# Plastic Polish or no Plastic Polish



## wfsteadman (Nov 23, 2016)

Folks when I turn wooden pens I put coats of CA on them and then buff them out with MM through 12000, If I were to use Plastic Polish that many speak of, will I notice a difference?  If so, can you recommend a decent plastic polish and where you purchase it from.

When you do acrylic pens and buff with MM to 12000, do you put polish on them as well?  If so is it a different polish?

THANKS
and HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING TO ALL
For those not in the US, I wish you a blessed Weekend also


----------



## Skie_M (Nov 23, 2016)

I use Meguair's Plast-X ...  You can find it in auto parts stores.  It is used to revitalize and polish plastic car parts, by most people ... especially acrylic headlight lenses!  Cyanoacrylate is also a plastic, being acrylic, so it responds quite well to this treatment.

You may have noticed that there is another plastic polish out there that is being sold for this same use ...  You get a 4 to 6 ounce bottle of the stuff, and it is noted for breaking down during use so that the polish gets finer and finer ... from about 10,000 grit it goes up past 30,000 grit for a super nice shine.

Don't bother with it ... you pay 15 dollars for that little bottle, and not only is it ALSO made by Meguiar's, it's the exact same product .... but the one you'll get from the auto parts store is 12 ounces for around 12 dollars. 

Finally, I put a wax topcoat on my pens after the polishing step.  Turtle Wax Hard Surface (I use the liquid rather than the paste wax, but you could use either).  This stuff is excellent for keeping fingerprints and moisture off the pen body.


----------



## jttheclockman (Nov 23, 2016)

Weather it is a CA wood pen or an acrylic, I always finish with a plastic polish and yes by all means it is a + My method and again there are many others, but I have been using the Micro mesh line of products since I started turning pens 10 year+ ago. I use Micro-Gloss #3MG2 first and then finish with Micro-Finish (polish) #3MF2 Wipe on and let dry with lathe spinning and then polish with a soft white paper towel. Works for me.


----------



## Edgar (Nov 23, 2016)

I use the StickFast CA Polish (glossy) on my acrylic blanks, then top that off with a shot of Plexus

Buy StickFast CA Polish Gloss 2oz at Woodcraft.com

https://www.amazon.com/Plexus-20214...ie=UTF8&qid=1479929301&sr=8-3&keywords=plexus


I sometimes do the same with a CA finish, but more often I just apply a coat of carnauba wax with a white HUT bar, then buff it with a wad of white paper towel (I don't have a buffing wheel or I would use that instead of the paper towel).


----------



## JimB (Nov 23, 2016)

I use the Huts product.


----------



## Charlie_W (Nov 23, 2016)

Yes to plastic polish!  

After wet sanding to 12K, I use a plastic polish and also buff.
Not only does the polish and buffing help with shine, both are continuing the sanding process. 

Not all plastic polishes are the same. I have only tried a couple but was very happy with the results. I had a bottle of plastic polish from PSI and then a bottle from Barry Gross. If you put a dab between your fingers and rub your fingers together, you will start to feel the difference as you continue to rub. As the liquid medium diminishes, you will feel the remaining abrasive material.
The PSI feels much more gritty/course than the polish from Barry Gross.

I am sure there are many fine products out there as well. I am making a point that they differ in their abrasive factor.

As for buffing, I am using the two wheel setup also from Barry Gross. One wheel with the blue rouge followed by a clean wheel. No wax.

As a test, get a solid black blank, turn it round and try different polishes, buffing, etc in comparison to your current method. Once again, look to see how nicely the blank looks as to swirl (scratch) marks as well as shine.

Good luck!


----------



## TattooedTurner (Nov 23, 2016)

Absolutely! You can see the polish bring out the shine as you buff it off. Get a cheap 10x magnifying glass and inspect it before & after polishing, you'll be surprised at the difference. I use Novus products since that's what I started with on models well over 15 years ago, but there are other good ones out there.


----------



## qquake (Nov 24, 2016)

It's probably overkill, but I use three different plastic polishes. I use Novus 3 then 2, then Meguiar's PlastX. I'm very happy with the results they give me. I get the Novus products from Amazon, and the PlastX at Wal-Mart.


----------



## Dan Masshardt (Nov 24, 2016)

qquake said:


> It's probably overkill, but I use three different plastic polishes. I use Novus 3 then 2, then Meguiar's PlastX. I'm very happy with the results they give me. I get the Novus products from Amazon, and the PlastX at Wal-Mart.





I think we all have areas of overkill that we have just gotten used to. 

Having used all those, I found plastx to be most similar to novus 3.   Novus 2 is pretty darn fine.  


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## GaryMGg (Nov 24, 2016)

I use Novus 3, 2, 1. 1 is similar to the plastic polishes.


----------



## tonylumps (Nov 24, 2016)

I m new to Pen turning I have had my lathe for about 3 Months and turned about 80 pens I also do a lot of scroll work.It is addicting.Half of my pens are acrylic.That is what all of the ladies want.I just got the acrylic buff yesterday.I put aside 2 finished blanks so I could try it out as soon as it arrived.I can not believe the finish on this White pearl blank.Beautiful.As far as the wood blanks I am very happy with the friction finish.I think that keeping the buff wheels from getting contaminated is a must or you would be defeating its purpose.


----------



## edstreet (Nov 24, 2016)

wfsteadman said:


> Folks when I turn wooden pens I put coats of CA on them and then buff them out with MM through 12000, If I were to use Plastic Polish that many speak of, will I notice a difference?  If so, can you recommend a decent plastic polish and where you purchase it from.
> 
> When you do acrylic pens and buff with MM to 12000, do you put polish on them as well?  If so is it a different polish?
> 
> ...



See here.   http://www.penturners.org/forum/f56/dragon-sceptre;-gent-tube-conversion-114232/?highlight=novus

Also here.  http://www.penturners.org/forum/f28/novus-3-questions-115962/#post1592056

You can see where I gave the lowdown and how awesome it is.  There's no need to use micromesh if your using a polish, i.e. Novus.  Also it's not needed to use all 3 (3, 2 and 1) you can get by just fine with #3.  Think of #1 as closer to pledge furniture polish than anything that will help polish.


...



edstreet said:


> *Novus #3* is Alumina 10-30% by weight.  _It will remove 600-800 grit scratch marks._  It is also aggressive in it's approach and very effective.  The cleaning agent helps the alumina in producing the polished results.
> 
> 
> *Novus #2* is Silica, Amorphous, Diatomaceous Earth 3-7% by weight.  _It will remove 1,500 grit marks._  The liquid agents are more carrier based than cleaners thus rendering it less aggressive than #3.
> ...


----------



## GaryMGg (Nov 25, 2016)

Good post Ed; I didn't know those facts albeit I did think of #3 like a spray cleaner.


----------



## efrulla (Nov 25, 2016)

I use Dr. Kirks 3 step polishing system and love the results


----------



## edstreet (Nov 25, 2016)

#1 is the cleaner. #3 is your main polishing product. It replaces and eliminates micromesh usage.


----------



## More4dan (Nov 25, 2016)

After MM to 12000 I just use pink rouge on my buffer for a brilliant clear finish. MM is great but not quite finished without another step. 

Danny


----------

