Polished over 50 Cybertrucks and they look better and better each time

[AMPolishing1981]

Would you as the polisher or any of you the polishees please talk a little about maintenance? How long is this good for, how do you clean it? How does it look when it starts to scuff etc.

Customers consistently tell us the maintenance alone justifies the investment. The stainless steel finish is crafted to last a lifetime unlike aluminum which oxidizes.
Upkeep is straightforward and safe for the finish. You can use a touchless/brushless wash or a foam cannon with a pressure washer and quality detailing soap. After rinsing, dry with a twisted loop microfiber towel to avoid scratches.
For quick touch-ups, a quality detailer spray allows you to restore that brand-new look in minutes. Water beads right off, and fingerprints wipe away with a dry microfiber cloth. In short, this finish is built to last—and easy to keep looking pristine.

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[AMPolishing1981]

Where are you located? Like another person asked, is it cheaper if we bring it to you?

I'm in Upland California (So Cal) if you bring it to me it will be at $7k. It will take 2 to 3 days as I sand it a few times before we even start to polish. We take fenders and side view mirrors off tape what needs to be taped. I have 3 to 4 guys on it which you could see in the cameras while we are polishing, lol

 

[vandytom]

I was just imagining it would be really difficult to drive behind it. I’ve never actually seen a Chromed out in person yet.

You can always use a magnetic Toyota sign on back when you think it’s needed.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

When the truck was announced, I really thought this is what it would be like... I'm used to polished stainless on boat, and yeah, it really is that 'maintenance free' .
From trim tabs, to props, to rub rails, to grab handles, dock cleats, etc.. stainless is everything in boating. Trim Rams, Steering Rams, Tie Bars, Prop shafts, etc. It just lasts forever.

Polishing the truck just looks sick too...

 

[AMPolishing1981]

When the truck was announced, I really thought this is what it would be like... I'm used to polished stainless on boat, and yeah, it really is that 'maintenance free' .
From trim tabs, to props, to rub rails, to grab handles, dock cleats, etc.. stainless is everything in boating. Trim Rams, Steering Rams, Tie Bars, Prop shafts, etc. It just lasts forever.

Polishing the truck just looks sick too...

Well said and I agree 1000%

 

[CyberGus]

Seems familiar, where have I seen this before?

Oh yeah...

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I was just imagining it would be really difficult to drive behind it. I’ve never actually seen a Chromed out in person yet.

But you have seen mirrored tankers. We all have.

 

[HaulingAss]

Hahaha maybe if you sanded a few thousand times but the buffs we use are ones we invented made out of 2 different types of cotton. We run our machines at 2200 rpm other polishers run their machines at 6,000 rpm and the use a much more aggressive and gritty buffing airway that causes scratches. We do not sand deep like others who start at 320...we start at 800 but go over it several times because if you go with 320 you have a better chance of gouging the stainless.

Out of the over 50 Cybertrucks you've polished, do most people bring you brand new ones or have some seen a lot of use (including off-road)?

Have any of them had deep gouges in them when they were brought to you for polishing?

I've never brought mine to a mirror polish but I did sand using metal polishing pads up to 1000 grit. It left a very smooth even satin sheen, much finer than the factory finish (but far from a mirror polish). I think I prefer it to the factory finish. It also seemed a little easier to clean, which makes sense because the surface finish had finer texture to hold/trap dirt and contaminants.

Have you had anyone request a fine satin finish? This would probably take 1/2 the time or less (compared to a mirror polish) and it really brightens up and evens out the surface. I used a Festool 6" Random Orbit with Festool Platin metal polishing pads. I think I started with a coarser non-woven sanding pad (Festool Vlies 320) and moved to S500 and S1000 Festool Platin metal polishing sandpaper (they also go to S2000 and S4000 grit but that would be too shiny for me). I'm sure many of your potential customers would love a finer polish without going all the way to mirror. It might take a bit more care since not going all the way to mirror polish. I think the fine satin finish looks fantastic (and is probably slightly easier to care for than even the bare factory finish).

So much can be done with the bare metal, I think professional metal finishers such as yourselves have only just begun to scratch the surface (pun intended)! Have you considered getting a computer controlled laser etching machine to scribe detailed etchings into the surface? That could be pretty cool. Or using stencils to glass bead the polished surfaces with custom patterns/emblems/scenes?

