More Brass Plaquery

[Wal]

Cheers Andrew,

Yeah, I'm sure that I'm not quite there yet with my approach to polishing. I get decent enough results, but always thinking in the back of my mind it could be that bit better (and perhaps a bit quicker)...

The compound you're suggesting - is it much different from what I'm using at the moment?

https://roar-polishing.com/product/3...-cut-compound/

You're right, I could do with getting myself a polishing machine and some larger hoops - certainly useful for the smaller items I currently polish on my drill press - I've got an irrational fear of getting a patchy finish using hoops on large flat areas - would I be better off with a lambswool bonnet (or equivalent sponge or something) on an orbital for flat stuff like this..? Another friend swears by micro-meshes - I'm talking about the super fine stuff... I guess that's a similar approach to using the Matador 7000 papers.

Therein lies the problem - all of this is done from a place of experimentation - someone ought to establish a twice yearly craft metal polishing course covering metals and paints/resins.

Clearly, it's not rocket science, but like anything - there's a way of doing things properly and it's often the difference between what the layman considers 'good enough' and what you or I, having invested time and effort into a piece of work, consider perfect.

As a related side note - this resin work was done 'out of house' - I don't bother with the larger stuff nowadays - the half hour pot life of my resin is too short to get a decent pour on a large surface with lettering details that need attention. Whilst I'm happy with the resin work that was done, they'd somehow managed to miss a couple of patches of over-spill onto the border and also introduced/omitted to buff out some pretty bad micro-scratches into the metalwork. Whilst they considered it to 'look great' - I had to re-polish the lot before I was happy enough to consider it worthy of passing on to the guy I made it for. Here's a pic of how it came back from the shop, judge for yourself...



Anyway, I'm rambling - but my point is that to a certain extent quality takes time and effort.

Did I complain about the scratches? Did I b*llocks - people just look at you like you're bonkers nowadays.

[the great waldo]

Hi Wal
I haven't tried that stuff of yours but the Menzena stuff is the best i've used so far with a mop, a real glass like finish. The main thing is that the resin is really hard otherwise it wont polish as well as possible.

Cheers
Andrew

[JAZZCNC]

Whilst they considered it to 'look great' - I had to re-polish the lot before I was happy enough to consider it worthy of passing on to the guy I made it for. Here's a pic of how it came back from the shop, judge for yourself...

Nope, I'd have been saying something about that.! . . . Unacceptable returning a polished piece in that state.

[Wal]

Nope, I'd have been saying something about that.! . . . Unacceptable returning a polished piece in that state.

I don't disagree with you Dean - they'd probably argue that they're a coating service not a metal polisher, I could probably argue back that I supplied the metalwork already polished (as requested) and would expect to have it returned in that condition.

Obviously something's gone wrong here, but my not saying anything - other than pointing it out in a friendly manner and letting them know that I re-polished the whole thing, boils down to a couple of things:

a. Little faith that a re-polish would be much better (perhaps a little unfair - they've done excellent work for me in the past, but the fact they're saying it looks great when clearly it isn't is enough to make me think twice..)

b. I don't want to be 'that customer' - I really value the fact they get the resin bit right (and that's not guaranteed, due to dust specks etc.) and I can't find anyone else that offers this service, short of doing it myself or going for a more antique feel. I've had the guy walk away from work in the past where I've asked for a specific approach where he probably thought it was more ball-ache than it was worth...

Bit of a rock and a hard place, this one!