small scratch in plex... fixable?

[krion]

TItle says it all more or less.  I just finished cutting my CP top out of lucite plexi...  After taking the plastic off I noticed there is a couple of small scratches.  I am a perfectionist and this will drive me completely insain even though they arent very noticable.  Is there any way to fix them?

Thjanks

[Kremmit]

There is a scratch remover / polishing product called Novus 1, 2, and 3 that is supposed to work wonders on that stuff.  Haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet.

These guys sell it:
http://www.centsibleamusements.com/

[patrickl]

You could also try a polishing fluid like they sell for getting scratches out of mobile phone displays. I have used that to get scratches out of clear plastics (phone display obviously and CD's). Costs a lot less.

[SirPeale]

Don't forget that after time this will just happen naturally.  That's what the plexi is there for after all, to protect the artwork.

[Xiaou2]

 Hmm,  a perfectionist that miss spells 'thanks'  ?  ; )


 The problem is not the scratches... its
'being a perfectionist'  ... its just not possible.  ; )   I have a bit of the sickness in some things I do as well... but you have to try to learn to let things go as to be able to enjoy life arround you.

 On the plex note... Ive heard of people using future floor polish to clean up scratches in plexi.   People in the model aircraft hobbies sand thier clear windows much thinner so that they are more realistic.  They use heavy grit, to light grit sandpaper (thru a labor intensive process, and maybe like 7 different grits of paper)... then to get rid of the haze,  buff with future floor polish.   The results are amazing.

   Novis isnt that good at scratch removal... especially if the scratch has any depth to it... as that is like the finest grade of sandpaper... so you never get down low enuff to level out the scratch. (unless you spent 2 years of scrubbing  and many a bottle of novice ; )  

  And like whats been said... in just a month of time... youll see hundreads of scratchs all over the place.  Plastics surface is very easy to mar up.   Glass would hold up much better - if you were able to work with it , and not be affraid of it shattering.   Or just use a thick bumpy overlay without the plexi.  The bumps wlll hide most surface scratches... and since its flat and not gloss... that will help as well.

 

[APFelon]

Novus is a great product. I used to use Novus 2 on pinball glass. The glass would become so clear, it would look as though I could grab the pinball off of the playfield.

Novus is the way to go.

APf

[Surgeville]

> Ive heard of people using future floor polish

What if one does not have access to the future?
Is there any current floor polish that will work?

[MonitorGuru]

I also can give recommendation to Novus.

I tried numerous plastic polishers (basically equivelent to Novus 1) but then saw lots of posts about how well Novus worked.

I bought some on a great deal off of eBay (1/2 what others sold them for---be careful, some only include trial packets of Novus 3, you want the entire 8 ounce bottles of Novus 1+2+3).

I tried it and it did wonders for restoring old Nintendo push buttons (a requirement since they are about 1/16" narrower than all other pushbuttons and shaped differently and no longer made), plus they fixed a portable Coleco Frogger's screen that someone mistakenly cleaned with orange cleaner and softened the plastic making it totally opaque  It brought it back to near perfectly clear screen.

I can't imagine working refurbishing old arcade games without Novus.  It is great stuff!

(And no, I am not a paid sponsor, just a very happy user of their product.)  It won't do miracles like 1/16" gouges or something, but surface scratches and opaqueness and dullness it will definitely fix given enough elbow grease or low torque power tools and polishing pads.

[Edgedamage]

Also if you are a cheap tooth paste works great also.  But  as soon as someone with a bracelet playes your game get ready for more scratches.

[IG-88]

I've used car polish to remove scratches in my work watch face. Works great.