Product Description
Micro-Mesh Polishing Swabs - Polish difficult to reach areas of precious metal with ease!
The AMAZING Micro Mesh Polishing Swabs are cushioned abrasives backed with flexible cloth and a resilient inner layer. Use this set with polishing grits to give metal a super sparkly finish. This really is a must-have for all jewellery makers, we love the polishing swabs at Metal Clay HQ ♥!
Set of 12 grits - 12 sticks, each stick is 7cm in length with a 1cm abrasive tip:
- 100 MX – Sea green (roughest)
- 120 MX – Country bleu
- 150 MX – Dusty Mauve
- 1500 – Bronze
- 1800 – Green
- 2400 – Black
- 3200 – Dark purple
- 3600 – Brown
- 4000 – Teal
- 6000 – Light purple
- 8000 – Royal blue
- 12000 – Grey (finest)
The cushioning within the tip minimises deep and random scratch marks providing a smooth and professional finish. These swabs can be reused again and again, simply wash and dry them!
What is Micro Mesh?
Micro-Mesh™ is what we like to call a non-abrasive abrasive. It is considered a cushioned abrasive.
Conventional sandpaper is designed to be aggressive so that it will dig deeply. In its manufacture the crystals are electrically charged so that they will stand up. They are locked into a hard resin and when you apply the paper to a surface it will literally tear in and remove the substrate of the material you are sanding. The crystals cut in a negative raking motion, leaving inconsistent scratch patterns.
Micro-Mesh™ does the opposite. The backing is long lasting cloth to which an ultra-flexible cushioning layer is applied. This cushioning layer will determine how far forward you can push crystals before they will penetrate the cushioning layer. On top of this layer, we have a very resilient glue, not a hard resin, but a completely flexible glue that will hold the crystals while allowing it to move and rotate. The crystals can turn in any direction without coming loose. When you start to apply pressure to sand with Micro-Mesh™, the crystals will go into the cushioning layer while beginning to cut a bit. If you push harder, they will go further into the cushioning layer, which serves as a safety valve. It determines how much pressure you can exert in a downward direction. Instead of a deep scratch that sandpaper makes, Micro-Mesh™ produce a refined scratch that is close to a RMS of 1.0. The cushioning layer also allows the crystals to cut with a planing motion that leaves an extremely consistent scratch pattern and allows you to achieve extraordinary levels of gloss.
Where conventional abrasives will take surfaces down 2 or 3 thousandths (.002 or .003), Micro-Mesh™ will take it down one ten thousandth (.0001) or less.
What are Micro Mesh Regular grits?
Micro-Mesh™ Regular Grits are slightly different to the FEPA grits. There are 9 different grades in total (4 are in this set of 2), ranging from 1500R to 12,000R. This is the equivalent of FEPA 600 to 1 micron.
All Grades are silicone carbide except Reg 8000 and 1200 Aluminium Oxide.
