Polishing plexiglass?

[Sparktrician]

While we are on the subject of polishing can anyone give me tips on re-surfacing or polishing  counter tops marble / granite ?
Would appreciate any tips on grits and paper type etc.

Thanks
Terry

+1 please

I'd like to know the answer to that, too, please.  

 

[GreenGA]

+1 (onyx)

 

[tbellemare]

I'm just guessing, having not done it, but I'd be using Diamant through the grits on hard stuff like granite and possibly on marble or onyx. I use Saphir on soft stones very effectively.

Diamant goes to 3000 and after that, a compound of some sort should finish the job if it isn't already done.

Tom

EDIT:
Platin is used by one of our members to polish glass tile to look like a factory edge after his crew cuts it.

Double EDIT:
After using Saphir to shape limestone, I've used Rubin to smooth it and Br2 to "polish" it. If I were to do the same thing today, I'd use Granat all the way.

 

[jacko9]

I asked a similar question a year or two ago and the response I got from some of the experts on here was that there is a large range of "stone material" that reacts differently with each method.

I have so many posts, I can't find the relevant ones but I do know that some folks on here are experts on stone.

Jack 

 

[tjacks66]

On polishing headlight covers, if the cover is fogged but not as badly scratched as the one on the video (my car is only 5 years old but the UV at altitude here in Colorado is bad), would you start off with a finer grit, or even just polish with the polishing compound?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

On polishing headlight covers, if the cover is fogged but not as badly scratched as the one on the video (my car is only 5 years old but the UV at altitude here in Colorado is bad), would you start off with a finer grit, or even just polish with the polishing compound?

Yes, it's really a judgment call on where to start in the grit progression, but always better to start high and go lower if needed. You could actually do the whole thing with the 8000 grit MPA polishing compound, it would just take much, much longer.

Shane

 

[tjacks66]

Thanks Shane.

Since I'm originally from the East Coast I laughed when I heard "schmutz" in the car video. I had to explain it to my wife.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Since I'm originally from the East Coast I laughed when I heard "schmutz" in the car video. I had to explain it to my wife.

If you knew Brian, our trainer and the guy in the video, you'd know that he's a great guy with a lot of colloquialisms. He's originally from Maine and when he gets around the native New Englanders, you almost need a dictionary.  [smile]

 

[promark747]

I've finally rounded up all the materials in Brian's video (Platin 500/1000/2000/4000, sheepskin and orange pads, and both polishing compounds) and was about to recreate his procedure on my car...but before I start working on my headlights, a question: How much Plexiglas actually gets removed?  If it starts out 6mm thick (just a guess), does this process take off 1mm or more, or just a small fraction of 1mm?

The reason I ask this is not because I'm concerned about the headlights (it will probably be the only time I do this to my car, which is 10 years old) but because of the original reason I started the thread.  I have a couple of pieces of old Plexiglas that I was going to try to bring back into new condition and make into some homemade Domi-Shims for my XL700.  But now I'm thinking that I could be creating a surface that's not uniformly flat.

(Of course, for the price of the polishing materials, I could have just bought some real Domi-Shims.)  ;D

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

The amount of material that's removed depends on how long to sand on them.  [big grin]

When you're talking about grits starting at 500, you're really going to have to sit there for hours sanding away to remove any measurable thickness from the headlamp.

What you're really doing is removing my scuffs and oxidation. So, in the 10-15 minutes you spend on it, you're removing maybe hundreds of an inch, if even.

Similarly, you control how much of the Plexiglas you remove. But, unless you grind away at it forever or use 24 grit Saphir, it will be unnoticeable. [wink]

Shane

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Just a follow up... We had a customer who wanted to use this process for removing scratches from the Plexiglas around an ice hockey rink. To simulate the scratches and process, I used some Plexiglass and a key to scratch it. It only took a few minutes at around 220 grit (if memory serves) to level it out and then work up through the grits to a polish.

Shane

 

[promark747]

So, in the 10-15 minutes you spend on it, you're removing maybe hundreds of an inch, if even.

Similarly, you control how much of the Plexiglas you remove. But, unless you grind away at it forever or use 24 grit Saphir, it will be unnoticeable. [wink]

Shane

Ok, cool -- thanks.