polishing scratches out of glass

[buschwacker]

Does anybody know how to polish the scratches out of glass?

[Timothy01]

grind it out and buff it out is basicly the only advice i can offer here, may cause distortion, hope its not a deep scratch

[Fast Fred]

Here ya go. Read this:

http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org.../scratches.htm

[buschwacker]

Well I took a look at that and it appears to be alot of work. I think I will look into trying it out. What do I have to lose other than about 30 bucks and some of my time. My time is worth alot to me but what the heck. I'll give it a shot.

Have you tried this or is this some info you ran across? just curious!!!!

Thanks alot for that Fast Fred!!

[M.Anderson]

I have this same problem with my 58G tank. I posted a thread just recently and I was given a couple of suggestions. One of which was to use a product known as jeweler's rouge, I believe it may be the same product in the link, cerium oxide. Not sure though. I have not quite built up the confidence to attempt this project, but if you do let me know how things go. I would like to remove my fine scratches someday, just want to know all I can before I attempt it.

M.Anderson

[Fast Fred]

Busch,

I haven't tried this myself. When I was looking to purchase a tank, I came across one for a fair price, but it had a lot of scratches in the front viewing glass. I researched it and found the link I posted. It seemed to me to be more work that I was willing to do for a used tank that I hadn't even purchased yet. I decided that it was in my best intrest to purchase a brand new tank instead.

Not to say that it can't be done. Obviously it can. You just have to ask yourself: "What is my time worth to me?"

On the other hand, this is the DIY Forum, and time isn't always what it's about. The hobby isn't just about feeding fish and changing water. It can be a lot of fun and very rewarding in many other ways too.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

[Roland Jacques]

i got some of that liquid lense scratch remover i plain on try it by friday on a tank. ill let you no how it works

[pitt_prodigy]

I posted a thread a long time ago here about my failed attempt at trying just what your are about to attempt. I spent $100 on a professional scratch removing kit.... one that even claimed to be the latest and greatest at removing even deep scratches. I called around to numerous glass scratch removal specialist all over the country to get some advice on what works an what doesnt and they all said the same thing....:

"Cerium oxide will remove light scratches, but on anything deep your screwed. Even if you managed to buff out the deep scratches which would take weeks, you would end up with distortions (concavity) in you glass."

I can tell you that even after 3 days work (with prep) ONLY the lightest of scratches came out. The rule of thumb is that if you cant feel the scratch when you run your finger nail over it... it can be buffed out. Otherwise your wasting your time. Though the buffing will "clean" the deeper scratches and make them far less visible.... its only a matter of time before algae and stuff would fill them back in again bringing them back. (My tank was an Oceanic though.... personally i dont know how a tank with thinner/different glass would work).

After spending more time than i care to think about..... buffing pad after buffing pad.... 2 different grades of rouge (cerium oxide) and polishing compound by the tub full.... all i got was a very sore back an a good arm workout. I also bought a top of the line adjustable speed drill for the occasion. Looking back.... gaining an excuse to by the drill was probably the only good thing that came out of that situation. My advice, personally is to just buy a new tank if the scratches bother you that much. Thats what i ended up doing and for what i spent on supplies to remove the scratch i could have bought a MUCH bigger tank. Good luck.

[kgolem]

You could try the polishing material that is use for installing the connecting ends of fibre optic cable.

Google search "polishing film" or "fibre optic polishing lap" . A package of 20 sheets retails for about 20 dollars here... http://www.tessco.com/products/disp...5&subgroupId=30

I haven't used it on glass, but I have used it on LED's to remove the focusing lense for better light coverage. It polishes to a scratchless finish and is made for glass.

Try it on a scrap piece of glass first.

[tkeracer619]

I have a bunch of scratches. I don't care, my fish dont care, and once the coraline started to grow on the glass the scratches almost go away since the coraline is easier to see.

I shoulda looked at the date. ugh bumping a dead thread.

[RonD]

pitt_prodigy is correct.... if you can feel it with your finger nail.. it is to deep and will most likely not ever come out. jeweler's rouge does take out only the finest of scratches but nothing deep.. I had more than one guy come at me when I was restoring old Corvettes trying to save a there vintage windshields from wiper scrapes... no such luck.. and we tried all sorts of other combinations of abrasives with no better results. You are better off to just leave well enough alone.

[windsor-aquatic]

As stated previously, if the scratches are deep enough to be felt with your fingernail, there's not much you can do to remove them. If it's really annoying you, have you considered replacing the scratched panel?

[david8956]

There is a clear liquid material auto glass companies use to "repair" windshields when they have small cracks, stone chips, etc. I saw a demonstration of this a couple of years ago, and the repair was invisible. No idea what it is called, but may be work checking in to and trying.