Subject: Re: Polishing Urethane

From: The Stephens Family <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 1997 21:19:32 -0800

Philip Procter wrote:
> 
> I've got several small (12'x12") sheets of wood finished in a high
> gloss oil based urethane. The finish needs a final polish to eliminate
> the little scratches, dust flecks etc.
> In my experience, you can wax urethane, but you can't polish it further 
unless you use an extremely fine-grained polish.  Most polishing attempts 
actually remove the gloss from the urethane and make it a more "satin" 
finish.

    Ken

> Can I polish urethane with polishing or buffing compound or do I need
> some other technique?
> God first,
> then your neighbors and yourself,
> all else is commentary.

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From: [email-masked] (JMKather)
Date: 9 Feb 1997 05:14:42 GMT

Here's what I've done in the past.

Make sure you have a good urethane coating first.  I treated it just like
a car finish. Let dry thoroughly.  Wet sanded the final coat with 400 then
600 3M wet/dry sandpaper.  Rub the finish with acrylic enamel type rubbing
compound using a polishing pad on the end of drill or a polishing machine.
 The finish will be like glass.

However, I haven't been able to get the finish to be a high gloss.  It
turns out to be semi-gloss.

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From: jim mcnamara <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 15:25:13 -0700

Assuming you have a good film developed--
you can polish with
1. felt pad and 4f pumice + mineral oil. clean.
2. clean felt pad + rottenstone + oil.  clean.
This leaves it pretty shiny, indeed.
Not shiny enough?
3. automotive polish & power buffer with a lamb's wool bonnet. 
   No oil needed.  clean well.

Applying furniture wax won't hurt afterwards.

jim mcnamara

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From: "David Campbell" <[email-masked]>
Date: 13 Feb 97 12:40:37 GMT

I tried using Re-po cleaner & polish (a fine automotive polishing compound)
with fairly promising results. Whether it will be as good as the original
gloss will depend on the quality of the original. It will be better than
the worst gloss achievable on polyurethane, but possibly not quite as good
as the best. Other automotive polishes may give better results, but will
probably leave purists equally outraged.
	Dave Campbell 

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