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Hi, is anyone aware of any polishing guide (or willing to create one)?
I mean an almost complete and detailed guide.
Example how many steps at what rpm using the various products EC sells?
When to use the various pads?
What amount of products to use?
Pressure on part - yes or no?
How to clean the pads?
etc
Thanks :-)
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Group: Forum Members
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+xHi, is anyone aware of any polishing guide (or willing to create one)? I mean an almost complete and detailed guide. Example how many steps at what rpm using the various products EC sells? When to use the various pads? What amount of products to use? Pressure on part - yes or no? How to clean the pads? etc Thanks :-) A guide would be pretty useless man, it isn't that black and white. It depends on what you are polishing, the shape of your mould, what polisher you are using, etc. Its very much a skill that you need to learn and spend hours doing in order to learn it well. Kind of like spray painting - you can try to describe the technique to people as much as you like, but nothing will teach it as fast as just jumping in and getting some experience. Can try to give some advice on the questions: RPM - depends on the geometry and the size of part, as well as the pads and type of polisher you are using. Going faster will cut faster - but you want to avoid cutting too fast in certain areas, and with a rotary you will burn areas if you don't keep moving with enough material on the pad. Really something you have to get a feel for. Avoid going too fast until you are comfortable with it. I'll happily spin at 18,000rpm to cut super fast, and then slow it down as the gloss comes up. Pads - wool to cut, orange hard to follow. With the NW1 compound, this will bring you up to a damn fine gloss and i often won't go any further. Can proceed with the Top Finish 2 on a blue pad to get rid of the slight swirls an orange with NW1 will leave, but if you dont do it right you can actually go backwards and marr the finish from the NW1. For the most part I dont do it just because of that risk. Amount of product - go sparingly. Initially you need to prep the pad, so a light skim over the entire pad is normally pretty good. If you use too much, you won't break it down. When you're finishing off polishing, you should only be able to see a bit of a residue on the surface, if you have lots of polish left then you're not done yet. If you feel the pad starting to grip, you need more. Pressure - definitely. Just enough to hear the machine change tone under the load. Obviously this means the faster you go, the more pressure you apply, which is why you need to be careful going fast. Use small pads until you get the feel for it, the bigger the pad the more heat you will generate and the more likely you are to cut through or damage the surface. Cleaning - I don't really bother much. Just a pad brush every now and then to remove the build up on the pad and get back to the pad material doing the work. I dont wash any of my pads, just keep them covered when youre not using them so they don't get dust and grit in them.
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 167,
Visits: 1.1K
|
+x+xHi, is anyone aware of any polishing guide (or willing to create one)? I mean an almost complete and detailed guide. Example how many steps at what rpm using the various products EC sells? When to use the various pads? What amount of products to use? Pressure on part - yes or no? How to clean the pads? etc Thanks :-) A guide would be pretty useless man, it isn't that black and white. It depends on what you are polishing, the shape of your mould, what polisher you are using, etc. Its very much a skill that you need to learn and spend hours doing in order to learn it well. Kind of like spray painting - you can try to describe the technique to people as much as you like, but nothing will teach it as fast as just jumping in and getting some experience. Can try to give some advice on the questions: RPM - depends on the geometry and the size of part, as well as the pads and type of polisher you are using. Going faster will cut faster - but you want to avoid cutting too fast in certain areas, and with a rotary you will burn areas if you don't keep moving with enough material on the pad. Really something you have to get a feel for. Avoid going too fast until you are comfortable with it. I'll happily spin at 18,000rpm to cut super fast, and then slow it down as the gloss comes up. Pads - wool to cut, orange hard to follow. With the NW1 compound, this will bring you up to a damn fine gloss and i often won't go any further. Can proceed with the Top Finish 2 on a blue pad to get rid of the slight swirls an orange with NW1 will leave, but if you dont do it right you can actually go backwards and marr the finish from the NW1. For the most part I dont do it just because of that risk. Amount of product - go sparingly. Initially you need to prep the pad, so a light skim over the entire pad is normally pretty good. If you use too much, you won't break it down. When you're finishing off polishing, you should only be able to see a bit of a residue on the surface, if you have lots of polish left then you're not done yet. If you feel the pad starting to grip, you need more. Pressure - definitely. Just enough to hear the machine change tone under the load. Obviously this means the faster you go, the more pressure you apply, which is why you need to be careful going fast. Use small pads until you get the feel for it, the bigger the pad the more heat you will generate and the more likely you are to cut through or damage the surface. Cleaning - I don't really bother much. Just a pad brush every now and then to remove the build up on the pad and get back to the pad material doing the work. I dont wash any of my pads, just keep them covered when youre not using them so they don't get dust and grit in them. Thank you Hanaldo, some important answers indeed!
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