Getting scratches out of glass?

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bahamaqt00

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 7, 2009
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kirkland wa
Is it possible? If so, how do you do it? And am I going to have to get all the fish out of the tank to do it without stressing them out?

Sorry if a stupid question but I have no idea. I know you can to acrylic but not too sure about glass.
 
nope, wont come out. gonna have to buy a new tank if it bothers you that much ;)
 
That's what everyone is saying. But I know the people can buff scratches out of windshields in cars? Does anyone have any input on this?
 
i know there's compounds and kits out there to remove super fine scratches but there is a test. run your finger nail over the scratch, if you can feel the scratch with your nail and your nail gets "caught" in the scratch, i can guarantee you it's not coming out.

and chances are if you cant feel the scratch with your nail, you wont see the scratch when your tank is full of water anyways
 
Shame, again how much does it bother you, I've got a tiny scratch on my oscar tank and don't notice it.
 
here's more information on why scratches in glass that have any "depth" to them are NOT gonna come out. you simply cannot polish away the surrounding glass to make it the same level as the scratch, which is what you do when you "remove" a scratch. youre not actually removing anything but the surrounding material:

Historically, deep scratches cannot be removed, light scuffs can be polished our of the glass using a glass polishing kit sold by the Eastwood company, but not actual scratches with a depth to them.

Here's a related article,

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...


In order to remove a scratch out of anything, metal, plastic glass, paint, etc. You must remove material around the scratch until the surface is level or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or scratches.

The below diagram if for paint, the the same thing applies to just about an surface material or coating.

2scratchesinpaint.jpg


In essences, you don't really remove a scratch, you remove material around a scratch.

Then the big question is, is the material or coating workable, as in can you abrade small particles of it and leave behind an original looking surface. For example, some things you can abrade, (remove the scratch), but you can never completely remove all of your abrading marks, thus you can't really fix the problem, all you can do is exchange one set of scratches of a different set of scratches.

The next questions is, how thick is the surface material you're working on or the coating. You are limited to what you can do by the thickness of these to things, (surface coating or surface material), and whether or not this surface is workable.

Sometimes you don't know what you can so until you try. It's always a good idea to test your choice of products, applicator materials and application process, (By hand or by machine), to an inconspicuous area. If you cannot make a small area look good with your product, applicator and process, you will not be able to make the entire surface look good. It's always a good idea to test first and error on the side of caution, versus make a mistake you cannot undo.
 
Thanks for the info. I mean we have quite a few scratches on ours some big enough that I know they're not coming out. And a lot of smaller ones that might be able to come out. It was rough getting this thing out of our 3rd story apartment and it put quite a few scratches in it : ( You can see a lot of them when the tank is full of water.
 
In my experience JCardona1 is correct. I've used both cerium oxide and the windshield scratch removal kits. You end up spending hours with very little to show for it.
 
if u have ever seen someone do a windshield they use a sander to buff it out. and most ppl that do it at home use a towel and elbow grease which wont work. most kits r for the pros they cost over a grand.and u would have to take all the fish n water out.u could try n call one of these places that repair windows n see if they would even touch a tank it never hurts to ask
 
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