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I got an assortment of super assilex paper for Christmas. It was on my list for a couple of years. It is not the same as they list online! I have, coarse to fine:
olive
grey
sky blue
pink/red
green
very light green

i was wondering if they had anything more aggressive, and now I don't even know what I have.

I got micromesh flex pads, 1,500 to 10,000 in case I want to make telescope mirrors or something too.

Thanks.

Not a fan of getting finishes perfect. It is a lot of work! The olive paper is not aggressive enough, but my 400 grit 3M pro grade loads up fast.

I had it smooth once, and messed it up. Smoothing finish is harder than smoothing wood.

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Ken, is it Assilex or 3M polishing paper?

3M Tri-M-ITE Wet Dry Polishing Abrasive Paper 400-8,000 A/O Assorted 6 Sheets (2E) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CP9CCH4?re ... NNXA9FEQRA

The colors you describe sound more like the 3M polishing paper?


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Fixed the link, not sure what happened the first time.


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Yes. That must be what I have. Maybe I didn't know about Assilex yet, I saw that on the OLF. The tri-m -ite stuff does seem to make shallower scratches, and it has a different feel than the 400 paper 3M pro grade that loads up easy. Apparently the olive is a 400 grit.
At least now I know what I have. It does seem to work well.
How does the Tri-M-ITE and the Assilex compare?

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I have not tried the 3M papers for finish work, but I do use them for nuts and saddles and it works great there. Putting the polishing paper down onto a surface plate and work through the grits, it works really well. You can buy individual sheets from StewMac - https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-a ... ng-papers/

Assilex is backed with a flexible backing, perhaps more like Micromesh.

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I just went in the basement, and saw some little shiny spots still left, and tried a maroon Norton non-woven pad. I see that they are like 00 steel wool, but I don't know what grit that relates to. I looked it up. 150-220. No wonder it cuts. With no pressure it cleaned them right up! And the stuff doesn't seem to load up. It is flexible, not not very. A lot of spots on an archtop need more flex that that. Maybe cut them into very small pieces, and use your finger?
Maroon, then grey, then white, and then go into the 600 grit paper.
I like that the pad doesn't seem to load up, or dig in.
Varnish is so much different than wood. I haven't used the pads much on wood. They don't seem to do much.

I'm not really a fan of super smooth finishes. They look like plastic to me. Smooth ebony or Katalox with striping looks great. Pure black looks good on fittings. But on backs, sides, and bellies I like to see WOOD. I like pores and texture. I did like how I could see a slight corduroy on your guitar belly through the smooth finish; even though it bugs you!
I could see that it takes WAY more varnish than I ever put on anything to get to smooth.

I do like shiny, but it doesn't have to be smooth. Satin is ok too, it shows the wood better. Some satin just looks dull though. I don't know what it is about them, but they look dull. Satin is satin; not dull. I saw some new guitars in a shop and they were like that. Smooth as glass; but as dull as can be.

Rub a very thinned out coat of z poxy on it, or OSMO oil; and it would look GREAT! But dull I don't really care for.

I took my cello into a shop yesterday, and the guy was amazed that it was my first. The low point was the finish. It always is. The last few violins aren't too bad. He said he'd have to market it to more advanced players, and they would pick it apart before even trying it.

You buy, and eat with your eyes.

So. Varnish is the challenge.

This one, I just want to get done!

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Why be normal?

Assilex is about the best out there I have used for nitro finish

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Agreed. The Eagle brand all up is amazing stuff. I use:

- 800 grit Kovax “Yellow Film” to do initial leveling - https://eagleabrasives.com/en/info/yellow-film

- 1000 to 1500 grit Assilex - https://eagleabrasives.com/en/info/assilex

- 2000 - 3000 Buflex - https://eagleabrasives.com/en/info/buflex

The buffing goes quickly as you can imagine.

What I’m trying to talk myself into now is buying a Deros 325CV 3” sander with the 3/32 orbit and using it with the 3” Assilex & Buflex discs.

Also, although not a forum sponsor, my buddy Steve at turningwood.com sells the Assilex. He has single sheets if you want to experiment. https://www.turningwood.com/store/category/ASS


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