How to polish Epoxy Resin

How to Polish Epoxy Resin

When you create a Epoxy Resin Project, it is important to know how to polish epoxy resin to get that glass like finish. Once Epoxy Resin is set, you can saw, sand and router it to get the perfect form that you want. Once it is worked down, you need to polish it to get the glass like shine back. How do you do it? Stick with me in this article and I will tell you exactly how to do it.

 

What is Epoxy Resin

Epoxy Resin is a great substance that is used in Art and Woodworking Projects to create stunning art pieces. When you use Epoxy Resin, you can cut and sand the Epoxy to take the shape that you want. You have to polish it back down to the glass like finish that it was before you sanded it.

How to Polish Epoxy Resin

In this video I explain how to Polish Epoxy.

The first step in any Epoxy Resin polishing project is to ensure that you have a dry and flat surface on your epoxy project. Epoxy Resin can easily be sanded down with a 60 or 80 grit sand paper. I prefer to use an Orbital sander because it helps to sand the surface even. It however also depends on the scale of your project. When I build large Epoxy Resin River Tables, I use an Industrial Type of Sanding machine to flatten the surface. This helps to get an even surface. Sometimes I use up to 40 grit sand paper which tends to leave heavy scratches in the wood and Epoxy Resin. These scratches will however come out once you start using other finer grits.

After I use the 80 grit I will keep on sanding with finer and finer grits to ensure I get all scratches out. It is also important to use a sanding block with the sanding paper to ensure you get an even finish.

If you want to learn how to polish Epoxy Resin effectively, you have to practice through a couple of projects of your own. This is the best way to learn

I will normally san 60, 80,120, 220, 350, 500 grit before I start using water sand paper.

How to polish Epoxy Resin to a fine gloss

Polishing Epoxy Resin to a very fine gloss depends on the preparation of the surface. Once you have reached 500 grit sandpaper. it is time to start using water on the sand paper and to go for grit 800, 1200, 1500 and ultimately 2000.

There are some people that believe that you need to take it even further than than, but i myself normally only goes to 2000 grit water sand paper.

I can’t stress enough that you need to take your time to sand the surface down properly. If there are dips, scratches or divets in the epoxy that won’t come out with sanding, it will be necessary to pour a new patch or layer of epoxy on your project and then start all over again. Make sure that your Epoxy Resin is properly dried before you start sanding.

It is time to start polishing

When you sand with the 2000 grit water sand paper, you should see the shine starting to come out. One of the biggest mistakes people do when sanding Epoxy Resin is to stop to soon. I have a simple rule that whenever I think I am done sanding, I just sand another 5 minutes or so. This helps to bring out the perfect sanding surface.

Once the sanding has reached this point, and you are sure that your Epoxy Workpiece is flat and shiny, you can add a little bit of water and polishing paste to the surface, At this point you will see how to polish epoxy resin to a glass like finish.

I normally smudge the water that I sprayed on the surface as well as the polishing paste before I start polishing. With a strong polisher start polishing over the paste at a medium speed. Keep on polishing, especially if you think that the surface starts getting tacky. Once you break through the tacky part, you will see the gloss come to the surface. I also use a dry soft cloth to polish the surface by hand once I am done with the polisher.

Finishing Epoxy Resin after polishing

There are other alternatives to polish Epoxy Resin and one of the ways to do this is to use a product called Rubio Monocoat. I sometimes also use a Polyurethane two part Spray to get a gloss finish over Epoxy Resin but these are beyond the scope of this article. It is important to make sure that you have the correct products because not all polyurethane coating will stick to Epoxy Resin.

I hope that this article on How to Polish Epoxy Resin has helped you. If it did, please leave a comment below. If you have other ideas and suggestions, please leave them also in the comment section.

 

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