Polishing Compound

The Achilles' Heel of Luthiery
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Diane Kauffmds
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Polishing Compound

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Which polishing compound do you recommend for a final step when using shellac? Is Novus Plastic Polish 2 still recommended? I want to make sure that the product doesn't contain silicone. Do I need to order a product made for guitars?
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
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ColestineGuitar
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Re: Polishing Compound

Post by ColestineGuitar »

I'll chime in here with my own experience, though I will enjoy learning what others use.

The Meguiar's auto polishes work well, and they are free of silicone. They are numbered. For a final polish, try Meguiar's #9 Swirl remover. Works very well and has little, if any, abrasive to it, so it won't take out scratches. The #7 does have a little bit of grit, and will take out some fine scratches. The finish looks pretty good after #7, but following with #9 yields pretty results.

I have used these polishes, thinking my finish was complete, only to decide I was not done adding shellac. I was able to switch right back to shellac without any kind of trouble.
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B. Howard
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Re: Polishing Compound

Post by B. Howard »

Novus #2 works well.
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tippie53
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Re: Polishing Compound

Post by tippie53 »

I use mazzerna and maquires #9
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MaineGeezer
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Re: Polishing Compound

Post by MaineGeezer »

I got StewMac's polish kit of coarse, medium, fine, and swirl remover. I haven't used them extensively, but they seem to work pretty well.

I've also tried Meguiar's #9, which also seems to do a good job although I wonder whether it leaves anything on the finish that would interfere with subsequent finish applications. Initial testing suggests it's not a problem, but I still wonder.
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Diane Kauffmds
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Re: Polishing Compound

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Thank you to all who replied. I appreciate all of your answers.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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