Thread: Polishing/finishing resin cast systems

Is this the type of system you are referring to? Or the original Beall system too.

That's what I've seen some people use, any first hand users reading?

And thanks for the quick reply.

We have a Beall three wheel buffer for the lathe. It is a good product but it was originally designed for polishing lathe turned wood and the finishes used on them. It does work on pens, both CA finished wood and plastics, doing a good job. It is a lot easier than polishing them with micro mesh and polishing liquids.

If I were going to do it again I would look into the buffing wheels and compounds specifically for plastics. Caswell is a worldwide company that supplies all kinds of polishing stuff for metals and plastics. You have a division in Melbourne. Caswell Australia - Plating Kits, Powder Coating, Metal Polishing Rather than the three wheels on a shaft arrangement the Beall and imitators use I would get the arbors and can hold them with the lathe chuck, one for each buffing wheel. Also download their buffing and polishing booklet. Caswell Australia. Plating kits, Chrome, Gold, Nickel. Powdercoating & Polishing There is a lot of good information in it.

If your Dragon Egg is a wood resin hybrid (worthless wood) you might want to do it a little differently than if it is all resin. A buddy stayed here a few years ago to attend a woodturning symposium our club put on. He made my wife an egg from stabilized and dyed wood and Alumilite (polyurethane resin) as a thank you for staying with us. He turned it and sanded it to 600 or 800 grit and then sprayed multiple coats of lacquer (spray bomb), lightly hand sanding between coats to get the nibs etc off. When done he polished it on the buffer. That put an even gloss on the wood and resin.

Have fun
Pete

I suggest study YouTube and try a few different methods and work out what best works for YOU. People swear by a method but it comes down to how they physically do it too and we are all slightly different so we need to find what works best for us and the only way is by trying and seeing how we go.

Rather than lashing money for several different varieties and leaving stuff in the drawer unused, I thought it better to see what my fellow woodies are using.

Hey mate. I am by no means an expert having only turned a couple resin pieces. However, I will share what worked for me.
If not already purchased a negative rake finishing carbide works so much better than gouges or cutting carbides. No catching or shattering resin with NR carbides
From there I got a good result from just using sandpaper. Dry paper to 600 then wet and dry sand paper with water from 800 to 2000. I didnt use any polish as it didnt need it but I am thinking of using some McGuiars PlastX (from any auto shop) to see if it makes any appreciable difference.
Can take some before and after pics of the resin for you if interested

Originally Posted by Fallen Woodwork

Hey mate. I am by no means an expert having only turned a couple resin pieces. However, I will share what worked for me.
If not already purchased a negative rake finishing carbide works so much better than gouges or cutting carbides. No catching or shattering resin with NR carbides
From there I got a good result from just using sandpaper. Dry paper to 600 then wet and dry sand paper with water from 800 to 2000. I didnt use any polish as it didnt need it but I am thinking of using some McGuiars PlastX (from any auto shop) to see if it makes any appreciable difference.
Can take some before and after pics of the resin for you if interested

I'd like to see!

Hi Brains.
This is ironwood that had a significant pipe through the centre of a 160-180mm'ish log
This was my first of a run of epoxy resin bowls. Some small teething issues with the natural wood resin pockets creating small voids/discolouration in the epoxy in a couple spots
Before

After


Before

After

All images are unedited straight from the phone
Unfortunately my phone lens does not do macro shots so the fine detail is lost with these images. The before and after pics of the first profile shot does not show any appreciable difference.
I can say however that very fine lines remained after using 2000 W&D paper, albeit only if looking very closely.

After seeing the OP post I thought about making my own dragon egg sometime and thought what do I have to polish the epoxy. Had some PlastX that had been sitting in the shed fridge for a few years and thought that will do.

Using the PlastX did remove the fine lines left from the WD paper and created a more glossy finish. I didnt spend long polishing with the PlastX and only buffed long enough to take the polish off. Creating an super glossy finish for this was not a priority. I would say that further polishing with a 3 step automotive polish system would create a deep gloss but bang for buck this was an easy method with results I am happy with.