Oz, what do you mean by this "The satin will show the least wear, because the scratches will blend in with the blasted surface much better. You can't repair it easily though."
Repair?
thanks
deryk
Imagine you have two walls, one is painted flat white & one is painted with a splatter pattern. Now splatter a different color paint on each wall.
It's going to be pretty obvious on the white wall, but it'll blend in with the other one since it already has a pattern on it.
Now repeat, splatter more, and more, and more of that same color... eventually you're going to notice it just as much on both walls. With the white wall, you can just paint it white again & cover it all up like it never existed. On the other wall, you'll never be able to match that original pattern.
The satin is like the splattered wall. That media-blasted surface won't show the scratches at first. But once they keep adding up, you will notice them, but there's no easy way to restore it to it's original finish.
The polished is like the white wall. It will develop micro-scratches. You can apply a buffing compound & bring it right back to where it started. If it's just the micro-scratching from normal use, it really isn't that obvious (& if allowed to progress will turn into a beautiful patina)
This is an example of a well used, but well taken care of polished. If you look close, you can see some of the micro scratching - it's not scratched like it's been damaged, it's very, very fine. I don't have photos of a satin with similar age/treatment unfortunately.
