Acrylic Buffing

schulace123

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2005
248
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MINNESOTA
Hey guys, got a quick question.

I have had a large acrylic tank sitting at my house for around 8 years, tank is probably ten years old or so and bought it used (It is six feet by 3, and 15 inches tall, plan on setting up a cool lagoon type reef). The entire tank was completely covered in deep scratches. I recently took it out to buff it. I started with wet dry sand paper and worked my way up from 400, 800, 1000 and finished with 2000. I have now started to buff it out using Novus 3 and 2. I have completely buffed one panel with an electric polisher/buffer I use on my car,this helped speed the process up but the corners were still a bit tricky to get so I am still doing those by hand. My problem is when I look at the tank up close into the lights from the ceiling I am seeing these tiny mirco scratches all over the entire panel I have buffed (they seem to have a strange brown color to them). They appear to be marks from the sanding, I was told the Novus would take all of these out. I have been over the same panel with Novus 3 and 2 about ten times on both sides, the sanding/novus has done a great job removing the large marks. When I look a the tank from about 5 feet away it looks clear but some areas have this blurry look to them due to this. Does anyone have any experience with this at all?

I have used Windex on this tank in the past, after some research it looks like that is a very debatable topic as to if it actually causes damage to the tank. I don't believe these are marks from the Windex because I buffed out a tiny section on the back where I never used Windex and it is doing the same thing.
 

S4Detroit

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2015
99
22
8
Detroit,Mi
The 400 grit is to harsh and more than likely cause the deeper scratches. Need to hit thise areas again with the 1000 the 2000 then with the Novus again.
 

schulace123

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2005
248
0
46
34
MINNESOTA
Yah that is what I was maybe thinking, my only problem is I have sanded the entire tank with 400. Recommend sanding the entire thing again with 800 1000 and 2000? or should I skip the 800?
 

S4Detroit

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2015
99
22
8
Detroit,Mi
Since you have been over it so many times I would skip the 800. The Novus will usually fix all but the real deep scratches and the wet sanding should have only been needed on the real deep scratched areas. Since you have been over the whole thing a few times you have already removed a lot of material. Only wet sand the deep scratches and then use Novus and it should come out good.
 

schulace123

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2005
248
0
46
34
MINNESOTA
Since you have been over it so many times I would skip the 800. The Novus will usually fix all but the real deep scratches and the wet sanding should have only been needed on the real deep scratched areas. Since you have been over the whole thing a few times you have already removed a lot of material. Only wet sand the deep scratches and then use Novus and it should come out good.
thanks for the advice, I will give it a try tonight.
 

PhysicsDude

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2011
190
28
61
Dallas, TX
I bought a scratched up acrylic tank, and I was able to get rid of most of the scratches, but like you mention, there were some areas with a lot of little scratches that I couldn't get to buff clear.

Once I filled up the tank, they disappeared. I can see them again during water changes, but I can't even find them when there's water.

Maybe try filling the tank up with water and test to see how visible the scratches are?
 
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