Sanding Questions

Frequent question about boxes and accessories: painting, etching, clearcoating, lettering, glueing, and so on.
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bruin2k3
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Post by bruin2k3 »

Hi,
What grit should I use to get a nice shiny finish on both paint and for bare (for etching)? How should I step it up to the max grit? I can't find anything higher than 220 at home depot but I see online I can get up to at least 3000 from small bear.

Thanks!

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rsuppa
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Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 14:05

Post by rsuppa »

I have found 400, 800, 1200 and 3200 grit wet/dry sandpaper at Pep Boys Auto Parts. I have also been able to put a real shine on aluminum with Micro Mesh sanding pads, available at Woodcraft, and Hobby Town USA. I start with the 400 wet/dry paper and use a rubber sanding block and always have a squirt bottle of water handy to keep the paper and enclosure wet. I sand back and forth in one direction only until the surface is uniformly scratched, then switch to the next grit and so on up to 1200. This yields good results but I take it a step further and use the Micro Mesh pads and wet sand thoroughly with each grit. I take my time and use a soft touch, wiping the enclosure with a clean dry cloth periodically to check my progress. The final step is polishing with a clean cloth buffing wheel on my grinder set on slow speed. I use a very light touch at this stage, and the results are worth it. The buffing probably is not necessary but I have the grinder and the cloth wheel so why not! I hope this helps you.

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