Polishing

Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material according to the Fresnel equations.)^[1] In some materials (such as metals, glasses, black or trasparent stones) polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to minimal values. When an unpolished surface is magnified thousands of times, it usually looks like mountains and valleys. By repeated abrasion, those "mountains" are worn down until they are flat or just small "hills." The process of polishing with abrasives starts with coarse ones and graduates to fine ones.

Polishing with very fine abrasive differs physically from coarser abrasion, in that material is removed on a molecular level, so that the rate is correlated to the boiling point rather than to the melting point of the material being polished.

Types

Metalworking

Other polishing processes include:

• Burnishing
• Mass finishing
  • Tumble finishing
  • Vibratory finishing
• Sodablasting

Woodworking

• French polishing
• Wood finishing

Other

• Chemical-mechanical polishing, which is used in semiconductor fabrication
• Fabrication and testing of optical components
• Flame polishing, a type of polishing used on glass and thermoplastics
• Ultra-fine, abrasive paste polishing, polishing for soft or fragile work surfaces
• Vapor polishing, a method of polishing plastics to optical clarity

References