SAD SAD....plexi repair question...

[SNAAAKE]

OKI...
I was cutting plexi glass for the sides of my cabinet today and my hand sliped...and there is a nasty looking scratch on the uper left side.
Any way to make it not visible?
Everything was just sooo perfect today but....
I recall there was a thread long time ago discussing this.
The scratch isnt noticable.Tried taking a picture but cant really see.BUT if there was a way to fix the scratch... .

Anyone?  

Any kind of transparent glue or paste or anything that might blend in with plexi glass.
thanks in advance for any help/tip/advice from anyone !  .

BTW,I am not totally totally pi$$ed about this but....you know...

[AX]

I feel for you.  i had the same prob with my lexan yesterday.  everything went so good even the screwup i thought destroyed my lexan turned out perfect.  THEN my spade bit jumped putting a few gouges in my sheet between the buttons.  my feeling is if it isn't noticable now,  when the cab gets used more scratches will appear and make the first one a memory.

[shmokes]

I bet you could get a buffing bit for a drill or dremel tool and get rid of the scratch with a little effort.

[crsdawg]

try either novus 2 or 3.  novus 2 is for fine scratches and novus 3 is for heavier ones. i've use this with fine scratches in the past and have had very good results. ymmv.

-chris-

[SNAAAKE]

try either novus 2 or 3.  novus 2 is for fine scratches and novus 3 is for heavier ones. i've use this with fine scratches in the past and have had very good results. ymmv.

-chris-

Novus      
never even heard about this word...LOL.
seriosully...
Care to explain little bit more?  

[crsdawg]

here's a link to a place that sells it. i'm not really recommending buying there, it was just the first place i found on google. it has pic's and a description. you should be able to find it locally, maybe at an autoparts store.

http://www.spadepot.com/products/005novus.htm

basically it's a rub on paste that fills the scratch. once it's buffed, it's clear and helps hide the scratch. when i worked in the car stereo industry we used this to polish scratched up plex in installs we did, lcd windows, and etc.
  i've only dealt with reasonably small scratches, so i'm not sure how well it will work in your case,  i thought it might be worth a shot tho.

-chris-

[SNAAAKE]

Thank you thank you !  
I could easyly find this local...many car shops(I even know someone fixes cars).

[crsdawg]

no prob., good luck.

-chris-

[Brax]

Thank you thank you !  
I could easyly find this local...many car shops(I even know someone fixes cars).

It won't work. Not by itself anyways. If I know you, you've seriously messed it up..... no worries. I suspect it's deep enough that you'll have to sand it. Yup, you heard me! Sand it! Get yourself some 600 grit sandpaper and go for it. It'll turn all white and opaque. After you get your scratch out use the Novus to polish out your new, smaller scratches. If it still looks a little cloudy AND you have an airbrush you can spray the spot with Future floor polish. It's an Acrylic sealer. Translation? It's a water based clear coat. It'll make all the cloudiness disappear.

Grab a scrap piece and try it out to practise. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. One of my hobbies is modeling aircraft. The thickness of the canopies are never to scale. (Way too thick) I usually reduce the thickness by at least 1/32". At that point its a white opaque piece of plastic. After polishing and a shot of Future its crystal clear again.

A second (probably easier) method is this:
Try Micro-Mesh.  It is various grades of cushioned abrasives, that are used to polish (real) aircraft canopies.  I think Electronic Industries still stocks it.  Or talk to Basler Aviation on where to get it or find an aviation store (usually near airports, duh.)
It's approved by the FAA to polish windshields crystal clear again. The only real trick to remember when using MicroMesh is that with each reduction in grit it must be used at 90 degrees to the previous grade. If a rotating motion is used the system will not work.

http://www.sisweb.com/ms/sis/micromes.htm
http://pages.restorersupplies.com/5943/InventoryPage/1316051/1.html

[MameFan]

If you watch eBay you can pick up a Novus 1+2+3 set of 2 oz bottles for around $15 shipped, and if you're good with timing, a few people sell 8 ounce bottle sets of 3 for $23 shipped.  

Be careful about the ones advertizing "Bonus" They either sell you #1/#2 in 8ounce or 2 ounce and then include a ketchup packet sized #3 (1/10th ounce?).

There are about 2 sellers who always sell it and occassionally you can find some that sell it for less. I got mine for ~$19 shipped for 3 new, 8 ounce bottles from a Pinball seller ('pinball' was in his user ID if I recall)

It works GREAT for removing the dull-opaque ness from leaf buttons (especially after washing them)  Brings them back to shiney new.

Novus does work good wonders, but it won't work mircacles.  If there are dents/deep scratches it wont do anything. Light to moderate ones it can "hide" (it basically "melts" the plastic around it by chemical and heat (rubbing) and abrasion (silica particles)) and therefore it no longer will be optically 'perfect' but the result is usually better than the before.

I used it on a mini coleco table top game where orange cleaner had been used to try to clean the plexi top screen.. The orange cleaner of course ate into the plexi and fogged it totally opaque (could barely see the score numbers through it).  Sanding it with 220 and higher didn't remove the fog and just scratched. Novus 3 followed by Novus 2 actually got it about 50% back to normal.  Another #3 followed by #2 got it a bit better.   If I used a polishing disc attached to a dremmel tool, it probably would do better than hand rubbing would to.

Good luck!

[SNAAAKE]

hmm..so novus isn't the "best" solution for this.  
Well the scratch isnt that deep(hand sliped once) so novus might do the trick.
Thanks everyone !  
I kinda feel better now(atleast).I will post back when I find some novus.

[chuggy]

Call a marina, or a boat supplies store. Star Brite makes a plexi glass repair kit, and also a buffing compound that works really well on plexi. I've never used it, but i worked at a marina, and people who have say it works well. Good Luck!