Epoxy + Wood

Sanding, Finishing, Polishing

The process for going from raw to glass can be tedious, but it’s SUPPOSED to be. If it isn’t, you are going to
fast or skipping steps. The following are some suggested steps in the process going from fully cured epoxy
finish to whatever level of sheen you want in the end:

1. Dry Sanding (random orbital sander or the like) starting as coarse as is necessary to get the deepest
defects out. I’ve had to go as coarse as 80 grit to start which of course adds lots of steps but was necessary.
DRY GRIT: 80, 120, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800
The key with sanding is taking your time and not skipping steps/levels of grit. Use the sander on a medium
speed to avoid generating too much heat which can adversely affect the process. The process of
progressing up through the grits is so that each next finer paper reduces the previous grit’s scratches. For
example, 220 grit removed ALL marks left by the 150 leaving behind marks indicative of 220. Then, 320
removes ALL of the marks by 220 leaving only marks from 320, and so on. I like to wipe down the surface
with a lint free cloth with a little bit of mineral spirits on it between grits to keep things clean.
By the time you get finished with 800, you should have a VERY smooth finish, likely pretty dull (until you
wipe it) but you may still see some super fine scratches. Those will be handled by wet sanding.

2. Wet Sanding from 800 grit up to as high as 4000 (800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000)
depending on what finish you are looking for. Some keys to wet sanding:
• Use paper designed for wet sanding
• Keep the surface wet while sanding. A spray bottle constantly squirting where you are sanding is
great.
• Add a little bit of dish soap to the spray water to act as a lubricant. Keeps things moving smoothly
• Keep your wet sanding area clean. As you are sanding an area, clean the water and residue often to
keep from grinding the residue back into the surface.

You have to decide how high the finish sheen is that you desire. You can get anything from matte to glass
and steps in between (range of satins). For a matte finish, I like to stop wet sanding at 1500 then use a
buffing compound (like Meguiar’s Ultra-Cut) by hand to keep from moving up to a satin finish. The
compound should deal with any remaining barely-visible swirls from the 1500 wet paper and leave a plastic-
like matte finish.
If you want to progress from matte up to satin (my favorite), I like to wet sand to 2000 then move to Abralon
pads (available through bowling supply) in 1500, 2000, 3000* on an orbital sander/buffer on low speed with
the buffing compound. Typically, 2000 Abralon is the sweet spot for me. If you move up to 3000, you may
take it to a shinier than satin finish. If you do, you can always take a step down and hit it with the 2000 again
to reduce the sheen.
If you are sticking with satin, you are done. If you are going for glass, skip the Abralon pads and wet sand all
the way up to 4000, then move to step 3: polishing.

3. Polishing: Once you are at satin, you are on your way to glass. There are two more steps. First, buffing
up the satin with another compound with a lower “cut” (like grit) such as Meguiar’s Swirl Remover. You’ll
want to do this with an orbital buffer – just watch your speed. Too much friction generates heat which can
dull the finish. Let the compound and the weight of the buffer do the work. You just drive.
Then, the final step is a true polishing. I like Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze Ultra Finishing Polish. Same as the swirl
remover, done with an orbital buffer and then a terry cloth towel wipe down.