doesn't match the rest of the top. Perhaps we just live with the scar - at least we won't have to worry about making the first mark in the top .........

(edited to try and get images to show)

 

[novocaine]

abrasives are your only solution. start high, work down the grits till you have a completely mirror finish, then add back in the brushed steel look buy sanding with the appropriate grit (normally 400) in 1 direction only.

 

[porker]

Sorry for the mistake. We all make them though from time to time. I think you hve two issues here. One is what to do about the gouging and one on refinishing. My experience of stainless is that it is very hard so don't underestimate the work involved. Whatever you do I would try it first on a scrap of the same material if you can. My Dad tried to polish a scratch out of a stainless sink. Not sure he made any impression on it. Different grades of stainless vary in hardness. One thing in your favour is that the finish looks brushed rather than mirror. You can create a brushed finish with a belt sander and scotchbrite but to match you may end up doing the whole top.

You could fill the gouge with something like JB Weld but you will always see the grey colour. Hard to see how deep the scratches are but will they reduce by sanding/polishing?

I would probably try to find some abrasive that would match the brushed scratch pattern to see if I could blend it in. You will struggle to get a perfect match I think so if you can't live with that I think an alternative solution will be required.

 

[marcros]

It is hard to tell from the picture but there looks like there is a significant amount of material displaced. I doubt that you will be able to polish it out.

I would consider replacing it. It may make you cry now but it is highly visible and it will annoy you 5 times a day for many years. Does the house insurance cover accidental damage?

 

[Setch]

The pictures aren't working for me, so there may be obvious reason why this won't work, but can you turn it over?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Me neither.

 

[AES]

No pic for me either.

 

[novocaine]

most likely cant turn it over because it's glued down.

 

[harryc]

Can’t see how you can ever sand those deep gouges out.

 

[novocaine]

Other option, don't repair it, remove it. cut it out and inset a ceramic tile, tell people it's a trivit to stop pan bottoms maring your lovely stainless surface.

having looked again you have deformed the steel as already mentioned and that won't polish out.

 

[Halo Jones]

Thanks all for the responses.

I had attached links to my Google photos. I could see them in Chrome but not in microsoft Edge. No idea why. I have hopefully embedded them for everyone to see now?

I think I could probably finish out the last 80 mm or so but the first 20 - 25 mm is really deep, which is why I thought about the likes of JB weld type of product.

The top is glued down and the reverse side is not finished so turning wouldn't help. Also, it would be practically impossible to get it properly lined up with the oak lipping again so it would mean starting again.

Our insurance policy would probably cover getting the steel replaced but again, it would mean redoing the whole top. It might come to that but I would probably try to live with it for a while before going down that route and see how much of a patina the stainless develops over time.

 

[AES]

Thanks, pics working now.

That really IS a bit of a "pineapple" (that's what I wrote but you know what I mean!), especially the deepest bit.

I haven't tried before but I doubt very much you'll get JB Weld (or any other 2 part) to match the highly polished surface you've got on that SS. Such adhesives CAN be "coloured" by adding fine metallic powders to the mix before spreading, so it MAY be worth a try on a bit of scrap, but as above "I 'ave me doubts" it would blend in well.

How thick is the SS top, and what's directly underneath it, and how thick is the under surface??

A really good welder MAY be able to fill those scratches in, then grind them back flush again, but assuming a "normal wooden" surface directly under/in contact with the SS work surface I can't really see that working (without a lot of damage!) either.

As someone else above has suggested, are you sure you can't cut that piece out and replace it with a "trivet"? Perhaps cut out with a REALLY fine-bladed small dia circular saw, or even a multi tool with a FINE blade? If really careful, any damage done to the underneath (and/or to the oak edging) could - maybe - be covered by the ceramic tile/trivet?

Or rather than cutting the SS, maybe just mounting (with epoxy) the trivet plus a suitable edging ON TOP of the damaged area?

I think I'm out of ideas, sorry (and frankly none of the above inspire me particularly - dunno about you. Whatever you do, short of stripping it all off and starting again will, I guess, end up sticking out like a bulldog's "biscuits")!

Good luck, let us know how you get out of it in the end please.

 

[Spectric]

I agree with AES, a good TIG welder could run small beads to fill the worst of the gouges, heat would only be very local and give you something to polish back.

Also maybe silver solder, but the heat would not be as localised as TIG.

 

[FranWood]

Ouch, I feel your pain.

I think you're going to struggle make that invisible. What's the reason for now wanting to start again? Is it material cost? Could the material be repurposed for splashbacks etc or for another project or possibly sold on?

 

[Rorschach]

You might be able to planish the metal back into place, but Stainless is not terribly ductile so that may not work. Getting it welded is a good idea.

Regardless of what you do it will require sanding. If you sand the whole area though it will all match and SS worktops scratch during use anyway so it wouldn't be long before the whole surface would be scratched.

 

[Halo Jones]

If I were to go down the welding route who is the best person to get to do the job? A standard blacksmith, or is there someone more specialised I should find?

 

[Rorschach]

Your standard blacksmith probably isn't up to the task there. You want a specialised stainless steel fabricator.

 

[AES]

Oh no, definitely NOT "yer average welder/blacksmith" IMO!

If you go that route I suggest you want someone who has A) good experience of FINE welding in SS (e.g. I THINK it's TFrench of this Forum who does it professionally - on food processing vessels etc,) and; B) someone who has a portable TIG welding set. Not sure how you find someone like that but it needs (IMO) to be someone who's prepared to come to you and do it on site.

ALSO when you find such a bloke you need to take his advice as to what prep he recommends for protecting the wooden (?) surface under your worktop.

Good luck mate.

Edit for a P.S. IF I was still in the business - I'm retired now - and not living in Switzerland - I'd suggest someone who is an FAA/CAA-approved welder out of an aero engine repair workshop. They do all sorts of very fine welding on all sorts of weird and wonderful metal alloys - often very thin - and all without too much "disturbance" to the surrounding parent metal. But someone WITH a GOOD portable TIG set too.

 

[novocaine]

There is no way you can repair that with weld. Not a chance. Zero possibility. Don't even bother.
Reason number 1. You heat it up, burn the wood underneath and melt the glue
2. It will warp, its thin stock and it can't have a heat sink on the back. Even spotting it you will get it hot and it will warp.
3. Unless you are very very very good at it, you'll get a mark where it was welded. Not to mention discolouration and the like.

Seriously, welding is not an option.

 

[novocaine]

Oh,and your going to be paying him as much as a new sheet and then some, thay skill does not come cheap.