Shoe polish or Rub and Buff?

[bgio13]

Went to Michaels to buy some ebony rub and buff to cast some steampunk blanks and they were out. Is there another product that the makers of these blanks have used. I have some black shoe polish and was wondering if this was o.k. to use. If not is there an alternative to rub and buff. Thanks,

Bill

 

[plantman]

Paste shoe polish has a wax base, if you try to put a CA finish or cast over it, it may not adhear well. Jim Sl

 

[bgio13]

Paste shoe polish has a wax base, if you try to put a CA finish or cast over it, it may not adhear well. Jim Sl

Jim, I thought the same thing but rub and buff is also a wax based product, so I figured it should work.

 

[plantman]

I would try it on a scrap piece before commiting to something you have a lot of time invested in. I have never tried Rub and Buff on a pen than tried to cast or put CA over it, however I have used it for repairing antiques and put finishing coats over it with no problems. Jim S

 

[thewishman]

Plain old acrylic paint works very well. I've used cheap craft paint and the nice artists paints and both work well.

 

[Phunky_2003]

I use the same craft paint I use to paint tubes with. Creamcoat is one brand. I get the cheap stuff from Walmart and it works great.

 

[toddlajoie]

Black Testor's modeling paint should work too...

 

[Marko50]

Plain old acrylic paint works very well. I've used cheap craft paint and the nice artists paints and both work well.

Just my .02¢ worth… Rub-n-Buff is a "Wax Metallic Finish"…says it right on the tube. If you happen to be using Alumilite, however, it's urethane based and will not bond with acrylic. There is something funky going on within the "molecular level" (I'm not a chemist so I'm just taking a WAG). Sooooo….If you apply a couple coats of a good high quality polyurethane over the acrylic you will avoid the bonding issues that Alumilite presents. I love the stuff. It's like chucking up a frozen stick of butter, spinning it at 3000 rpm and getting those coveted non-stop ribbons creaming off the blank. I'm guessing those characteristics are the reason for the price differences. Very nice stuff to turn!…

….By the way, Rub-n-Buff is being phased out by American Art Clay, the manufacturer of the stuff, so it would behoove you to stalk up on it if you're using a lot of it! I've been buying a small tube at least once a week from Hobby Lobby with their 40% weekly coupon for the past couple of months when I found out.