Hi Guys, I hope this questions hasn't already been answered a million times. I just got home from a night shift so I am not operating at full capacity to search the forums well. When buffing micarta for depth of color and sheen, what compound is everyone using. Up until this point I have simply sanded to 600+ and used some Conservator's Wax. So I guess my question is twofold. Am I right to want to try buffing the micarta? and what compound to use(and is there a preferred type of wheel for said compound? I am aware of the safety concerns associated with buffing and will take appropriate measures to protect myself. Thanks, Matt
I haven't tried buffing it myself, but I'm sure you could put a good shine on it with a cotton wheel and some white Peerless compound. I just hand sand to 1500. If I add anything, it's a polymer wax.
Depending on the color of the micarta I use white or blue mostly. The fibres seem to take some color from the compound so avoid dark compounds on light micarta. I also usually wet sand mine to 800 before any buffing. I find the wet sanding seems to swell the exposed fibres slightly allowing them to be sanding off giving a smoother final finish. A light coat of wax or Danish oil after the first buff seems to help. Once the oil has set up for a day or two a light buff on a clean cotton wheel, or a hand buff with a strip of cotton seems to really bring out a nice finish.
Thanks for the responses. I'm still a couple days from the buffing stages, but I thought it would make sense to put the question out while I was thinking of it. Sounds like either way, I should be doing what I have been doing, so I'll see what the product looks like at that point, and decide how much farther to take it when I cross that bridge.
I have used blue buffing compound and it is OK. I found I spend a lot of time getting the excess off though. In have also used tung oil just like a wood knife and some furniture wax I had from a dresser restore I did.
