# Acrylic finishes



## Guthriecb (Oct 14, 2019)

Since there are so many ways to skin a cat, how do you guys finish your acrylics to get a glassy mirror finish? I saw a video about using a flame to get an optical finish on acrylics after sanding. it wasn’t a pen but i found it interesting. Has anyone ever tried that?


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## randyrls (Oct 14, 2019)

Brian;  Cover the bed ways with shelf paper or other water proof material.  I normally use sandpaper from 320 to 2000 grit used wet.  sand with the lathe running at 500 RPM.  Stop the lathe and sand with the axis of the lathe while turning the pen slowly for each grit..  *Wipe the pen with a paper towel and wipe the sandpaper too*.  Buffing wheel with Tripoli, White Diamond, and lastly carnuba wax.


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## EricRN (Oct 14, 2019)

randyrls said:


> Brian;  Cover the bed ways with shelf paper or other water proof material.  I normally use sandpaper from 320 to 2000 grit used wet.  sand with the lathe running at 500 RPM.  Stop the lathe and sand with the axis of the lathe while turning the pen slowly for each grit..  *Wipe the pen with a paper towel and wipe the sandpaper too*.  Buffing wheel with Tripoli, White Diamond, and lastly carnuba wax.


I use the same approach with sand paper, but them run through micro mesh—the whole sequence—wet sanding radially with the lathe on and then longitudinally with the lathe off. After that, 4-6 coats of Huts Ultragloss.  I turn the lathe down to 900 rpm while applying the polish and then up to 1500-2000 while buffing off.  I usually will move to a clean part of the paper towel for buffing it. Then I apply 3-4 coats of Renaissance Wax with the lathe off and buff with it running at 2500. It usually gives me a pretty good finish.


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## bsshog40 (Oct 14, 2019)

I sand from 220 to 800, then turn to wet sanding with micro mesh all the way to 12,000. It looked good after that but I always take some McGuire's plastic polish as a last step. Just did this method to my pen I finished yesterday.


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## leehljp (Oct 14, 2019)

I don't know which of the grits in normal sand paper causes/allows a transition to take place from matt to shiny, but generally with Micro Mesh (MM) between 3000 and 4000 - the transition takes place. And it looks better with each increase in number. Finish it off with a fine polish.


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## erichardson (Oct 14, 2019)

I dry sand up to 600 grit, wet sand 800 and 1000. Then use the first two micro mesh pads (brown and green) and then I use all 6 stages of Zona paper, 3 coats of plastic polish and lastly buffing on my buffing wheel.


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## Charlie_W (Oct 14, 2019)

Some years ago, Jonathan Brooks showed some pen pics of using a torch on the CA finish. The torching process caused the CA to not have a high shine surface (which reflects) thus allowing one to see the wood or blank more clearly without reflections. I believe this also resulted in a flat finish/sheen.
Perhaps a search will pull up those posts.


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## Guthriecb (Oct 14, 2019)

Thanks for all the info guys. What I’ve gathered is everyone pretty much sands up through all of the MM pads and then some sort of polish and some folks buff and some don’t. I’ve seen some really beautiful pens on these forums. Bosshog, that one included. I saw that pen in the show off your pens forum. It really is nice work. Charliew, I’ll try to search that post. Thanks guys!!


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## Chasper (Oct 14, 2019)

I dry sand up to 600, then use wet micro mesh pads up to the max which I think is 12,000. After that buff with three grits, White diamond, hard white from Caswell, and blue from Caswell, no polish or wax. I believe that wax can make any finish a little more shiny, but is won't last for the years that a buyer will be using the pen. If I get the max shine from buffing only, then it will stay at that level for many years.


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## penicillin (Oct 14, 2019)

I dry sand up to 600, then cover the lathe bed and use wet micro mesh pads up to the max, which is 12,000. 

After that, I use Hut Ultra Gloss Plastic Polish. I am not sure that it adds much, but I imagine that it does.

I used to apply Renaissance Wax after that, until one of my friends asked, "After you polish it so nice, why would you dull the shine with wax?" After that, I stopped at the plastic polish and didn't use the Renaissance Wax any more.


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## TonyL (Oct 14, 2019)

There is a way to removed scratches/polish using "vapor". I watched a YouTube videos several time and it didn't look like it was something that I can do safely.
I use sharp tools, sand paper and buffing compounds. I was highly interested in the chemical vapor and heating methods though.


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## DrD (Oct 14, 2019)

Another view point would be to talk to some automobile detailing/restoration experts and see what they use.  I have wet papers up to 12000 ANSI Grit Equivalent which is a whole heap finer than 12000 MM, followed by a series of different cuts of Macguirs (SP?) or other auto polishes on the polishing wheel.


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## Guthriecb (Oct 15, 2019)

TonyL said:


> There is a way to removed scratches/polish using "vapor". I watched a YouTube videos several time and it didn't look like it was something that I can do safely.
> I use sharp tools, sand paper and buffing compounds. I was highly interested in the chemical vapor and heating methods though.



I saw a video comparing vapor, flame, and polish. The flame won, but it wasn’t a pen. He was trying to make optical quality lenses I think. I just found it interesting and wondered if anyone had something off the wall that’s they do regularly. It was a cool video. The vapor method was definitely a pass for me! Lol. 


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