I've got a small cast iron combination victorian fireplace (2ft x 3ft) being dipped. When I get it back, I want to 'burnish' or polish it to a grey/shiny finish rather than the normal black matt. I cannot find ANY videos or 'how to' guides on how to do this. So, does anyone know how to get the shiny/grey/burnished finish? Can any/every cast iron black matt fireplace be turned to a shiny grey colour or is there a special coating involved?
You can use this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stovax-Bla...eywords=fireplace+black&qid=1607357749&sr=8-6 It polishes up to a beautiful dark grey shiny finish - probably just what you want BUT, be warned you cannot ever totally remove the fact that it will rub off slightly for ever - it's a graphite based compound, so looks great, but don't plan to e.g. squeeze past it in a white shirt/dress if e.g. it's in a bedroom. Guess how I know If it's for a front room fire which you won't rub up against, it should be just what you need.
No that's grate black, use it on my fireplace, think the op is looking to polish the cast iron, may get a better finish with rotary wire brush in a drill which will burnish it to a degree.
"Wax-based graphite polish, giving a brilliant silver-black finish to cast iron stoves and fireplaces." https://www.stovax.com/accessories/black-grate-polish/
I've just stripped our previously painted cast iron fireplace and once back to bare cast iron, I used Liberon Iron Paste (it's still available but I can't post a link at present) to do exactly what you're looking for. It's brilliant, but as Mr Rusty says for his stuff, it does rub off on anything brushing against it. No offence to Astramax, but I wouldn't go anywhere near it with a wire wheel. I tried that and all it did was leave it looking scratched. Cast iron is fairly soft stuff.
Thanks guys - that's the clearest advice I've had on this issue! It's weird that there are no vids of people polishing thier fireplaces to a grey or a high shine. I'll give that polish a go once the fireplace is back. Assume I just have to get stuck in buffing it once the polish had gone on. So smear it on, rub it in, then use a new clean cloth to buff it? Better have my weetabix that morning! ;-)
Used a paint brush on mine to apply the paste and a shoe brush to buff it off, a rotary brush in a drill also works well.
I put mine on with a toothbrush (made sure to clean it well afterwards - I didn't want grey, shiny teeth...) and buffed it with a microfibre cloth. Very little effort involved. I don't know about a clear wax seal incidentally. It's certainly an idea. But our fireplace is near a corner, so we're very unlikely to brush against it anyway.