I got an urge to clean up the appearance of my Home Depot Makita last night. The air filter cover had been written on with paint marker while it was owned by HD and the and the front top cover had a rental sticker on it. The plastic had faded and turned a little yellow which made the areas where the sticker and paint marker look kinda funny and lighter in color.
I took some 320 grit paper to the covers and then some rubbing compound. Put them in the dishwasher for a while and voila they looked pretty good and uniform in color again. I have done the same thing with other plastics before and had always used a clear spray lacquer to bring back the shine. I decided to try a different route on this saw. I never liked the shiny gray top on the Makitas and so I decided to try a semi gloss clear spray enamel on this one. I like the way it turned out, IMO it looks a little more "industrial". Here are before and afters. In the after pic, it really looks better in person- I used a camera phone and the pic does not do the saw justice.
I took some 320 grit paper to the covers and then some rubbing compound. Put them in the dishwasher for a while and voila they looked pretty good and uniform in color again. I have done the same thing with other plastics before and had always used a clear spray lacquer to bring back the shine. I decided to try a different route on this saw. I never liked the shiny gray top on the Makitas and so I decided to try a semi gloss clear spray enamel on this one. I like the way it turned out, IMO it looks a little more "industrial". Here are before and afters. In the after pic, it really looks better in person- I used a camera phone and the pic does not do the saw justice.
