(Topic ID: 202075)

Flame Polishing, what am I doing wrong?

By Djshakes

6 years ago


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    #2 6 years ago

    I've had good success flame polishing and my guess is that your torch is putting out too much heat. I use a crème brulee torch and its going to be a little more precision and less heat than that torch. Also, you have to go conservative. Slowly wave the flame over the ramp getting some of the cloudiness out and then let it get completely cool before trying again. Little by little. The main problems I've had is bubbles. That's what you get when you hold the flame over the ramp too long. The plastic starts to boil.

    #7 6 years ago
    Quoted from HighVoltage:

    Can you use a heat gun to do this too?

    When I first tried this I used a heat gun and always warped the ramps. The heat gun does not put out heat in a precision enough fashion to work IMO. You need to heat up the cloudy section the ball moves on without heating up the sides as well or it will warp.

    #13 6 years ago
    Quoted from HighVoltage:

    Interesting, good to know. Maybe you could make some cardboard sleeves to block the sides. Next time I have an old ramp, I'm going to experiment some...

    You could run into an issue with the cardboard getting fused to the ramp anywhere the ramp gets hot. This is also one of the reasons the ramps need to be squeaky clean before you start, since any dirt on them will become part of the ramp once you add heat. Once you get this down it works great. Heck I've even went lightly over ramps while they were still in the game just to return that new look. You just have to remember that less is more and patience is key.

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