Sorry for another epoxy question 
I’m not happy with the finish and just wondered if anyone can share their experience of sanding and polishing?
I am going climb to 3000 grit hand sanding (small project) and then going to polish with red pad on my orbital sander with 3000 cut. Does this sound right? I’m nub
Thanks 
I have tried a number of processes, and spent a number of weeks of time, in order to bring my epoxy inlays to a gloss or polished look. Attempting to make it look like it was just poured. This included high grit sanding with 3,000-6,000, polishing with a bench grinder polishing wheel, even using automotive waxes and polishes, and I finally found the one thing that worked amazingly well and is very close (in my opinion) to freshly poured/cured epoxy: 2K Automotive Clear Coat! This stuff is amazing, durable and UV resistant (because it goes on top of car paint).
Granted the only thing I did not try is Rubio Monocoat, but I did not want to cover the entire piece of wood, and the epoxy inlay was only 1/2" wide by about 18" long stripe that was part of a 3D (relief) carving, so I could not just pour the epoxy after carving. Just a couple strips of painter’s tape on either side of the epoxy strip and 2-3 coats of the 2K.
I even tried a non-2K, regular, clear coat and it worked okay, but the 2K version of the clear coat was a night and day difference in glossy. Note, “2K” means 2 Component, or a Part A and Part B (hardener with slow, medium, and fast variants) with a 4-1 mix ratio. I also picked up some regular “Reducer” and mix it at a 10% ratio to thin it out a little as I’m putting it through a regular airbrush.
Another great thing I found about this option; I only have to sand to 800-1000 grit, just enough to get the obvious/majority of marks to disappear, the clear coat fills in all the micro scratches. I have attached a photo of the exact brand I bought, but I would think any reputable brand will do. I also suggest going to a true Automotive Paint Supplier (not Autozone) which I happen to have one locally, to make sure and get a good brand. The paint supplier was beyond helpful and even gave me the little bit of reducer I needed for free!
Oh yeah, I also restored my car’s headlights using this 2K clear coat! Again, only sanding to 1000 grit, masking off the headlight assemblies and put down about 3-4 coats. They literally look brand new like from the factory. Sorry I don’t have any photos of epoxy projects that I used with this.
Thanks,much to digest
Nice work on the headlights.
I could be some 2k. Good to know that it’s UV resistant as it’s a house name that I’m doing so will be outside
I do a fair share of epoxy work, and my go to method is to run through the grits up to 800, then I run through the grits again with wet sanding all the way up to 10K on my orbital sander. It does not take as long as you would think, and that gets my projects looking great. On my next one, I think I will finish with a paste compound to see if I can pull any more shine out.
