Dull acrylic finish?

[qquake2k]

A friend of mine prefers a dull finish on his pens. Is here a method for doing this besides wet sanding without polishing? I'm afraid it might leave visible scratches.

 

[Penpal]

No different to matte laquer and gloss they both look great. I used to use different cuts so called in 20 litre containers and chose a semi matte for photographs of 600 kids school pics. they were dead smooth.

Peter.

 

[Gizmo3k]

You could polish up, then try knocking the finish down with 0000 steel wool.

 

[Pierre---]

Sand axially with the lathe off, climb the grains and stop when you like it! Visible scratches occur with the lathe on.

 

[wm460]

You could polish up, then try knocking the finish down with 0000 steel wool.

I think this is what Les Elm does.

 

[21William]

I sanded some acrylic to 600 grit and it looked pretty good. As per Les Elms advice I sand axial and radial. I suspect a finishing cut with 0000 would indeed do the job. I'll have to give it a try.

 

[Bill Mooney]

I want to 400 grit then 0000 wire wool radially then laterally. Does the job for me.

 

[qquake2k]

The first two pics are after wet sanding with 320 and 400 grit. The next two are after the first two grades of Micro Mesh. Then after all nine grades of MM. And the final two are after 0000 steel wool. I like how it turned out. Thanks to Gizmo for the suggestion.

 

[qquake2k]

I got both bodies done. I used the steel wool both while the lathe was turning, and lengthwise with the lathe off. If you look at the photos close enough, you can barely see tiny scratches. But with my naked eyes, they look great. I'm well pleased.