Will 409 stainless tubing polish?

I'm looking to make some exhaust tips that I can polish up. I've seen both 304 and 409 stainless tubing avalible. I'm pretty sure that the 304 will polish(most polished mufflers are 304), but will the 409 take a polish and stay shiney with minimal maintanace? Thanks for the info.

 

Stole this off the first site googled...

Stainless Steel - 400 Series

These grades of stainless have 11 to 30% chromium as the major alloy addition and are low carbon. Ductility and formability are less than that of the austenitic grades. The corrosion resistance competes with the austenitic grades for certain applications. Thermal conductivity is about half that of carbon steels. Ferritic stainless steels are magnetic, and resistance to high-temperature corrosion is better than that of martensitic types. They generally have good ductility and can be welded or fabricated without difficulty. These grades can be processed to develop an aesthetically pleasing, bright finish and, hence, are sometimes used for automotive trim and appliance molding. They also find use in functional applications where cost is a major factor, e.g., automotive exhaust systems, catalytic converters, radiator caps, and chimney liners. These grades can be hardened by cold rolling, but cannot be hardened as much as the austenitic alloys.



409 ALMZ®
S40930 Exhaust systems, mufflers, manifolds, exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, tail pipes Core: Cr 11, Ti+Cb, low C, balance Fe Coating: Si 7, balance Al ASTM A240 ASTM A428
( ) 55
(380) 40
(275) 31 68 Rb
------------------------------------------------------------------------
409/AL 409 HP
S40900/S40930 Exhaust systems, mufflers, manifolds, exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, tail pipes, thermostats fuel filters, culverts, home heating systems, electrical transformer cases, caskets, heat exchanger tubing, farm equipment, blades, vanes in standby power generation turbines and jet engine sound-deadening devices at airports

 

one of my first jobs in machine shops was buffing then electro-polishing 400 series stainless cast pieces for the medical industry. we'd buff them to get the finer marks and inclusions out, then electro-polish them to get a super bright finish, similar to chrome plating. if i was to try and get a real nice shine thats what id do again. it cant be that expensive.

 

409 will polish, but it tends to rust when it's heated. I'd use the 304.

 

409 won't rust unless it comes into contact with iron.
If you powerbuff it your buffsmust bededicated to it and not used on anything that has iron in it.
It will also go gold with heat, this can be polished out by hand with the right polishes.

 

Thanks for the info guys.