How to Burnish a Radiator

[ljn]

I like the burnished finish on radiators. the supplier I have found that has good prices can't/won't burnish.
They can offer the rads stripped and sandblasted and paint "burnished colour". But the look and feel isn't the same.
If I get them sandblasted, could I burnish them myself? Is there a "burnishing brush" I can attach to a drill/driver? Or something?
Is it practical to burnish- considering I like the finish?

 

[Cloudscape]

I think you might find shotblasting and beadblasting more effective than sandblasting, which will forcibly remove paint and rust, but I don't think sandblasting would result in a smooth enough finish to polish up. I had a root around and found http://www.t-bblasting.co.uk/case_study/radiator-renovation

If you're using Google, remember to search "bead blasting" (2 words) as well as "beadblasting".

 

[Penners]

I've never tried this myself, but I reckon that old Victorian cast radiators (which is, I presume, what you're talking about) would look rather good finished with a grate polish, and then thoroughly burnished. I suppose the only thing you'd have to be careful about would be the risk to clothing if anyone were to sit on a moulding that had a little unburnished lump of the stuff caught in it.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I was brought up to never sit on a radiator--- something nasty happens :wink:

 

[Pford75]

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/75331...ing/Metal-Polishing/Metal-Polishing-Kit-100mm

I have used the smaller version of this to good effect. However, before spending time polishing the rad....after you have had it stripped/blasted, do pressure test it. Blasting can remove layers of paint which were covering small joint cracks. Shame to spend ages polishing it and then find it leaks.

 

[Moo]

The trouble with burnishing is that you'll have yet more things in the house that will need pretty regular maintenance if they're to keep their original pristine beauty.
As a housework-phobic I find that the prospect of getting the dust out of all the fiddly innards of my (painted) radiators brings on a nasty attack of displacement activities - and it only happens about once every year or so. The thought of having to keep them shiny as well is making me feel quite weak.

 

[ljn]

I think I'll give the Pford75 polishing kit a try. And the Flexible Drive Shaft Screwfix recommend using with the kit.

 

[Penners]

The trouble with burnishing is that you'll have yet more things in the house that will need pretty regular maintenance if they're to keep their original pristine beauty.

I do agree. I also have slight worry that plain, polished iron will look a bit "bling".

Displacement activity is my main hobby. As I type this, I should be outside cutting up some scrap wood for kindling. Or digging up and separating the Michelmas Daisies. Or sorting out a leaking gutter.....etc.

 

[Moo]

When they were originally used, what sort of finish would domestic column radiators have had?

 

[Penners]

The ones at my old skool were all painted gloss black. And I certainly don't believe that they would have been repainted within a mere hundred years.

 

[michael]

I can’t help feeling that burnished radiators are a trendy new thing that probably wasn’t found in Victorian houses or at any other period during radiator history. I used to like looking around National Trust houses and I would pick up on details like radiators so that I could try and reproduce the effect in my own period home. All the rad’s I’ve seen in the NT properties seem to be a bronze or dull gold colour. Don’t know if that means they’re made of bronze or if they’re just painted that colour.

 

[Moo]

I'd guess they're painted.
When I was scrambling around choosing my radiators I found two that were perfect for our sitting room - a wonderful dull bronze colour that was going to be perfect against (ie would blend seamlessly with) the wood panelling.

Unfortunately they ended up being shot-blasted by mistake along with all the others, so the firm powder-coated them (free) a dark brown.