Mirror finish HA

[jhanko]

I never heard of anyone trying this, so I thought I'd try it. Pretty impressed with the results. Buffing HA takes forever. I tried tripoli, jewelers rouge and plastic compound. Surprisingly, the plastic compound worked the fastest. I was able to get a mirror-like finish. It is hard to catch in a picture, but it really is like a mirror. Anything that looks like surface imperfections are reflections. I like it alot. Should keep it's shine A LONG time. Sorry if this has been done before and is old news...

 

[DaFABRICATA]

That looks pretty darn cool!!!

Good job!:thumbsup:

 

[ICUDoc]

Never seen that before. Kinda funky- hardwearing milspec bling???

 

[lumafist]

Very cool job.....!

Did it take forever....?

 

[jhanko]

Yeah, it did take a long time. The finish has some very unique characteristics. It looks wet all the time, as if it has many layers of clearcoat on it and it doesn't show fingerprints at all.

 

[DM51]

That's a great idea, and a very good-looking result.

From the microscope pics I've seen of the HA structure, it is like a lot of tiny closely-packed rods sticking up out of the surface of the metal. By using the plastic compound, you are probably filling in the gaps between these rods to make a more solid structure, which may be why it takes such a good shine.

It may even make the surface stronger and harder too - but I'm just guessing. Whatever the case, it is a nice effect!

 

[greenLED]

I wonder what would be the difference if you mirror-polished a light and then HA's it...

...would that be how they made the original Arc LS? It's got kind of a unique shine to it that I haven't seen in any other HA lights.

 

[ambientmind]

great job and looks great! can you give me some more details on what compound you used and what buffing materials were used? thanks!

 

[Stillphoto]

Yeah, I'm planning on going out to buy some "plastic compound" and it would be nifty to know what kind. The big question being, is it made to polish plastic, or is it mainly made of plastic?

 

[jhanko]

The buffer I used is a 3/4 hp. Baldor. I use cotton flannel wheels. This buffer is definitely overkill for the job. Any small buffer would do. The compounds I tried were tripoli, jewelers rouge and plastic compound for polishing acrylic, polycarbonate, etc. Any buffing compound will get the job done, but I noticed that the plastic compound seemed to work a little faster than the other two. The plastic compound is the white one on the left. Tripoli is the red one on the right. You don't have to buy big bricks like these. Hardware stores sell small tubes.

 

[Cuso]

Are you telling me I can polish HA??!!! O crap there goes the weekend:devil:... How does it stands to fingerprints???

 

[Sgt. LED]

Yeah that's pretty awesome!

Ever thought about offering this as a service to CPF'ers? For a fee naturally.

 

[Bullet Bob]

A friend of mine just showed me lights that were called LongBows that are no longer made. It has that highly polished look to the anodizing and I fell in love with the look. Now if I can duplicate it it great. I got to give this a try.

 

[DUQ]

Wow that's cool. Gotta try that out for sure.

 

[Mostlarge]

Great work and thanks for showing that! Great light pron!
Looks like I need to invest in another power tool.:twothumbs

What's the grip feel like now?

 

[ambientmind]

has anyone tried this on a novatac? i'm just thinking about my black one being all shiny....

 

[jhanko]

Ever thought about offering this as a service to CPF'ers? For a fee naturally.

As much as I'd like to and need the money, my health just isn't up to it right now. I'm in physical therapy 5 hours a day, every day. When I get home, the only thing I have energy for is the recliner.

What's the grip feel like now?

It has a very "sticky" feel to it. Definitely not slippery as you would think.

has anyone tried this on a novatac? i'm just thinking about my black one being all shiny....

I was curious how black would look also, but didn't have any black HA lights. I just remembered I have a Nitecore EX10 body that I have no use for, so I tried it. I didn't finish it, just tried it out. The best way to describe the look is "black glass". I'd be careful with the Novatac. I remember when I had my 120P (natural HA, not black), the anodising appeared to be very thin. Sorry for the crappy pics.

 

[Patriot]

Well now...that's very original and I must say an amazing result!

Appearently it doesn't effect the lettering if you're careful? Can you give us an idea of approximately how much time you have in that little light.

:thanks:

 

[Sgt. LED]

Kinda like waxing a surfboard?

Except with pastic compound and a buffer.....:thumbsup:

 

[Thujone]

Looks like the finish on the Liteflux LF5XT.