A really cool finish used occasionally on architectural stainless steel is hitting a relatively smooth (but unpolished) SS surface with very uniformly graded (for size) glass beads. The beads are not recycled because they fracture on impact and that would negatively impact the way it reflects light. The stainless surface is left with uniform microscopic dimples which provides a very beautiful look that changes with the lighting. It's possible the cold-rolled Cybertruck steel is too hard for this treatment, I don't know.

 

[AMPolishing1981]

Driving a Cybertruck is attention enough, driving a polished one would be like wearing a man-thong to the beach

If you got it, flaunt it

 

[AMPolishing1981]

Out of the over 50 Cybertrucks you've polished, do most people bring you brand new ones or have some seen a lot of use (including off-road)?

Have any of them had deep gouges in them when they were brought to you for polishing?

I've never brought mine to a mirror polish but I did sand using metal polishing pads up to 1000 grit. It left a very smooth even satin sheen, much finer than the factory finish (but far from a mirror polish). I think I prefer it to the factory finish. It also seemed a little easier to clean, which makes sense because the surface finish had finer texture to hold/trap dirt and contaminants.

Have you had anyone request a fine satin finish? This would probably take 1/2 the time or less (compared to a mirror polish) and it really brightens up and evens out the surface. I used a Festool 6" Random Orbit with Festool Platin metal polishing pads. I think I started with a coarser non-woven sanding pad (Festool Vlies 320) and moved to S500 and S1000 Festool Platin metal polishing sandpaper (they also go to S2000 and S4000 grit but that would be too shiny for me). I'm sure many of your potential customers would love a finer polish without going all the way to mirror. It might take a bit more care since not going all the way to mirror polish. I think the fine satin finish looks fantastic (and is probably slightly easier to care for than even the bare factory finish).

So much can be done with the bare metal, I think professional metal finishers such as yourselves have only just begun to scratch the surface (pun intended)! Have you considered getting a computer controlled laser etching machine to scribe detailed etchings into the surface? That could be pretty cool. Or using stencils to glass bead the polished surfaces with custom patterns/emblems/scenes?

A really cool finish used occasionally on architectural stainless steel is hitting a relatively smooth (but unpolished) SS surface with very uniformly graded (for size) glass beads. The beads are not recycled because they fracture on impact and that would negatively impact the way it reflects light. The stainless surface is left with uniform microscopic dimples which provides a very beautiful look that changes with the lighting. It's possible the cold-rolled Cybertruck steel is too hard for this treatment, I don't know.

Wow!! Great questions! 1. There have been a few that had scratches and have taken it off road but nothing a little 400 to 800 grit sand paper couldn't fix...if it is much deeper then you will have 1 part of your truck with a good size dimple in it no matter if you sanded around the deep gouges.

2. It's funny you say that. We have a satin buff that we want to try I'll post a picture of it here. The satin buff will definitely smooth the surface out and make it look way better than factory and be easier to maintain. We've done this to pontoon boats. They didn't want mirror polish just wanted it to look new again so we satin finish the metal.

3. So cool thos Festool pads are. Will you be able to get me some good pictures of your CT? I'd love to see the finish. I think that is absolutely amazing but no one has asked us to do it yet so our satin buff is on stand by lol.

4. Yes yes yes there are a couple people back where we live in Southern California that do this but we don't know of anyone when we travel. We definitely want to and will learn this stencil for glass beading and etching. This way we can add the foundation a d cyberbeast back on after we polish them off.

5. Not sure about the last part but it sounds freaking awesome! I know that the SS on this truck is pretty hard and it can eat up my sandpaper.

The CT is such a perfect canvas for us. We polished a CT and then they put clear wrap over parts and it looked so cool with the chrome look and the colored wrap. Sky is the limit 100%

 

[AMPolishing1981]

Out of the over 50 Cybertrucks you've polished, do most people bring you brand new ones or have some seen a lot of use (including off-road)?

Have any of them had deep gouges in them when they were brought to you for polishing?

