Metal Finishing for Cookware

Cookware:  Most cookware is made from either aluminum or stainless steel.  Aluminum provides good heat distribution and is often used for the least expensive cookware.  Stainless Steel better wear characteristics and is often more expensive.  The truly high end cookware is made from a multi-ply (or clad) material—this often has an outside and inside stainless layer to provide good wear and a bright appearance but also have an aluminum layer in the middle to provide even heat distribution for better, more consistent cooking.

Whether the outside of the cookware is made of aluminum or stainless steel the simple round shape of most cookware is most often buffed with the fast, efficient tangential buffing methods.  Although for aluminum parts care should be taken to minimize the amount of heat that can build up in tangential buffing. They usually use a simple multi-buffing head rotary machine to do both the sides and the top of the cookware.  For small quantities cookware can be buffed on a hand jack with the use of a spinner to cover the sides in a uniform manner.

For several reasons it is important not to put too much pressure when buffing cookware, not the least of which is to minimize the “Coffee Can Effect”.  This happens when hard buffs (usually sisal buffs) are applied for too long with too much pressure and imparts lines into the part that look like the old coffee cans.  A uniform finish can be achieved by applying moderate pressure on each buff head and sometimes angling (5 to 7 degrees) a few of the buff heads to reduce the coffee can effect.   As with other types of tangential buffing, cookware uses the color stroke as the final step to provide a bright, clean surface before the part go to the final wash and pack step.