In a thread somewhere recently Neil asked whether it was possible to equate burnishing cream to a grit of backed abrasive such as micromesh.
This interested me so I asked Terry Smart at Chestnut Products if it was possible to give an equivalent.
Terry replied that there are so many variables in place that it's really not possible to give Burnishing Cream an accurate grit rating.
However, because of the way it is used they would expect that it will be finer than most backed abrasives.
He also suggested that I experiment by using the micromesh on an item then using the Burnishing Cream to see what difference, if any, resulted. I have done so and here are my observations which I have also shared with Terry. The findings are purely subjective as I have no means of accurately measuring the reflectivity of the finished surface.
I turned a piece of acrylic to about 10mm diameter and finished it with various grades of abrasive to a matt surface finishing at 600 grit.
I then polished it with 1800, 3600, 6000 and 12000 grit micromesh. This produced a finish that I would consider good enough not to require further polishing.
I then polished the work again with burnishing cream. In my, purely subjective, opinion this gave a slight improvement to the gloss.
I then re-sanded the piece with 600 grit and finished it using only 1800 grit micromesh followed by burnishing cream. This gave a finish that I was unable to distinguish from the finish produced by working through several grits of micromesh and then burnishing cream.
My conclusion is that subjectively burnishing cream gives a slightly higher gloss to the finished work than 12000 grit micromesh but the main advantage is that burnishing cream can be used straight from 1500 or 1800 grit micromesh (and possibly straight from 600 grit abrasive although I have not tried this) to produce a fine finish without working through all the grits.
It would be interesting to measure the reflectivity of the finished surfaces with some kind of optical instrument but I have neither the knowledge nor the resources to attempt this.
I hope you find this of some interest.
This interested me so I asked Terry Smart at Chestnut Products if it was possible to give an equivalent.
Terry replied that there are so many variables in place that it's really not possible to give Burnishing Cream an accurate grit rating.
However, because of the way it is used they would expect that it will be finer than most backed abrasives.
He also suggested that I experiment by using the micromesh on an item then using the Burnishing Cream to see what difference, if any, resulted. I have done so and here are my observations which I have also shared with Terry. The findings are purely subjective as I have no means of accurately measuring the reflectivity of the finished surface.
I turned a piece of acrylic to about 10mm diameter and finished it with various grades of abrasive to a matt surface finishing at 600 grit.
I then polished it with 1800, 3600, 6000 and 12000 grit micromesh. This produced a finish that I would consider good enough not to require further polishing.
I then polished the work again with burnishing cream. In my, purely subjective, opinion this gave a slight improvement to the gloss.
I then re-sanded the piece with 600 grit and finished it using only 1800 grit micromesh followed by burnishing cream. This gave a finish that I was unable to distinguish from the finish produced by working through several grits of micromesh and then burnishing cream.
My conclusion is that subjectively burnishing cream gives a slightly higher gloss to the finished work than 12000 grit micromesh but the main advantage is that burnishing cream can be used straight from 1500 or 1800 grit micromesh (and possibly straight from 600 grit abrasive although I have not tried this) to produce a fine finish without working through all the grits.
It would be interesting to measure the reflectivity of the finished surfaces with some kind of optical instrument but I have neither the knowledge nor the resources to attempt this.
I hope you find this of some interest.