Finishing Acrylic?

[wickford]

Hello,

I'm looking for some opinions/advise on finishing acrylic. Some that I've talked to do not put any finish on it at all, and some use their same finish regimen as on wood. I have a couple of blanks that I'd like to try out but I want to make sure I get them finished well too.

Any information is most appreciated!!!

Thanks!!

 

[pipeyeti]

I sand thru 400, then mm thru 12000, then beal 3 buff system (tripoli,white diamond,carnuba) and they look like glass.

 

[rherrell]

I wet sand with 400 then 600 and then buff with tripoli and white diamond. I apply Ren. wax at assembly and buff by hand. Works real good.

 

[pipeyeti]

forgot to add that all sanding and mm I use lots of water but put a towel over the ways to avoid rust. this also applies to trustone as well.

 

[wickford]

so what's the advantage of wet sanding? Never tried that on pens?

Also, will crystal clear paste wax work as a final polish? I don't have a beal system...?

 

[pipeyeti]

wet sanding keeps the plastic cool and also helps to flush away sanding particals resulting in a smoother finish. Be sure to wipe the item off with a papaer towel between grits. I don't recoment wet sanding wood. Its the same reason for wet sanding fine paint finishes.

 

[Ligget]

I wet sand from 320 to 500, then wet MM from 1500 to 12000. Stopping the lathe every second grit to sand length wise.[xx(]

After sanding I remove any minute scratches left with Hut Plastic Polish then apply a couple of coats of Ren Wax.[8D]

 

[jwoodwright]

I wet sand out to 2000 grit, then use MAAS Polish. It's a Metal Polish, works well on Corian and Acrylics...

I was going further and people complained about pen being too slick to hold...

 

[simomatra]

I sand through the Grits up to 1500, wet sanding from 600, stopping the lathe between grits to go length wise. The on to wet MM upto12000, cut with a fibreglass polish and then with Rustins burnishing cream

 

[R2]

I've only ever wet sanded to 2400 grit W&D and finished of with toothpaste _ NOT the gel type. Gives a great finish!

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Another good method is using Novus scratch remover.

 

[rdunn12]

I sand to 400 then mm to 12000,finish off with Novus.