[FLRon]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

Hi FLRon,

Thanks for following along with us on this thread. Sorry but I overlooked addressing one of your questions. Finishing wood and finishing metal are two different animals but share some similarities. When you polish metal surfaces you are progressing through sanding grits to remove scratches from the previous grit and as I am sure you know, you just can't take short cuts and skip grits or you'll be unable to remove deep scratches with too fine of grit sandpaper. In simplest of terms, you are systematically removing material from the base metal surface to achieve your final polished finish.

When working with wood we are relying on the top coat finish product to give us the final mirror gloss instead of the wood itself. Yes, the wood must be sanded to a certain smoothness before the finish is applied but its not the wood itself that shines but instead its the finish on top of that wood that gives us the gloss.

BTW, all finishes have a specific gloss rating measured on a scale of 1-100 with the higher number having the highest gloss. Just because a finish might have a flat, satin, semi-gloss or gloss "generic" rating, the OEM has also assigned each finish a corresponding gloss measurement number and you can find that number if you dig into the fine print or make a few phone calls or emails. The catalyzed urethane lacquer product we currently use has a 98 gloss rating which is one of the highest in the industry. I've never seen a 99 or 100 rating on any other products but they may exist? Many finishes are in the low 90s and some polyesters are down in the low 80s due to the higher solids content. Satin products have dulling agents added to the product to retard clarity and light refraction.

Just because a product has a 98 rating its not magically a 98 after its sprayed onto the surface of the substrate you applied it to. To achieve the highest gloss rating of any finish product the cured finish must be sanded in a similar manner in which you prepare metal. We typically sand our current finish with 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grits before power buffing with four grits, medium, fine, very fine and hi-polish buffing compounds. Its only then that it has a 98 gloss rating.

Tim,
I’m used to seeing 2000 grit sandpaper used on crankshaft journals,but had no idea anyone used it on wood. Wow, the things I’m learning here!