Auto polishing compounds for high gloss finishes

[Victor Robinson]

I'm curious about the use of auto-polishing compounds for a high gloss polish on lacquer or shellac. I know many folks are replacing pumice and rottenstone with these compounds and wanted to give it a whirl on a current project.

What brand/compound do you recommend and what grit do you feel it fits in with relative to ultrafine polishing pads? I've heard a few recs for Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. Is that good enough? They also have a more "pro" Mirror Glaze sub-brand. What do you use?

Thanks in advance.

[Scott Holmes]

Personally I use Menzerna's Final Polish; most brands work very well. Be careful with car compounds because some have silicone in them. I would not use anything with silicone in it; too difficult to remove if need be...

[Dave Gaul]

I recently used Meguiar's medium followed by fine polish. Used an electric buffer on it's slowest speed. Finish a couple coats of amber shellac followed by several coats of lacquer. Turned out beautifully!

[Victor Robinson]

Thanks for the recs Scott and Dave! What grit do you like to take your sanding to before hitting with the polishing compound?

[Dave Gaul]

No problem Victor! Scott is definitely more of an expert than I, as I am only speaking from experience with one instance using this method. I dry sanded with a FLAT sanding block to 400. Wet sanded with a Mineral Oil & Mineral Spirits mix to whatever the highest grit I had, 4000 maybe IIRC?

[Chris Fournier]

I've used these products for finishing guitars for years now. I started with Meguirs but ran into a problem with grit contamination in the bottle and that cost me a lot of work. I have since used 3M products and they have been flawless. I use rubbing compound, finishing compound and hand glaze on instruments which are usually notrocellulose lacquer. I'll sand 320/600/1000/1500 and maybe 2000 before hitting the bottle! Keep your workplace spotless and make sure that ALL of the previous grit is removed from the piece and the work area before breaking out the finer grit.

If you think that you are going to save time using a buffer I'd suggest a lot of practice. If used carelessly or without experience a power buffer will ruin your finish in the blink of an eye, curdling or burning your finish - watch out around the edges; alwyas buffing off the edge. The best finishes I have achieved all came from mucho wet sanding and hand work with the above 3M products. I can spot a buffed finish from across the room, they're just not as good as my handwork - faster but not as good.

[Howard Acheson]

I have used Maguiar's products for a number of years. Work fine for me.

Let me strongly suggest, that you make up some sample boards of reasonable size to practice and learn on. Rubbing out using power equipment can lead to finish melting, burn through and other problems. It takes some skill to start the buffer onto the surface and to get it off without causing marks. Don't try to learn on a real project.

[Seth Dolcourt]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?166852-Purple-maple-13-x-7-stave-drum

Not to toot my own horn, but if you read this thread, I cover using automotive rubbing and polishing compound. In this case, the top coat was automotive polyurethane, but the process works equally well on Behlen's stringed instrument lacquer.

My drum partner-in-crime uses the 3M Finesse-IT system, including the 3M foam pads. I go with a Harbor Freight wool bonnet for compounding and a yellow foam pad for polishing.

The speed of my polishing machine is medium to medium high. Like everything, experiment first. It doesn't take much time to get a high shine, and equally, it doesn't take much more time to burn through the finish. Then you get to sand it all off, and start over.

[robert raess]

I have tried this in the past with mixed results.I did a table top with oil poly with a buffer using 3m prod.The oil poly takes too long imo.So recently i have had some really good results with water-borne urethane. I am a wood floor finisher, and had some left over Zenith 2 part urethane.I can rub out a finish that day or better the next day.I rub it out by hand..and it's well worth it.I've read things about waiting a week or a month[course i live in Az.] but the sheen and the softness are awesome.

[Juan Hovey]

Chris - Do you dry or wet sand to 1500 or 2000 grit before you hit the bottle? Juan Hovey

[thomas prusak]

For what it is worth a friend of mine makes custom gun stocks and he uses the 3 m finesse it products also.

[Harvey Pascoe]

Depends on how high a gloss you want. There are degrees you know. All compounds are abrasives and what they do is scratch and move material around. The key to your question is the abrasive particle size. IMHO auto compounds are not good enough for truly fine finishes. Like Scott above, I use Menzerna compounds with a stationary buffing machine. But note, here that the finer the finish you get, the harder it is to achieve since a perfect finish makes every defect stand out like a sore thumb. So perhaps a perfect mirror finish isn't the way to go for you for a one time project.