Putting a glossy finish on corian?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I'm currently working a project where some corian needed carved detail. After turning, the basic corian blank ended up with a high gloss finish (naturellement! :wink:) however the carved section is giving me trouble.

I've wet sanded down to 2000 grit but it's still a satin matte. I suspect that some EEE on a buffing wheel would give it the gloss I want, but the carving's fairly fragile and has some deep concavities which more or less rule out that idea. :( Does anyone have any other ideas as to how to put a gloss on it?

(I've a sneaking feeling that I'll end up taking the gloss off the rest of it with some sandpaper to match the carving, rather than t'other way round. Still, I'd prefer a gloss finish if I can manage it.)

[rsser]

Flood it with CA?

No warranty express or implied here; never tried it. Just read what our N. American cousins seem to be able to afford to do.

[scooter]

Polishing with a Dremel & mini buffing wheel?

[Frank&Earnest]

Polishing with a Dremel & mini buffing wheel?

I would go along this line, but the Dremel is way too fast. Given that I have a flexible attachment for a drill with a 6mm chuck I would make a small lambswool disk for it and run it at 1400 rpm. Haven't tried it before, though, this is just theoretical thinking. Good luck required and wished for!:D

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Hmmm... thanks for the ideas fellas. I'm not to keen on the CA idea, I seem to have developed an allergic reaction to the stuff. :( Too many pens, I think...

But I do have a Dremel... and it shouldn't be too hard to rig a reduction pulley between it and the flexible shaft. (He says with fingers & toes crossed.) Or maybe rig something to drive the flexi-shaft from the lathe? Hmmmm. [ponders]

I'll keep the CA in mind as an emergency fallback option, though!

[dai sensei]

What about using Liquid Glass, Envirotec or similar, they have a full gloss finish straight away. Even casting resin will work, but heat it to make it very thin as not to fill your voids, unless filling them is Ok.

[Frank&Earnest]

But I do have a Dremel... and it shouldn't be too hard to rig a reduction pulley between it and the flexible shaft. (He says with fingers & toes crossed.) Or maybe rig something to drive the flexi-shaft from the lathe?
I'll keep the CA in mind as an emergency fallback option, though!

Skew, you really don't have any power drill at all? I use an ancient B&D. The Dremel might not have enough power to drive the flexible shaft even with hardly any load, it could burn the motor in just a couple of minutes (unless we are talking different tools - mine is only 110W). The lathe should be fine, a pin chuck should be enough to hold the flexible shaft. And pardon my ignorance (I was ashamed to ask, considered that it is in every other post I was hoping to pick it up, but couldn't yet ....:- What is CA?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

And pardon my ignorance (I was ashamed to ask, considered that it is in every other post I was hoping to pick it up, but couldn't yet ....:- What is CA?

Superglue. :) Or more correctly: Cyano-acrylate.

My flexishaft is actually for the Dremel, so I've no concerns there. I do have a power-drill that I could use, but with such a small mop I'm not sure I need to drop the RPM quite that much.

A bit of experimenting on the morrow (sometime after the Melb. BBQ) will let me know one way or t'other. Hopefully it'll be a simple, straightforward task. [fingers Xed]

[Mobil Man]

F&E CA stands for "cyanoacrylate". About the same as Super Glue & Crazy Glue. There's also an Accelerator to set it instantly & Super Solvent to remove it from your fingers. Best brand I've found is from Woodcraft.

[DJ’s Timber]

Skew, I have a variable speed Dremel that you could use, can bring it tomorrow to the BBQ

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

There's also an Accelerator to set it instantly &

I call that "skin." :rolleyes:


Super Solvent to remove it from your fingers.

...and that, "Nail Polish Remover." :D

[Mobil Man]

Beat me to it, Skew. Guess that's what happens when one types with their middle finger & uses the backspace bar every few letters.:C

[Frank&Earnest]

Thanks for getting me unstuck with superglue (what a terrible pun! :D )
So the problem was not my motor smaller than yours, it was my shaft bigger than yours...:D Glad we sorted this out!

Cheers
Frank

[Mobil Man]

That was a good one, Frank.:2tsup: :D

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

So the problem was not my motor smaller than yours, it was my shaft bigger than yours...:D Glad we sorted this out!

Actually, now that I think on it, I have a miltary dentist's drill from the Vietnam/Korean war era. Both 240VAC & treadle power, for fairly obvious reasons. :oo: I wonder if I have a mop to fit it?

[Hickory]

My friend owns a Corian Manufacturing plant that make the counter tops and such. He has several different grits of sanding papers that he uses but told me to use White Scotch Brites to bring it to a shine... Remember that Corian seldom makes a hard gloss finish. But the White or at least Yellow Scotch brites work well .. Also Brown paper bags are just abrasive enough to rustle up a shine. IMHO the CA will just put a layer of itself on the surface and do nothing to put a shine to Corian.

[Sprog]

Micromesh is what you want :D

Also great for polishing out the scratches on face shields.

Here is one source - good to deal with.

http://stores.ebay.com.au/SCHREUDERS-MUSIC-STRING-INSTRUMENTS

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Well, I tried the dremel, buffing wheel and EEE. It worked, sort of, and brought it from a heavy matt finish to a satin gloss. (It also highlighted the odd area which neds more work at larger grits. :-) By my understanding, EEE is about the equivalent of a 1500-2000 grit so I can easily believe that brown paper could be needed for a full gloss.

Neither micromesh nor paper are really suitable for most of the intricacies of the carving, but I think I'll try 'em on the high relief to give it a "hand-worn" appearance.

Thanks again for the ideas, people. I'm slowly getting it to where I want it. :thyel:

[soundman]

micro abrasive automotive buffing compound is what you want.
costs about $16 a litre
I use it on my arilic pens and it is marvelous. there are generlay 3 grades the middle one is all you need.

on acrilic this stuff is all over EEE........ on the other hand on timber it is useless and EEE realy comes into its own.

cheers

[joe greiner]

Hmmm. Perhaps a DIY buffing wheel made from brown paper? Several layers in a sandwich, mounted on the Dremel arbor. Depending on intricacy of the carving, should fit edgewise. I expect it'd wear rapidly, so make a bunch of them.

Joe

[rodent]

Ill bring a small buffing wheel and some rustins polish over skew that'l do it . hickory what are you doing to your's some of my corian pens have been wandering around for years and they havent lost there finish?

[thostorey]

I recently polished a piece of corian with the Beale 3 wheel system and I found that I did not lose a lot of detail. I think that a Dremel buff wheel would do a good job with the 'white' compound, just take it easy and don't create too much heat by prolonged buffing of any one area.

Tom