How to Sand Resin to be Smooth

Once I get into something I totally get into it. I’ve been whipping up bangles with resin left and right. I figure soon enough I’ll start to play around with other ways of using resin but right now I’m quite content with a bazillion unique bangles!

Just think about it. The possibilities are endless with anything and everything you could embed in the resin. And coloring it is a whole ‘nother ball of wax bringing together even more possibilities.

But a resin piece is only as good as it can be if your raw side is finished well. I’ve been sanding down a lot of raw edges lately and I’m going to show you how to get the best results. Sure you’ll need to practice a bit but these days I am more than happy with my gorgeous smooth edges!

For this project you will need:

• Bowl of water your item will fit inside of
• Wet or dry surface sandpaper – I prefer 200 grit
• Dremel tool (optional but very, very fast) – I have this cordless micro Dremel.

When taken from the mold the edges can be funky. There can be strange grooves and sharp edges.

It doesn’t look fabulous and it can scratch the dickens out of you too.

You’ll need to get a bowl of water. This is actually a fishbowl like globe from the dollar store. Dip your piece in the water

The wet or dry sandpaper is pretty dang important. You can try using a decent sandpaper and it will work for a while, but this stuff is going to last for ages. Don’t even bother with the discount dollar store stuff. You’ll shred it in seconds.

In a circular motion rub your resin piece with the “bad” side around in circles. You can use force and push or just sort of lazily swirl it around. I go with lazily and watch TV or something to keep myself occupied.

A Dremel will really speed things up. Continually dipping your resin piece in water, use the tool on one of the slower settings and remove the sharp edges to even the surface with the lowest part of the groove.

When doing this you NEED TO WEAR GLASSES to protect your eyes. Also it’s going to make a terrible mess with this stuff flying absolutely everywhere but, did I mention it’s crazy fast? :)

To round of edges, take a small piece of sandpaper and rub along the edges while under water.

This does require a bit of patience in my experience but you can get really great results consistently once you get the technique down. Using the Dremel is super fast but there is a learning curve. Practice on pieces you wouldn’t mind messing up. The biggest issue I think is getting the side you are working on nice and level. It’s easy to take a bit too much off here or there and have a wonky, uneven edge or a sloping edge.

And even if they aren’t 100% perfect right away, they’re still totally useable/wearable! Have any tips for cleaning up that rough side on your resin pieces? I’d LOVE to hear them!