Surfaces finishes on stainless steel are generally selected for appearance, although degree and extent of forming and welding should be taken into consideration. Where forming is severe, or much welding is done, it is often more economical to use a cold roller finish and then polish.

UNPOLISHED FINISHES

No. I Finish. Hot rolled, annealed and descaled. Produced by hot rolling followed by annealing and descaling.
Generally used in industrial applications, such as for heat or corrosion resistance, where smoothness of finish is not of particular importance.

No. 2D Finish. A dull cold rolled finish produced by cold rolling, annealing, and descaling. The dull finish may result from the descaling or pickling operation or may be developed by a final light cold roll pass on dull rolls. The dull finish is favorable for the retention of lubricants on the surface in deep drawing operations.
The finish is generally used in forming deep drawn articles which may be polished after fabrication.

No. 2B Finish. A bright cold rolled finish commonly produced in the same manner as No. 2D, except that the annealed and descaled sheet receives a final light cold rolled pass on polished rolls.
This is a general purpose cold rolled finish. It is commonly used for all but exceptionally difficult deep drawing applications.
This finish is more readily polished that No. 1 or No. 2D Finish.

BA Finish. (Bright annealed) bright cold rolled and controlled atmosphere annealed to retain highly reflective finish.

POLISHED FINISHES

No. 3 Finish is a polished finish obtained with abrasives approximately 100 mesh, and which may of may not be additionally polished during fabrication.

No. 4 Finish is a general purpose polished finish widely used for restaurant equipment, kitchen equipment, store fronts, dairy equipment, etc. Following initial grinding with coarser abrasives, sheets are generally finished last with abrasives approximately 120 to 150 mesh.

No. 6 Finish is a dull satin finish have lower reflectivity than No. 4 Finish. It is produced by Tampico brushing No. 4 Finish sheets in a medium of abrasive and oil.
It is used for architectural applications and ornamentation where a high luster is undesirable; it is also used effectively to contrast with brighter finishes.

No. 7 Finish has a high degree of reflectivity. It is produced by buffing of finely ground surface, but the grit lines are not removed. It is chiefly used for architectural and ornamental purposes.

No. 8 Finish is the most reflective finish that is commonly produced. It is obtained by polishing with successively finer abrasives and rubbing extensively with very fine buffing rouges. The surface is essentially free of grit lines from preliminary grinding operations. This finish is most widely used for press plates, as well as for mirrors and reflectors.

Sheets can be produced with one or two sides polished. When polished on one side only, the other side my be rough ground in order to obtain the necessary flatness.

*Standard stock polished finish is between 100 - 180 Grit (#3 to #4)