Dull acrylic finish?

[qquake]

A friend of mine prefers a dull finish on his pens. Is here a method for doing this besides wet sanding without polishing? I'm afraid it might leave visible scratches.

 

[ThatGuysPens]

They have a satin plastic polish. I have not used it myself so I don't know if it works.

Buy StickFast CA Polish Satin 2oz at Woodcraft.com

 

[qquake]

That's interesting. I didn't know satin polish existed.

 

[TBCbushings]

I would polish and then go over it with steel wool to Dull it a bit.

 

[leehljp]

CA it and then Micromesh it down from 8000/10000. Around 3600/4000 will do this. I have done this on several occasions. For what it is worth, I MM'ed it up to 10000 and came back down to get the satin finish. A few here (way back when) criticized that as unnecessary. However, I felt that I needed to get ALL scratches out and you can't see that until you have a fully glossy coat. At that point, you can back it down to the point that it appears as satin.

Polish will wear off. But I imagine that a MM 4000 finish, and then coated with the satin polish should do well together.

 

[thewishman]

I would polish and then go over it with steel wool to Dull it a bit.

I do what Brian and Lee do, make it relatively shiny then dull it back down. I use either steel wool or the 1500 MM.

 

[Charlie_W]

A few years ago, Jonathon Brooks posted and if I recall, may have had a pic or video of using a torch on the finished CA. This would cause the gloss or reflective surface to become dull and not reflect light allowing one to truly see the tone and coloring of the blank it self.
Caution is advised as too much heat will probably blister the CA.

Good Luck!

 

[qquake]

CA it and then Micromesh it down from 8000/10000. Around 3600/4000 will do this. I have done this on several occasions. For what it is worth, I MM'ed it up to 10000 and came back down to get the satin finish. A few here (way back when) criticized that as unnecessary. However, I felt that I needed to get ALL scratches out and you can't see that until you have a fully glossy coat. At that point, you can back it down to the point that it appears as satin.

Polish will wear off. But I imagine that a MM 4000 finish, and then coated with the satin polish should do well together.

A few years ago, Jonathon Brooks posted and if I recall, may have had a pic or video of using a torch on the finished CA. This would cause the gloss or reflective surface to become dull and not reflect light allowing one to truly see the tone and coloring of the blank it self.
Caution is advised as too much heat will probably blister the CA.

Good Luck!

It's acrylic I'm talking about. Why would I put a CA finish on it?

 

[Charlie_W]

CA it and then Micromesh it down from 8000/10000. Around 3600/4000 will do this. I have done this on several occasions. For what it is worth, I MM'ed it up to 10000 and came back down to get the satin finish. A few here (way back when) criticized that as unnecessary. However, I felt that I needed to get ALL scratches out and you can't see that until you have a fully glossy coat. At that point, you can back it down to the point that it appears as satin.

Polish will wear off. But I imagine that a MM 4000 finish, and then coated with the satin polish should do well together.

A few years ago, Jonathon Brooks posted and if I recall, may have had a pic or video of using a torch on the finished CA. This would cause the gloss or reflective surface to become dull and not reflect light allowing one to truly see the tone and coloring of the blank it self.
Caution is advised as too much heat will probably blister the CA.

Good Luck!

It's acrylic I'm talking about. Why would I put a CA finish on it?

Jim,
I listed this as an option to sanding your finished pen back down and possibly introducing scratches. Also not sure if sanding back down creates a slight haze on the surface which will reduce the clarity.
Adding the CA over the acrylic blank allows this technique to be used in conjunction with an acrylic blank instead of sanding.
Check in with Jonathon for the details.

 

[Charlie_W]

CA it and then Micromesh it down from 8000/10000. Around 3600/4000 will do this. I have done this on several occasions. For what it is worth, I MM'ed it up to 10000 and came back down to get the satin finish. A few here (way back when) criticized that as unnecessary. However, I felt that I needed to get ALL scratches out and you can't see that until you have a fully glossy coat. At that point, you can back it down to the point that it appears as satin.

Polish will wear off. But I imagine that a MM 4000 finish, and then coated with the satin polish should do well together.

A few years ago, Jonathon Brooks posted and if I recall, may have had a pic or video of using a torch on the finished CA. This would cause the gloss or reflective surface to become dull and not reflect light allowing one to truly see the tone and coloring of the blank it self.
Caution is advised as too much heat will probably blister the CA.

Good Luck!

It's acrylic I'm talking about. Why would I put a CA finish on it?

Materials such as PVC have been used for pens but I think I recall that it does not shine up like acrylic blanks. In a case such as this, a CA finish can be applied to obtain that desired gloss finish.

 

[WriteON]

I use the micro finishing pads. After the last (6th side) you should be good. Or use Novus 3, 2 and stop.

 

[qquake]

I use both Novus and Micro Mesh. I like the idea of polishing all the way, and then going backwards.

 

[leehljp]

It's acrylic I'm talking about. Why would I put a CA finish on it?

Since it IS acrylic, the same answers apply. Polish it out with 10000 mm and back it down, or use steel wool as mentioned. CA, acrylic for all practical purposes it produces the same results.

 

[qquake]

The first two pics are after wet sanding with 320 and 400 grit. The next two are after the first two grades of Micro Mesh. Then after all nine grades of MM. And the final two are after 0000 steel wool. I like how it turned out. Thanks guys for the suggestion.

 

[qquake]

I got both bodies done. I used the steel wool both while the lathe was turning, and lengthwise with the lathe off. If you look at the photos close enough, you can barely see tiny scratches. But with my naked eyes, they look great. I'm well pleased.