Flame polishing acrylic

[Chad]

Anyone done this? Ease? Equipment needed?

 

I have a few edges of my LED fixture on which I would like to put a nicer finish than I have been able to achieve with a bob and compound.

 

Some of the edges I am worried about are adjoining finished surfaces (see circles below).

 

 

What do y'all think? Can I do it? How and what do I need?

[Brian Ward]

Chad,

 

I'm not really sure how to do it, but if you find you need a high-temperature torch, I do have an acetylene torch at the house.

[Origami]

You can do flame polish with a propane torch, Chad. However, I'm not sure that I'd do it with the configuration that you have (with a polished side next to a polished edge) as it may cause mild distortion of the acrylic that you would notice when light reflected off of the housing.

 

How about just using an acrylic scratch removal kit (sandpaper down to 30,000 grit, followed by an acrylic polish)? I have a kit that you could use if you wanted to give it a try. It's a manual process and requires a little elbow grease, but I think that it would work just fine.

[Chad]

Thanks for the offer Brian. I may take you up on that. I do have a standard propane torch.

 

I know there are some edges I have (like the top or surfaces that will be covered with trim) that I could do it on without any issues... You pointed out exactly what I was worried about. The videos of it online have them moving the torch rather quickly, I wonder if I could use painters tape to cover the surface... mayby an experiment is in order!!

 

Tom, do you mind bringing that kit to the meeting next week?

[Origami]

Tom, do you mind bringing that kit to the meeting next week?

I'll try to remember. Send me a reminder note, just in case, a day or so beforehand.

[Chad]

Will do, thank you!

[Jon Lazar]

I'm no expert, but I've flame polished before and noticed that bubbling occurs at seams where there's solvent residue.

[Max Ivers]

I've flame polished before with a standard propane torch and it turned out well. Let me know if you'd like some help with it, I'm ~20mins outside of DC

[Coral Hind]

I'm no expert, but I've flame polished before and noticed that bubbling occurs at seams where there's solvent residue.

I've noticed the same thing. Flame polishing can also cause numerous minor cracks along the area being heated unless the whole items temperature can be raised. We have stopped flame polishing at work and only buff polish now.