supermalv's Journal

i'm excited.

i don't need hundreds of dollars for the polishing compound. it's actually a cleaning product off-the-shelf available in any typical supermarket!

i was very skeptical at first. my sanded-down, poly-urethane'd board looked smooth but like satin. dull reflections and all. when i put those stuff in it kinda look the same. but when it dried and i keep rubbing the polish.. damn. that board shine like a glazed doughnut.

the only thing that makes it look still crap is that, i didn't sand down the previous layers thoroughly. lots of ugly brush marks and paint spots. while the top layer of poly shines like a mirror, those below it, with their imperfections are clearly visible.

also, that board was already coated with white melamine, so i don't know if the same procedure can still be taken with a bare mdf and white paint. it should be.

last thing would be the poly itself. this one is fine and all. but it's kind of yellow-ish because it's an oil-based poly. while i could live with it since the finish product isn't half bad... i want it to be as perfect as i can manage it to be.

which leads me to water-based poly that's suppose to give clear color instead of yellow-ish tone like it's oil based cousin. numbers of issue is raised with this though. will the same glazed effect be achieavable with water-based poly? and is it really clear color? this shit ain't cheap.

But yeah. all in all. i'm very happy with this work so far.. i think i made some tremendous improvement and it won't be long until the cabinet is finished.