Polishing Stabwood - Best Method?

[zouzounaki]

can you rub some vaseline into it?

 

[vapesmarter]

all very good suggestions but all wrong

polishing anything is removing product

as in polishing your car bonnet you flatten then cut then polish

so flattening is sanding "removing" the peaks of the surface, t cut does the same but it is finer, "to polish", the tiny imperfections are filled with wax which in turn buffs to a shine

however here is a problem a mod is not a bonnet of a car it is in your head hence the surface gets worn and marked and expands with heat and sweat off your hands juice ingress which is mildly acidic etc etc

So it is a stabwood as in "its rotten old wood" that's soaked in resin and cured, ok great but the wood is still there though, only the air gaps are resin, and as the wood degrades it reappears

so this mythical 3-stage 5-stage 12-stage polishing technique I hear so much about is in fact horse twaddle It is just polishing you are removing product as in material to make it flat so flat in fact it shines with a wax to give it lustre

so the cure

you need to make it flat then you need to add a polish, two methods spray it with something like a lacquer that fills the tiny peaks or you could smear it with the famous ce coating as in superglue but both these methods need a mechanical bond then a sand and a polish which on a panel is not easy to do

you could sand wet with 5000grit or 8000 grit wet and dry paper but being wet will raise the wood as wood will absorb moisture and become manky, I would if it was me use fine sand "dry" and polish with a good car wax

all the stuff I make is sanded uber fine 6000 to 10000 grit at speed then polished using compounds designed for plastics in various formulas and at 10k rpm on large 18-inch air mops to reduce any heat

 

[ZenAnarchi]

I would if it was me use fine sand "dry" and polish with a good car wax

Cheers @vapesmarter , this I can do Got some 8000 already, so hopefully I won’t feck it up

 

[vapesmarter]

After you flatten then you can use a wax to polish it up but heat is your main concern to get the panel hot with a polish mop on a dremel if you using that

 

[todd]

Unless the panels feel rough, just wax it mate.

Howards Wax
Renaissance Wax
Butchers block Wax

They'll all work at giving the panels a nice sheen and you will find the colours change over time with repeated waxing

 

[Deadanddripping]

Spit on it and rub it on your jacket sleeve, just in case you wanted my input!

 

[Car147]

I also have used only Renaissance, on any Stab Wood mods. That was the advice i received from the creator.