which polishing solution gives the best finish?

[fireal]

currently im using Autosol to polish acrylic watch crystals , even though they do become clear , they aint perfect yet , when i look very closely i do see many microscopic marks probably caused by the polishing agent. what else do i need to get it back to "brand new " condition?



same for metal surfaces , autosol does a great job but not as perfect as i would like , what else do i need to fine tune my polishing?

i heard cape cod clothes are pretty good , would that do the job?


btw i do not have any special electronic polishing tools. just me and looots of elbow grease

[radger]

Acrylic can be scratched very easily, tiny impurities or specs of
dust on your polishing cloth can do it. I get good results using Silvo
or Safe Cut scratch remover. You could polish to a mirror finish using 0.5 micron
diamond paste or jewelers rouge or cerium oxide. Fine diamantine would also do
it but the tiny scratches would soon re-appear.

[Somewhere else]

Learning how to polish metal and other materials is a three and a half year apprenticeship in Switzerland. It's not simple, and there isn't any particular polishing compound which will polish everything.

For acrylic, use a specialized acrylic polishing compound and genuine chamois (not the cloth that is called "chamois")

[fireal]

Learning how to polish metal and other materials is a three and a half year apprenticeship in Switzerland. It's not simple, and there isn't any particular polishing compound which will polish everything.

For acrylic, use a specialized acrylic polishing compound and genuine chamois (not the cloth that is called "chamois")

wow dang

[Somewhere else]

wow dang

Once you get into it, there's no end. Polishers say that jewelers make jewelery, but polishers give it a soul.

For acrylic crystals (watch out..some of the older crystals are not acrylic) just about any compound for hand polishing is OK. Brasso, toothpaste and others work well. You might even want to try toothpaste as a second, final buff after what you are using now, but the real thing is not to scratch the crystal with the cloth. This is why Chamois or (here in Japan) semugawa, which is very finely processed buckskin, is what is used. Cotton really tears your crystal up.

Something else you might want to try are some of the specialize polishing cloths made to polish eye glass lenses. They won't tear up your crystal, though unlike chamois or semugawa, you can't wash it an reuse it. Or maybe you can....

[fireal]

im currently using a microfiber cloth.. maybe that accounts for the tiny marks


i was looking at a forum and they suggested to go without cloth altogether , polishing with a nitrile glove , what do you think about that?

[fireal]

another question ... is it ok to spray a layer of acrylic lacquer over polished metal as protection? ( never tried it before )

[Eeeb]

another question ... is it ok to spray a layer of acrylic lacquer over polished metal as protection? ( never tried it before )

Watches are exposed to a great deal of mechanical abrasion on the case. The lacquer won't last.

[Outlawyer]

Microfiber is what many photographers use on thousand-dollar lens elements; I know that it's not the same as acrylic, but still it's hard to imagine that it would actually scratch it.

[Marrick]

To go off topic slightly, it is possible to buy new acrylic watch crystals in bulk on fleabay for less than 10p each. I bought a box some time ago - and find that fitting a new crystal (with the right tool - a crystal lift) is much easier and quicker than polishing. These are not 'armoured' crystals, and only circular, but fit most of my cheaper vintage buys fine. BTW, they are made in India and sold via the US. Its a small world.b-)