How do you all polish acrylic resin?

[arjudy]

I am having a little trouble achieving a glass-like polish on some snakeskin blanks. They are encased in an acrylic resin. I am using MM up to 12000. The blanks have a shine to them but not like glass.
Should I be wet sanding them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[wayneis]

YES you should always wet sand any type of acrylic using water. Then if you want the shine to jump out at you a little more buff with white dimond.

Wayne

 

[alamocdc]

What Wayne said, Alan. After wetsanding through all grits of MM, some of us use a plastic polish or automotive anti-swirl cream. That really does the trick.

 

[LanceD]

I use Novus 1 and 2. One removes any swirl marks and tiny scratches left over after wet sanding with MM and part 2 polishes it to a high gloss.

 

[Mikey]

I've made more than a few without wet sanding, but wet sanding makes the process go 5x faster and is about foolproof. The secret is to nothold the MM in one place, but move it around a lot, like you would be polishing a car. When I started doing that, I had no lines around 6,000 grit. Also, a light touch is needed, and always follow with some sort of polish or swirl remover for that nice shine. Some use a plastic polish, some a swirl remover, while some just use an auto polish.

 

[jdavis]

We wet sand then Novus 1 @ 2. Works great for us

 

[Efletche]

When you guys say 'wet sanding', are you just putting a few drops of water to the MM, or are you soaking the MM in water before using? Are you all also using a buffing system, like Beales as well?

 

[alamocdc]

Ed, I can't answer for others, but I get my MM very wet. So much so, that I lay a plastic drop across my ways before I start because they would be soaked by the time I was done otherwise and I don't want that much water on my lathe. I discovered this the hard way. No matter how well you dry it up or have it protected w/wax, you will experience some surface rust unless it's covered. []

 

[C. Scott]

Ed,

I have an old towel that I lay across the bed of the lathe and I use a spray bottle. I use A LOT of water. I don't have the issue of my sand paper or MM clogging or getting too hot. I spritz the paper and then after I start sanding I continue to spritz the blank every 3 to 5 seconds. It works for me. []

 

[Mikey]

I just use an acid/glue brush dipped in water. I brush some water onto the barrel, then follow with the MM. In between each grit, I take a paper towel to the turning so that all the old residue goes away and then I apply the glue brush with water again, followed by the next grit. No water on the lathe and still plenty to do the job. Takes maybe 5 minutes of sanding per pen, and I don't need to clean up a ton of water.

Since I only use one corner of the MM, why get the whole thing all wet and dripping?

 

[wayneis]

Yes to both questions. I use quite a bit of water and I also use the Beall buffing system after I wet sand and polish with plastic cleaner I buff. I've had a couple people tell me that I am going backwards from plastic polish to buffing but I see a very large difference with most materials when I use my way.

Wayne

Originally posted by Efletche
<br />When you guys say 'wet sanding', are you just putting a few drops of water to the MM, or are you soaking the MM in water before using? Are you all also using a buffing system, like Beales as well?

 

[Mattmck]

Also important to wipe away the 'slurry' between grits. I use the spray bottle to wash it away, then wipe clean with a towel. Your MM will last tons longer when wetsanding also.

 

[jdavis]

we use novice 1&2

 

[arjudy]

Thanks all. I ended up wet sanding with MM and polishing with 20/20 plastic polish and pretty much got the result I was looking for. Thanks again.

 

[Dan]

HUT sells a product called Ultra Gloss, a microabrasive in suspension that I really like for my resins and acrylics. Wet sand (I use a small bowl of water and soak the MM, changing the water often as I rinse the MM, and a folded kitchen towel on the bed of the lathe) through the MM grits, dry and polish with Ultra Gloss. A pea-sized dot on a "T" shirt to apply and then move to a clean spot on the shirt to buff/shine to a mirror-like gloss.

I use LOTS of water, rinse the MM often and remove the "cream" often and between MM grades to avoid digs and carry-over scratches. I also use MM and Rennaisance Wax every now and then to clean and protect my lathe bed.

You'll find your way,

Dan