raised letter/object sanding technique

[clperformance]

I seem to be having a problem and its gotta be user error For right now I've been sanding using a sanding sponge but I can't seem to get away from scuffing the coating. I've also tried using a dremel, talk about a bad idea. It slips after grabbing the edges and the finish doesn't come out uniform unless you take your time and polish everything

Any ideas to speed up the process and keep it looking good? should I be using a small block with 220 sandpaper instead of the sponge? some of the lines I'm dealing with are 1/16" get to be a real pain to deal with.

thanks for any help

Chris

[sswee]

For raised letters or lines you need to use a sanding block. A tidbit about using a dremel or die grinder, you must always be aware of the direction of the tool rotation, if you use the tool 90 degrees to the edge or spinning the direction like it was rolling up the letter, it won't grab and go onto the area outside the letter. In machine work it's called climb cutting. SS

[pickleboy]

Originally Posted by sswee

In machine work it's called climb cutting. SS

now thats a term i have not used in about 15 years.

[jtagger19]

why are you polishing after coating ? it a lot easier doing it first.
for raised letters
here is what I do
clean and blast the part
I use a hand polisher called a MOUSE from SEARS
I start with 220 ( 100 if it's too rough)
then 600
then 800
then with a 3000 RPM hand polisher use black emery on sewn
then white rouge on loose
and you are set and won't take you over 20 mins from start to finish polishing the letters
clean with thinner
outgas
tape out the letters with high temp green tape
coat
remove the tape

[clperformance]

now thats way too much work I'm lazy and all I'm looking to do for right now is just clean the raised objects after I'm done coating. Thanks for the advice though. I've written down in case someone wants coated and polished stuff.

thanks for the advise guys and I'll try out a sanding block this weekend.

[seanc]

Chris:

If you're patient, try an x-acto knife. Just scrape away the top of the raised lettering. That's how I restored this 60 year old data tag:

_Click for larger image

Sean

[clperformance]

WOW! now that took some serious patience and time. HAHA I barely have enough patience to let my stuff cure fully, I doubt I'd ever be able to get through that. I gotta take my medicine any day I want to powder as it is. ADD sux

[seanc]

That tag didn't take much time, about 30 minutes. You just have to be careful with the knife work, that's where the patience pays off.

Sean

[corecoatings]

Blast your part and then powder it. Here is the trick, take your pointer finger, or which ever finger you feel most comfortable with, and slowly dab/drag the raised letters one at a time until the powder is removed. I did this with a valve cover after I did the candy red and it worked great.

[jtagger19]

that's agood idea
a Q-tip might work better than the finger