Micromesh was originally designed for fine art restoration. It gently removed contamination and lacquers without damage to the piece beneath. Later in the 1970's the military employed it on their acrylic aircraft transparencies. It saved them millions as scratched and crazed aircraft windows could be restored rather than replaced.
With that in mind, it is easy to see the potential of micro mesh in all kinds of applications from jewellery, to classic car restoration.
The 'cushioned' abrasive
You really have to see the material under magnification to appreciate the difference between Micromesh and standard abrasives.
The most unique feature is that the abrasive crystals are held in a strong layer of glue which acts as a cushion on the long lasting fabric backing. Individual crystals can move up and down to form a common level. Unlike standard papers where grains are fixed in hard resin with a random scratch pattern. A smooth shaving action is achieved rather than a rough gouging of the surface.
The material can be used wet or dry without loosing it's grit. The fabric backing is flexible, more so in Regular than MX but both much more so than abrasive paper.
Reduced friction keeps the working temperature down, this in turn prevents the crystals fracturing. The result is an abrasive product that lasts up to 15x longer.
A Micromesh Flexifile was used here to refinish a repaired ring. The high gloss finish was achieved solely with the 4-way file. A stupendously simple solution to quick finishing by hand.
These files are a great way of sampling micromesh grits as is our Starter Kit with 5 strips of 100, 180, 320, 400 and 800.
What type of Micromesh Should I Choose?
Regular
Designed for plastics, acrylics, gelcoat, fibreglass, cast polymers, lacquers, composites etc. Regular is more flexible than MX, well suited to polishing. 1500 equivalent to 400g upwards.
MX
More suited to hardwoods and metals. The slightly less flexible backing gives a high gloss finish to metals. Starts at 60 equivalent to 240g right up to 3 micron.
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