Scooley01
Member
I love turning acrylics. There are amazing colors and designs out there, and they can really turn out stellar.
I've had a problem as long as I've turned them, though, that I just can't seem to solve. After I've done everything I can to polish the blank, I still have very faint (VERY faint) circular marks. They're typically only visible when you have a good light reflecting on the pen, and they're very fine scratches, but I hate it!
So I wanted to put my method of polishing up here, and see if maybe I'm doing something wrong.
To start, I sand using paper (on rolls from PSI). I typically start with the 320, but it depends on how rough the blank is after turning. I do the 320, stop the lathe and look for any deep scratches it might have made, and sand lengthwise with the lathe off to get rid of those. Then on to the next grit (400), and stop and sand lengthwise, then 600 grit the same way.
Then I take a paper towel (Scott's Rags in a box) and dampen it, and wipe down the blank to get all the dust off.
From here, it's wet sanding with my MM. I have the MM sitting in a tupperware dish of water, so they have a lot of water on them. I use the sanding pad in one hand, and a paper towel to dry the blank between pads in the other. I go through each grit, usually I skip the first one (600) because it's too rough and does more harm than good. I check the blank in between each grit to make sure it's sanding well, I'm not missing spots, etc.
After the MM, I use One-Step polish from PSI. I know One-Step's instructions say sand to 600, then polish, but I find the surface is much nicer if you use the MM before the One-Step. I take a folded up paper towel, and run a line of One-Step out of the bottle along the blank. I rub it in somewhat with the lathe off, then turn the lathe on. I wipe for a second, then switch to a clean part of the towel to buff the One-Step off. I do this 2-3 times.
The surface is really shiny for the most part at this point...with the exception of those tiny scratches I mentioned. I tried to get a picture but they're too fine to photograph!
So am I doing something wrong here that's causing these marks? Or are they just a by-product of a handmade product and they're normal?
I've had a problem as long as I've turned them, though, that I just can't seem to solve. After I've done everything I can to polish the blank, I still have very faint (VERY faint) circular marks. They're typically only visible when you have a good light reflecting on the pen, and they're very fine scratches, but I hate it!
So I wanted to put my method of polishing up here, and see if maybe I'm doing something wrong.
To start, I sand using paper (on rolls from PSI). I typically start with the 320, but it depends on how rough the blank is after turning. I do the 320, stop the lathe and look for any deep scratches it might have made, and sand lengthwise with the lathe off to get rid of those. Then on to the next grit (400), and stop and sand lengthwise, then 600 grit the same way.
Then I take a paper towel (Scott's Rags in a box) and dampen it, and wipe down the blank to get all the dust off.
From here, it's wet sanding with my MM. I have the MM sitting in a tupperware dish of water, so they have a lot of water on them. I use the sanding pad in one hand, and a paper towel to dry the blank between pads in the other. I go through each grit, usually I skip the first one (600) because it's too rough and does more harm than good. I check the blank in between each grit to make sure it's sanding well, I'm not missing spots, etc.
After the MM, I use One-Step polish from PSI. I know One-Step's instructions say sand to 600, then polish, but I find the surface is much nicer if you use the MM before the One-Step. I take a folded up paper towel, and run a line of One-Step out of the bottle along the blank. I rub it in somewhat with the lathe off, then turn the lathe on. I wipe for a second, then switch to a clean part of the towel to buff the One-Step off. I do this 2-3 times.
The surface is really shiny for the most part at this point...with the exception of those tiny scratches I mentioned. I tried to get a picture but they're too fine to photograph!
So am I doing something wrong here that's causing these marks? Or are they just a by-product of a handmade product and they're normal?