Polishing out "micro scratches" in JDS piano finish plaques

[Bruce Clumpner]

I've recently had some trouble using the JDS free standing plaques and I'm looking for some help on how to save the items. I use JDS's piano finish plaques for awards all the time, I use medium-tack transfer tape as a mask, laser through for the art, rattle-can spray in gold, remove the tape and clean with Denatured Alcohol and a soft rag.

Lately, I've had small but noticeable scratches in the piano finish after cleaning with the DNA. Like the rag is just not soft enough. And it's only on one of their products, the black 7x9 free-standing plaque. So I'm looking for a method to buff or polish these scratches out so I don't have to re-run the plaque.

Because it's already paint filled, I'm worried about just using polishing compound because the clean-up might be a bear. Does Novus #1 work on painted surfaces? Any other material you can think of?

All suggestions welcome!

Thanks.

[Martin Boekers]

I use Novus 2 on these all the time on the hi gloss and piano finish plaques.
In fact, I use Laserbits pro fill with out masking and it cleans up nicely with
this polish. Just don't bear down to hard or you will "fog" the piece. You will
want to use a very soft cloth though. I use a microfiber towel that Johnson
Plastic sells as a Sublimatable product.

[Bruce Clumpner]

Guess my problem was the T-Shirt rag was just too course. I'll give the Novus 2 a try and see if I can find a microfiber towel to use with it buff out the scratches without leaving any other marks.

Martin, how do you keep the shop dust from building up in the rag if you keep it hanging around?

-bc

[Martin Boekers]

I have a handful in a plastic "food saver" type box. Remember though, you want to make sure you use a clean spot for each
wiping or you will tend to have some residue left on the plaque. You don't have to wipe to hard. What I do is fill with the
color then do a quick wipe to get most of it off the plaque, then let it dry a bit then add the polish.

Hope this helps!