Rubbing and polishing for high gloss finish.
The rubbing process is the other method to make the high
gloss finish. It is finishing process on the finishing layer to create the glossy looked. To reach the high gloss finish, actually we can do with high gloss top coat after certain layer of clear coat. But we can get the better looked high gloss finish with rubbing process. The rubbing process is
process to finish the finishing layer to make the perfectly flat and smooth
surface. We already posted article about the information about the rubbing process at our previous article: rubbing and polishing. While in this post we want to share about the high gloss rubbing process in more detail with step by step
explanation and video application.
Preparation of the finishing layer.
To do the high gloss finish rubbing we need the good preparation from the finishing film. The finishing layer surface need to be even and flat. The finishing also must have sufficient thickness and completely dry coating film. For the NC finishing system, we normally do rubbing minimum 24 hours after the last top coat application. While for AC or PU system we need to wait for 3 or 4 days to let the coating dry completely.
black paint finish panel
The materials and tools
- Rubbing Machine.
- Hand block.
- Buffing machine.
It is spinning wheel with
buff pads. It is used to eliminate the sanding mark from the sanding and
compounding. There are some buff pad type needed to do the high gloss rubbing,
the white wool, the yellow and the sponge.
- Sandpaper
Sandpaper is the material used to sand the finish surface. The wet sanding is the best way to do sanding with high grade sandpaper. We need the waterproof sandpaper with grade # 1000 and # 1500.
- Scotch brite.
Scotch brite
is needed to do the compounding. There are some type of scotch brite that might be able to be used, but normally we used the white scotch brite (the t type scotch brite).
the white scotch brite for rubbing
- Rubbing compound.
- Polishing compound.
- compressed air.
- Rubbing lubricant.
- Rag.
The step by step of rubbing process to for high gloss finish
- Wet sanding.
wet sanding
After some cycles sop the machine, wipe and dry surface and check the sanding result. Make sure we got the flat and even surface. The wet sanding should remove the orange peel, dirt, pores and grain. See the video here:
cleaning and checking the wet sanding result
We may have to repeat the wet sanding step if the prefect surface has not achieved yet. We can use hand block to sand some areas that are difficult to be cleaned with rubbing machine.
hand block sanding
After most of the pores are cleaned, and no orange peel is left, then we can continue the sanding with the finer with sandpaper. Put the #1500 sandpaper at the machine and repeat the wet sanding as the first wet sanding.
Clean and check the sanding result, make sure we got the smooth, even and smooth surface. In this step we need perfectly smooth, even, flat and clean surface. Make sure there is no orange peel, dirt, hole, pores, grain or deep scratches.
- Compounding.
compounding
Stop the
machine and then dry the surface and check the surface. This step will reduce
the sanding mark and bring the lustrous for the finish. This step will produce a flat surface and a
smooth and flat surface with soft and attractive appearance. The gloss resulting at this step ranging from 70 sheen to
90 sheen, depending on how long we run the machine and the type of scotch brite
used. However, this step will leave vogue lines from scotch brite. If we want a
finish with a clean no sanding mark then we need the polishing process.
.
- Polishing.
.
polishing with white wool pad
If we do this step properly then we will get a high gloss finish surface. The scotch brite or sandpaper mark will no longer exist, but there will be some thin swirl marks is left from the buff wool.
To eliminate the swirl marks, then we need to repeat the buffing but with softer pad. Take off the white pad then replace with the yellow pad. Then repeat the buffing process as the first buffing process
polishing with yellow wool pad
polishing with sponge pad
Check the finish results obtained, when we did the whole process correctly, then we will get a high gloss surface with a clean, flat and perfect surface. The sheen resulted is very high; about 95 to 100 sheen.
the high gloss finish panel
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