Trying to get some advice on epoxy sanding.
I tried my first epoxy sign and it started off well. I was able to cut off the top layer with the McFly cutter. I started to sand down some of the spots that need it most. I was wondering what grit most people us to get the shine back in the epoxy?
Thanks,
Fred
Treat it like a plastic?
The finer the better — is Micro-Mesh in the budget?
Anything is in the budget. I have a festool 5" Rotex sander. Im just not sure what grit or kind of sandpaper I can use on it.
Okay, for the powered stuff, just don’t skip grits — general guideline: start w/ a grit which is coarse enough to remove any obvious imperfections, then once you have an even scratch pattern, move down to the next grit, repeat, increasing the grit until you arrive at the desired finish.
I would suggest doing a pour on a piece of scrap and testing on it.
Some discussion which you may find useful at:
I have done quite a few epoxy fills. I generally sand 80, 120. 180 220 and 320 for smooth surface. Epoxy is not shiny in fact quite dull but finish gives epoxy same shine as wood. I generally use polyurethane wipe on with 400 between coats. After a few days of curing I use Howard Restor-a-Shine polishing compound. Any little nibs are removed and the surface is glass smooth.
The epoxy looks shinny and the dull surface is no longer visible.
Ive been watching this youtube channel for awhile. They do mostly epoxy tables but the finish is crystal clear.
There are other videos on their channel that also discuss sanding but this one will help also.
Epoxy is usually shinny. However getting a perfect pour to the perfect level is impossible. Many epoxys shrink when cured so if you get it level during pouring when cured it shrinks some. I overfill and surface off the excess. Surfacing or sanding off the overfill will make the epoxy look dull. Sanding to 320/400 does not make the epoxy shinny the finish does.
They do make table top epoxy that has a shinny finish but it is made to be a thin topcoat and should not be sanded.
This project was red oak. Advanced Vcarve and MAS Table Top Epoxy with Transtint Black dye. The carving was .2" deep and over filled. The reason for t he MAS Table Top is it can up to 1/4" thick. I surfaced the excess off and sanded to 320. On the top I used Spar Urethane (Oil Based) Varnish that is Satin finish.
I have 5" H&L sandpaper with grits up to 4000 that I’ve used on epoxy (80, 120, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000, and 4000 - and then a chiropractor). it works, but it’s a lot of effort.
