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I have used Micro-Mesh pads for several years now to make my nuts, saddles, bridges and bridge pins shiny and I just finished rubbing out a bridge and thought that I would post a pic.

I know that many builders buff their bridges with a buffing arbor but I never liked what else happens when the buffer slings compound all over me and the shop. So I just use these Micro-Mesh pads and actually enjoy the process which does not take very long at all.

This is NOT a good picture and after three tries I gave up on getting a good picture. The bridge in fact looks like a shiny piano key and this pic does not do it justice.

Anyway I thought that some folks might like to know about Micro-Mesh pads and see what they can do. Chuck your bridge pins in a cordless drill and you can do a pin in about a minute's time and they look awesome too.

In the first picture are two identical bridges only one has been micro-meshed (yeah I know Howard, micro-meshed is not a verb..... ).



Here is a BRW bridge that was micro-meshed......

They do look sharp Hesh!
I take it there is an assortment of grits in these pads?
Where do you get them?

Thanks,
Joe

I use the same pads. Once you get to 12,000 it is like glass.
I also use them for my nuts and saddles. In about 5 minutes they are well polished!!!

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Hey Hesh,
That bridge looks great. I've also used them on fingerboards, nuts and saddles.

Hey Joe, here you go...... Stew-Mac Micro Mesh Pads

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

i like the sheets also and they are great for finishing with aslo i love the stuff.
also it last a while and you was it with water and fairy up liquid and they will last longer (allthough there is no substitute to a fresh pad as with all abrasives)

this stuff all sorts of uses when doing repairs also. i love it.

it really brings up the chatoyance of the wood especialy woods like malaysian blackwood that can look awsome once micromeshed.
joel.

Thanks guys!

Joe in addition to what our fiend Chuck said about Stew-Mac Woodcraft has them too and this pack has 2400, 2600, 3100, 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12,000. I say this pack because of the three packs that I have here now they are not all the same grits but the range, top to bottom, is the same. I generally sand with 3M fre-cut through 400 before going to the MM pads. The 12,000 pad is like smooth leather.

Andy I use them on my nuts too.... and they can make nuts and saddles, especially unbleached bone look jeweled as you know. They also work great on wood tuner knobs too but I need to make a tuner knob holding fixture since the knobs are difficult to hold onto.

The best part is that this bridge looks like it is finished but there is no finish to wear off so the bridges that I did several years ago still look great and probably will for a long time.

Joel my friend I want to try the cloths too and am wondering if you have tried them with a ROS? I am thinking of turning off the dust collection on my ROS and trying it.

Great stuff Hesh - thanks!

One thing to be aware of: the available grits are not equivalent to standard papers. For example, the 1800 Micro Mesh is equivalent to 600 grit sandpaper (in ANSI numbering), and 4000 Micro Mesh equal to 1500 grit.

Cheers
Pete

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Cheers
Pete

Thanks for that Pete and I had heard that and noticed it too. But it needed to be said.

Any idea why they use their own number scheme and make things more complicated for us?

My local supplier also stocks Micro-Mesh in 5" diameter hook and loop discs which could be useful for general finishing.

In case it matters, I also notice that the grit equivalents they quote are different from the ones I stated above which I sourced from another web site.

Cheers
Pete

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Cheers
Pete

Hesh,
I've not yet tried wood polishing with micro mesh, but I have read about it. You are getting superb results. What I HAVE done is polish out both a Target Oxford Ultima finish and a Tru-Oil finish with these pads, and they give excellent results. I hope someone reading this exchange will be inspired to try the pads. If so, take your time, work through the full range of grits. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Hesh, thanks for posting this.
Patrick

i am not sure the cloths would work with the a ros they are kind of dense and i dont think dust would pull them properly.
but hey give it a go it may well work.
it may work with the courser grits but not with finer grade i dint think.
as i am sure you know once you get past 4,000 grit you are just burnishing the wood so you get very little dust.

i will soon be stocking micro mesh cloth in all the grits in 12" x 6" sheets so you can get two standard sized sets from it.
one for light woods and one for dark to avoid contamination or you could use one set for finishing and one for bunishing wood.

i have made the order for the order but they seem to be taking there time with deliveries.

they will be posted on the website as soon as get to round to updating again (i have been way to busy since the new year after my spate of ill health).

i also find micro mesh graet for getting the stubourn scratch marks from around the heel off.
i am not happy unless i have some in the shop its great stuff,

Joel.

Because 12000 is 6x finer than Mirka 2000...right? I'd bet a toe that the idea came out of the marketing department.

That said, the stuff does work well and I used it to 'buff out' my first electric to a pretty good shine. If you use a chart to see where you should start using the MM, you can use your other stuff (which might be more convenient and/or cheaper) until you run out of grits.

Conversion:
http://www.fine-tools.com/G10019.htm

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services