Acrylic Sander?

[tangboy]

My brother inherited an amazing 150g acrylic tank, but the problem is it has lots of micro scratches on the inside. The tank has nothing in it and he is willing to do some work to get those scratches taken care of.

Hes a builder/tiler/drywaller/etc kinda guy and has tools but needs a good kit he can use, anyone have any suggestions?

Links are preferable and I give my thanks in advance

-geoff

 

[TriMax]

I found several links. Not sure how you like to buy stuff. Novus Acrylic Polish & Scratch Remover is a good product. Ebay has it in 2oz bottles. He may want to get the 8oz bottle, however depending on the number of scratches. You use the cleaner bottle #1 first. Then the #3 for big scratch removal. #1 to clean. Then #2 for small scratch and polish. Then #1 again. My tank does not have scratchs yet, but when it does the novus is what I plan to use. It is sold for all types of uses - motorcycle, boat, airplane plastic.

 

[tangboy]

Hey thanks for the research! I'll check into it and see what I can come up with, thanks a lot!

The question is will that cover a 150 easily enough? 150g is a huge dimensional tank

 

[TriMax]

It comes in 2oz, 8oz, and 32oz containers. Novus has a video of folks polishing a large boat.
I will buy the 8oz size, because I think you get scratchs in glass or acrylic no matter how hard you try not to. Acrylic scratches can be sanded, buffed and polished "out".

Now easy, I am not sure. It may take some time and elbow grease.

 

[TriMax]

This is the best buy that I have found so far. Might buy some from this guy since I will need some soon or later.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=110396136308

 

[shortys513]

Wow! What a deal on that eBay link. I payed about $7 for each bottle. I had #1 for a while, but just bought #2 and 3 earlier today and tried them out.

I'm not impressed. Maybe I have a different idea of what a large scratch and a fine scratch is, but I saw almost 0 results. The best results that I saw were that the #2 solution definitely cleared the marks of a sheet of 2500 sandpaper. But for anything more than that, I hope power tools work because I have a lot of what I though were little scratches that I'd like to get out.

Hope this helps.

 

[fazgood]

It is not as bad as you would think. i just got done doing a bunch.

The best method we found was:

Use an orbital air powered sander. Harbor Freight has one for $20-sale price. Go to an auto parts place and get 800 grit, 1200 grit wet/dry sand pads. They come in a box of 50 but you might be able to talk the guy into selling you 2 or 3. for a buck or so each.

Clean it really well and make sure to get any sand out of your way.

Here comes the freaky part. Take the 800 grit to the deeper scratches DRY. Go across the scratch with the sander pressing on the edges to grind it smooth. If there are micro scratches, do the entire surface with 800. This will make the entire thing look totally cloudy.

Now switch to the 1200 grit and go over the entire surface again. This time take your time and let the sander just gently buff the surface and be sure to wipe off the dust with a barely damp cloth every minute or so. This will keep the sand pad from clogging. It will now look a little better but still really cloudy.

Wipe it down really well and go back to Harbor Freight and get their variable speed 7 inch buffer and some cloth/cotton bonnets for it. Use water to Wet the pad really well and use #3 at about 1/2 speed. Use the #3 liberally and keep it wet with a spray bottle and water. Be sure to get close in the corners. Do this until it starts to look really good.

Wipe it down really well again and use a new bonnet and go to #2. Wet the bonnet and use #2 liberally and keep it wet. Use a slower speed and don't let it get hot or the #2 starts to get gummy. Slow the buffer as you get closer to get a really good shine. Use a cloth and do the corners by hand where the buffer can't reach.

Wipe it down really well again and use #1 to get the residue of the #2 off of it. Look it over really well for scratches. The thing will look better than the day it was made.

Total time for a tank that size should be less than 4 hours. Now that we did about 65 of them, we could do it in about 90 minutes. By the time you are done you will be an expert but you won't want to do it again for a while. ;o)

Don't be too gentle using the 800 grit but dont stay in one spot too long as it can cause a distortion. If you have a deeper scratch, you can just round the edges of it and it will be hardly visible.

