[Dan]

No, I meant I get a gritty, frosted finish when using multiple light coats. I cant find the right technique for that happy medium between "gritty" and "dripping".

[Kay]

I had a piece come out of the mold with a very cloudy surface on it. I sanded it through 8 steps beginning with 500 grit and ending with 6000 grit sand paper. It didn’t begin to look shiny until I hit it with the 6000 grit. Don’t take shortcuts, take the piece through each step. I also gave it a shot of spray resin just as a precaution, it is still nice and shiny.

[Dan]

Hey all,

Im fairly new to working with resin and I cant figure out how to get a glass-like shine on my pieces after sanding them down. They come out of the molds looking lovely, with said glass-like shine, but when I sand away the excess pieces, I cant seem to restore the gloss to the sanded portions. (I dont own a dremel.)

2,000 is the finest-grit sandpaper I have, and it produces only a satiny matte finish. I bought the Castin Craft Spray, but Im having a lot of trouble with it. I make solid 3-d resin rings and bracelets, not bezel-set items, so I try not to coat them too heavily with the spray. When I spray with too heavy a hand, I get the desired finish but the resin drips while drying. When I use numerous light coats of spray, I end up with a sort of resin "mist" on the piece, that makes the whole piece look matte and frosty, like sea glass. It feels gritty to the touch because the coating is comprised of all those tiny misty droplets.

Folks whove used Castin Craft spray: do you have any pointers on how to use this spray? How far away from the piece should I be holding the nozzle? How long should I hold down the nozzle? I dont feel like ruining more pieces just to figure out these variables.

Also, has anyone ever used Novus plastic polish to polish Epoxy resin to a high shine? Im considering this but I dont want to waste more money.

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Dan,

The Castin Craft spray does require a little bit of practice to get good at it.  I like to do it in a very quick burst while going over the piece.  I find that if I do it that way, I can get by with just one coating.  As you have found out, multiple coatings can lead to drips.

If you start sanding your pieces with a 400 or 600 grit sandpaper, then use finer grits of sandpaper, and finish with a 2000 grit, I would expect the Novus polishing kit would work very well for you.  You can see results of using it, along with a few other polishing options, on the resinobsession youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm89lAqDCqo

[Katherine Swift]

The multiple coats thing is probably the problem.  I do mine in only one coat.  I like to press down hard for no more than 1 second and sweep quickly.

[Tereze]

I had to sand a bracelet after repairing a ‘divot’ – the resin propped over the bracelet so I had to sand it away. I used papers from 400 to 1500’and then the novus Polish, but it’s still not as shiny as it was originally. I rubbed olive oil onto the surface – that improved it some – but I can’t seem to get back to that wonderful,high shine! Also, is it me, or is the sanding a long process? I seemed to be at it for hours! Is it possible I didn’t buff enough with the Novus, or didn’t use enough? The finishing seems like a long, painstaking process. Am I doing something wrong, or does is it generally so labor-intensive? Also, somebody recommended diamond glaze. Will this help to restore the shine? Thanks!

[Katherine Swift]

No, you are not imagining things. Sanding is a long process. 🙁 I think the Novus works well, but if you want a very glossy finish, you will either need to use another layer of resin or resin gloss sealer spray. You can find it here: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/products/castin-craft-gloss-resin-sealer-spray

Have you seen this video on our you tube channel? I compare several different polishing options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm89lAqDCqo

[D Springer]

Hey Dan, so I’m a woodworker and have been using resins as inlays and have been running across similar issues, with limited success. I will share my process in the hopes some of it may help you, but the word on the street is that you typically can’t get all the way back to that gloss. I have my can of resin finisher, but my suspicion is that it’s similar to a clear lacquer or shellac. I will tell you that I’m getting fairly good results that are going a few extra steps than you that MAY help the issue. So everyone is correct, crank from 400 to 2k on grit as you can stand it. I hop fairly large steps using a random orbit (I get the luxury of a flat object), so 120 to remove any bulk that overflows the channels, 320 to really get a first round of evening out, 800 (available from Sungold abrasives) to keep evening/smoothing the surface, and then a 3000 grit Abralon pad. The 3000 grit pad can be used wet or dry, although it loads up wet, and is used for bowling balls. I REALLY like it and does a darn good job, BUT its not done from there. From here things get a little wonky, the best I can figure this needs to be treated VERY similarly to car finishing. All the aspects are pretty similar, hard clear surface that may or may not have swirls that needs to be as clear as humanly possible. It is at this point that I have pursued those methods, so I broke out the random orbit polisher, used the heavy scratch novus and then the fine grit novus. There’s also a product called PlastiX made my Meguiars, that I believe is in the same neighborhood, but I can’t tell where it fits around the Novus’s. In any case, buff apply the novuses, then once you’re done crank through with the random orbit polisher… i’ve even gone as far as a buffalo wax which when heated and applied at speed becomes clear. I’m still messing with the resin finisher mentioned below, but I suspect that what you’re doing is applying a a top coat and picking up that shine in lieu of the actual material, but K Swift can correct me if it’s actually changing the properties of the surface (like a baby remelt). Sorry for the mega post, just been screwing with this for a couple months and thought it might be of value, David

[Katherine Swift]

HI David,

I don’t know if that’s affecting the surface or not. Sounds like you are having good results though, so don’t change!

[D Springer]

PS, sorry for the random spelling issues, going quick before work 🙂 D

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