Stainless finishes: 2B, brushed #4 and mirror #8 — where each belongs
Stainless arrives with its finish already on it, and the wrong one is expensive to change. A quick map of the mill and polished finishes, and which job each is built for.
表紙 · 工場The finish comes on the sheet
Unlike powder coat, a stainless finish isn’t added at the end — it’s rolled or polished into the sheet before we ever cut it. That means the finish is a purchasing decision, made when the job is quoted, not a step we can bolt on later. Pick it early and we protect it all the way through fabrication.
2B and BA — the mill finishes
2B is the default: a smooth, lightly reflective grey straight off the rolling mill — the most common and most affordable face, and the base most other finishes start from. BA (bright annealed) is a step up, near-mirror but softer, common on lift panels and appliance trim.
Brushed #4 — the workhorse
A directional satin grain, and by far the most-specified finish for anything seen and touched: kitchen benches, splashbacks, cladding, handrails. The grain hides fingerprints and light scratches, and — crucially — it’s field-repairable: a scuff blends out with a matching abrasive. A finer version, hairline, gives a tighter, more premium grain.
Grain direction is a spec, not a detail. On a run of panels it all has to run the same way, or the wall looks wrong.
Mirror #8 — premium and unforgiving
A true reflective polish for feature work — lift interiors, signage, sculpture. It looks superb and shows absolutely everything: every fingerprint, every weld, every swirl. It’s the most expensive finish and the one that most rewards clean handling and hidden joints. If a mirror part is welded, plan the seam where the eye won’t land.
| FINISH | LOOK | HIDES MARKS | COST |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2B | Smooth grey | No | $ |
| Brushed #4 | Satin grain | Yes | $$ |
| Mirror #8 | Reflective | No | $$$ |
Hygiene note: for food and medical, a smooth or fine-brushed face cleans down better than a coarse grain that traps residue.
Not sure which finish your job needs? Tell us where the part goes — kitchen, façade, machine guard — and we’ll match a finish, protect it through fabrication, and hand it over unmarked.