Finishing Plastics

[ngeb528]

I keep seeing people posting about using a buffing system to finish plastic.

My husband and I found out that silver polish works great for finishing pens and stoppers.

We wet sand to 600 grit then use the micro pads to start the shine. We then use a little silver polish to make it sparkle.

Has anyone else used it?

We're going to try casting some PR and I was wondering if anyone had tried silver polish on it and how it worked.

Nancy

 

[GaryMadore]

I have used brass polish (Brasso) and various cut-polishes.

What I have been using lately, and really enjoy, is (Mother's) Aluminium Polish for mag wheels... Makes the bushings and brass nut really shiny too

Cheers!

Gary

 

[ahoiberg]

the nice thing about finishing plastics is you can use pretty much any liquid polish with some abrasive in it and it comes out real shiny.

 

[thewishman]

You can polish silver with toothpaste - that would be cheaper than silver polish. It would smell better, too. If you need a heavier grit, you can use the teeth-whitening formula.

 

[cnirenberg]

I would test the plastic material out BEFORE putting the finished product to the buffer. I had an experience in which I had completed turning a real nice piece of one-of-a-kind acrylic. Figured that the buffer would gloss it up real good. I got it too hot and the sucker melted right through to the brass tube. The worst part is that my 3 year old still says those words in public. I'm a bit more embarrassed that I should have known to test a piece out first. I now use EEE cream and some Flitz/Mcguires.

 

[ngeb528]

You can polish silver with toothpaste - that would be cheaper than silver polish. It would smell better, too. If you need a heavier grit, you can use the teeth-whitening formula.

Probably smells good too.

Nancy