Polishing compounds

[arron]

Hi guys,

I've started using a 3" buffing machine to polish crystals (and also vintage fountain pens--my other hobby).  I just started but quite enjoy it.  The guy on Chronoglide recommended using dialux yellow to start removing scratches from crystals and then finishing up with red dialux.  My only issue with this is that the red compound is difficult to remove, more so from the fountain pens than the crystals.  Is there an alternative to the red dialux which is easier to remove after the polishing is completed.  Thank you.  Arron.

[thor447]

0.5 micron diamond polishing compound works really well.  It's finer than the red rouge.  You can also use a polinum polishing compound as another option.

[arron]

thank you.  do those come in bar form or are they a powder/paste?  are you suggesting them as a substitute for both compounds i'm currently using or just the red compound.

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, arron said:

thank you.  do those come in bar form or are they a powder/paste?  are you suggesting them as a substitute for both compounds i'm currently using or just the red compound.

The 0.5 diamond is a lapping paste, you can go finer than this to 0.25 micron. But different brands can vary in their grit size and not always accurate to how the compound is labelled. So choose a well known brand of quality, i generally just use the grading as a way of chooing a brands finest polishing grit. I find the paste easier applied by hand ( finger )with a piece of fine cloth  for crystal restoration. The polinum comes solid on a stick like the dilux compound so this can be used in the same way to charge your buffing wheel.