Bolt polishing

I know, sounds out of place around here, but some of us like shiny stuff in a few places. I bought some 1/4" carriage head bolts to fill some holes in my Lincoln until I get around to welding them shut. First ones I got from Lowes were smooth headed and already looked polished. Last ones I got came from Home Depot, they were a little duller, and had three raised letters on the heads. I was wondering how I could get the letters off without distorting the bolt head, and just happened to look toward my drill press. Idea! I chucked them into the press one by one, and first sanded the letters off with 80 grit paper. I always run my press on the slowest speed, so there was no problem with the paper grabbing the bolt. I wasn't happy with the finish of the 80 grit, a bit dull, so I grabbed a piece of 400 grit and did it again. Perfect! Bolt head came out with a shiny machined look finish. You could use finer paper is you are going for a mirror finish.

Looks great!

That a pretty cool idea

Bama, I have a library of unique procedures for my post drill already, but with the theft of yours I can add to that bunch. Thank you for thinking outside the box.

Almost spit out my coffee when i read the post title..

[cl....Pretty neat idea .....

Really does not even look a carriage bolt anymore. Well done [cl

That is cool ! [cl[cl

Are they stainless steel? If not, a clear finish of some kind is likely needed.

Yes, stainless steel. I didn't want them to rust. They will be taken out and the holes welded shut one of these days. Figured it might be a while, so I went with stainless bolts and nuts so no problems getting them out later on.