Polish Question - White Diamond Residue

[bradh]

I love the shine when I polish the CA finish, but sometimes I get some white residue left on the surface from the white diamond and I don't see it until I apply Ren wax and buff. What do you do to make sure you get the polishing compound off?
Thanks,
Brad Harding

 

[ctEaglesc]

Use less compound.You can use alcohol (dna) to wipe it off.
Make sure you have no "sand throughs" in the CA.
I would reccomend using a plastic polishing compound instead of white diamond.

 

[bnoles]

Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />I would reccomend using a plastic polishing compound instead of white diamond.

Eagle,

Could you elaborate on this process a little further. Which compound and best way to buff once applied.

Much thanks.....

 

[Rob]

Bob,

I use a similar method as mentioned by Eagle. Mothers brand scratch remover for cars works great as a final finish on CA. I just put a dab on each blank and gently rub it on (while lathe is off) with a finger tip. It drys to a haze in a minute or so and then buff off with a soft cloth. A bottle will last nearly forever and is only 3 or 4 dollars at auto parts places. I'm told Maguires (spelling?) works equally well.

Rob

 

[samuel07]

Something I've done lately that works well for me.
Sometimes I find that I haven't gotten all the grain filled and I'll end up with small white specs after sanding CA with MM and then buffing with white diamond. I'll then wipe down the blank with a small amount of BLO on a clean paper towel(lathe running maybe 1800rpm). It either picks up the white specs kind of like a tack cloth or fills them in. Very nice high gloss finish[]
Again the white specs I am referring to is the dust generated from the sanding smooth a CA finish.

hope that helps.

 

[DCBluesman]

If you are getting white specs on the surface, they are resting in depressions. You should consider continuing to sand and seal. Remove the specs with compressed air first.

 

[ctEaglesc]

I whole heartedly concur with the Master finishing Guru,DC bluesman one of a handful of people in the world who use the Makeiee lacquer(whatever the Japanese lacquer process is called)
The buffing compound I use is a blue compound for plastic(which is what CA is but I also use it on deer antler )
It is Made by Dico.

 

[samuel07]

If you are getting white specs on the surface, they are resting in depressions. You should consider continuing to sand and seal. Remove the specs with compressed air first.

You are exactly right! Depending on the pen I would have to resand and seal but for some of the stuff I've been doing lately this is an easy fix. Actually I wouldn't call it a fix but more of a compromise. As I get more experience I'm finding I do less and less compromising.[^]

 

[bradh]

Lots of good ideas to try!
Thanks,
Brad

 

[sandking]

After I go through the MM, I have a buffing wheel on an old 6" variable speed grinder and load it with white diamond. Usually I have some white residue on there (probably b/c I went too slow and it gummed up on the CA) but since I still have the pieces on the mandrel (since I need to put on the Plastic Polish) I just remount it and wipe it with a terry cloth towel. you can actualy see it disappear as it spins.