I took some videos and will get them on youtube when my arms recover from the project.

Hope that helps,

Faz

 

[ct_vol]

I love Harbor Freight... :thumbsup:

 

[Steve_B]

It is not as bad as you would think. i just got done doing a bunch.

The best method we found was:

Use an orbital air powered sander. Harbor Freight has one for $20-sale price.
Now switch to the 1200 grit and go over the entire surface again. This time take your time and let the sander just gently buff the surface and be sure to wipe off the dust with a barely damp cloth every minute or so. This will keep the sand pad from clogging. It will now look a little better but still really cloudy..........

go back to Harbor Freight and get their variable speed 7 inch buffer and some cloth/cotton bonnets for it. .
Faz

Hey fazgood,

I have an aprox 110psi compressor with a two gallon tank. Is that sufficient to drive the orbital air powered sander you are referring to? It sure does seem strange that this outcome can be done with a no finer than 1200 grit sand paper, but it looks you're the man.
My second question is why is an electric sander/polisher needed in addition to the air powered one? Can't one or the other do both parts of the sanding/polishing process? I don't want to go out to get a bigger compressor just to remove scratches from a tank I'm going to sell. I only own my compressor to air up my car tires.
I have also read that the Harborfreight unit is very substandard. Is that the electric one you have always used? If so, I guess those negative comments must not be accurate. The 7" electrical unit 92623-4vga, have two terrycloth 7"-8", 7-8" microfiber, one 7-8" polishing and five 7" wool bonnets. I'm kind of confused as to which bonnets you are referring to use.
Am' I missing something when you said "œgo back to harbor freight and buy the 7" buffer." Why wouldn't you get them both at the same time?
Is in fact the polisher to get, the seven" variable speed polisher /sander, item 92623-4vga?


Any help would be appreciated,

Steve

 

[Cathy8424]

I took some videos and will get them on youtube when my arms recover from the project.

Faz

Did you ever get this up on youtube? If so, would you please post a link?

I have a bow front panel that is 8' X 4' tall. The entire panel is scratched to the point of looking like the day after filling a tank with a sugar size sand bed. (they used a Brillo pad to clean), and there are some areas down low that have deep scratched (they used a razor blade to try cleaning Coraline).

Can you give me an estimate of how many hours it may take using the tools you suggested? I realize this will just be an estimate, with many more or hopefully a few less hours depending on many variables.

Thank you,
Cathy

 

[Engloid]

I have an aprox 110psi compressor with a two gallon tank. Is that sufficient to drive the orbital air powered sander you are referring to?

Nope. It won't do worth a crap. The sander will probably stop moving when you touch it to the tank. You can probably find an electric one somewhere.

It sure does seem strange that this outcome can be done with a no finer than 1200 grit sand paper, but it looks you're the man.

I used to work in a place that we had to put a mirror finish on the end of a 1/16" stainless tube, for it to seal. We did it with 1000 grit.

I have also read that the Harborfreight unit is very substandard. Is that the electric one you have always used? If so, I guess those negative comments must not be accurate.

There is some good and bad there. If you aren't going to use a tool often or for heavy duty work, most of what they have is fine. Some of their tools can be bought cheaply, and for a small cost, a 5yr replacement warranty. For example, I bought a porta-band there. It was a Chicago Electric brand, for about $50. For about $5 more, I got the warranty. The alternative was a $400 milwaukee that I knew was an excellent piece, from using them many years on many jobs. however, for what I'm doing at home, I figured that I could get a guaranteed 5 years of use out of a Chicago Electric for MUCH less. It looks like a cheap and crappy tool, but has not failed yet.

Am' I missing something when you said "œgo back to harbor freight and buy the 7" buffer." Why wouldn't you get them both at the same time?

Perhaps it gives an excuse to go back out for more beer?