Polishing

Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with minimal diffuse reflection and significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material according to the Fresnel equations.)^[1] When the 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.

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

External links

Look up polishing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.