I've never brought mine to a mirror polish but I did sand using metal polishing pads up to 1000 grit. It left a very smooth even satin sheen, much finer than the factory finish (but far from a mirror polish). I think I prefer it to the factory finish. It also seemed a little easier to clean, which makes sense because the surface finish had finer texture to hold/trap dirt and contaminants.

Have you had anyone request a fine satin finish? This would probably take 1/2 the time or less (compared to a mirror polish) and it really brightens up and evens out the surface. I used a Festool 6" Random Orbit with Festool Platin metal polishing pads. I think I started with a coarser non-woven sanding pad (Festool Vlies 320) and moved to S500 and S1000 Festool Platin metal polishing sandpaper (they also go to S2000 and S4000 grit but that would be too shiny for me). I'm sure many of your potential customers would love a finer polish without going all the way to mirror. It might take a bit more care since not going all the way to mirror polish. I think the fine satin finish looks fantastic (and is probably slightly easier to care for than even the bare factory finish).

So much can be done with the bare metal, I think professional metal finishers such as yourselves have only just begun to scratch the surface (pun intended)! Have you considered getting a computer controlled laser etching machine to scribe detailed etchings into the surface? That could be pretty cool. Or using stencils to glass bead the polished surfaces with custom patterns/emblems/scenes?

A really cool finish used occasionally on architectural stainless steel is hitting a relatively smooth (but unpolished) SS surface with very uniformly graded (for size) glass beads. The beads are not recycled because they fracture on impact and that would negatively impact the way it reflects light. The stainless surface is left with uniform microscopic dimples which provides a very beautiful look that changes with the lighting. It's possible the cold-rolled Cybertruck steel is too hard for this treatment, I don't know.

this is the satin buff

 

[Tallgeese179]

this is the satin buff

I may be wrong here, but wouldn't this leave a grain, similar to brushed stainless where you have a very fine linear pattern? When I was adding a brushed finish to my stainless chair posts, I had to be very careful to not get lazy and add diagonal lines with my scuff pads.

I'm guessing in this case you'd run the grain front to back, since vertical grain would look weird (who knows, maybe not?).

Either way, one thing I was surprised by was how much "brighter" brushed surfaces looked compared to the mirrored finish. I realized this is because the fine scratches scatter the reflected light, increasing the amount of rays hitting the eye as a result of random reflection. Whereas the mirror just reflects a smaller percentage that is at the right angle from your eye. Similar to seeing a regular road sign at night vs one that has a retroreflector background.

Now I want to see a sand blasted MacBook finish CT

 

[AMPolishing1981]

Seems familiar, where have I seen this before?

Oh yeah...

 

[AMPolishing1981]

I may be wrong here, but wouldn't this leave a grain, similar to brushed stainless where you have a very fine linear pattern? When I was adding a brushed finish to my stainless chair posts, I had to be very careful to not get lazy and add diagonal lines with my scuff pads.

I'm guessing in this case you'd run the grain front to back, since vertical grain would look weird (who knows, maybe not?).

Either way, one thing I was surprised by was how much "brighter" brushed surfaces looked compared to the mirrored finish. I realized this is because the fine scratches scatter the reflected light, increasing the amount of rays hitting the eye as a result of random reflection. Whereas the mirror just reflects a smaller percentage that is at the right angle from your eye. Similar to seeing a regular road sign at night vs one that has a retroreflector background.

Now I want to see a sand blasted MacBook finish CT

That's a great question. We actually have a whole rear wheel panel of a cybertruck so we are going to try the satin buff and scuff dual action satin. When we do the pontoon boats we try to overlap and keep the satin airway as tight as possible. It comes out nice but I'd like to try the festool vlies.
Never even thought about it that way with the brightness of satin

Haha same here bring the MacBook on!

 

[HaulingAss]

this is the satin buff

Do you use that on a rotary machine or a random orbit? I think the secret for a satin finish is a RO machine. Otherwise isn't it difficult to control the swirl marks?

Metal polishing is such an art because it's about controlling the way the light reflects off all the microscopic scratches. Different abrasives, even when they are the same grit, will make different kinds of cuts which will impact the look. The softest looking finishes will require more expensive abrasives that are graded to a more uniform size. When the abrasives have a larger variation in size the look is not as nice.

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