a little polishing idea I had

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

So I've been contemplating ways to polish the inside of my see-through acrylic calls' inserts.  Using sandpaper wrapped around my scratch awl I've always sanded to about 1500 grit and then used paper towel wrapped around the awl with polishing compound.  That gives a decent polish but not perfect just because it is tough to thoroughly sand the inside of the insert.  Today I used a .35" cotton gun barrel "mop" (what you screw into the end of your cleaning rod) chucked in my jacobs chuck in the lathe's headstock, saturated it with plastic polish.  I took an insert I had made last week that still had some sanding marks in it, and went to town on it for about a minute.  It made a HUGE difference in the removal of those sanding lines and really polished the inside up.  Won't get me out of sanding, but it makes a pretty effective last step.  For $2 it was worth a shot and it worked.

You do have to wash it out in the sink after use to remove all of the compound from it and fluff it back up.

Thought some of you might benefit from this little trick.  The same thing could be done on the inside of barrels using a 12ga mop.   

[Cold Front Calls]

NICE WORK

Randy

[dogcatcher]

You can use the barrel mops for a lot of things.  One example, if you have the right tap, drill and tap a 3" long 1/4" steel rod, and you have buffing wheel for inside of your acrylic barrels.  Make 3 of them, one for tripoli, one for white diamond and another for plastic polish.  I believe mine are the 12ga mops.

If you can find some that are made from cotton, that do not have 10 pounds of lint on them you can use them like a paint brush to finish the inside of wood calls.  Unfortunately I have not been able to find any of them in years.  There are others, just have to use your imagination.

Marvin

[BLKDOGS]

1st I have not worked with acrylic but thinking as i read through here, would a 22 cal. cleaning swab that the cottong square cleaning patches go through the hole in the end work? Then when done discard the patch and ready for the next one.

Just Sayin

[Tobin at Copeland Duck Calls]

That sounds like the trick I've been looking for.  Thanks for sharing Aaron.

Tobin

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

1st I have not worked with acrylic but thinking as i read through here, would a 22 cal. cleaning swab that the cottong square cleaning patches go through the hole in the end work? Then when done discard the patch and ready for the next one.

Just Sayin

I bet that would work ok as long as the little thing you run the patch through doesn't rub the inside of the insert.  I like the idea of more surface area being polished at once, and there's no risk of scratching with the mop.

[stumpjumper]

Good idea...I use the cotton swabs like they have in the doctors office.  Q-tip on the end of a 6" small diameter piece of wood

STUMP

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

Stump that's something I've tried as well.

[idahofowlweather]

1st I have not worked with acrylic but thinking as i read through here, would a 22 cal. cleaning swab that the cottong square cleaning patches go through the hole in the end work? Then when done discard the patch and ready for the next one.

Just Sayin

This is what I use... also I use the back side of the brass rod to wrap sand paper around if I have to do any wet sanding on the inside of the insert..

jake

[Bob from Eames Custom Calls]

I have a sanding stick I made from a 6" length of 3/16" delrin that I cut a slit in. It works great holding paper for sanding, and holds strips of t-shirt for polishing as well.

 Bob