need some help on a fast acrylic scratch removal

[honda237]

as the title states, i am trading my 230g even up for a 300g, i know it has a good sized scratch in one spot, but i would like to just buff the whole tank. here is the problem, i have fish in my 230g so i will be setting up my 135g in the garage for the day, mind you i need to set this tank back up by the end of the day. So what is the fastest, easiest and best way to buff a tank?

I have never done this before, so all the help i can get would be great. i did some searching but i couldn't get a direct answer.
i read about car buffer, any thoughts on that?

 

[nfored]

Fast? guess that depends on what you call fast. its going to be a lot of work and your arms are going to hurt, even with a electric buffer.

 

[kevinfleming21]

Fast? guess that depends on what you call fast. its going to be a lot of work and your arms are going to hurt, even with a electric buffer.

^^^^^^^^^

 

[jcardona1]

one of these (forget those random orbit buffers, theyre junk)

and a set of this stuff:

 

[honda237]

Fast? guess that depends on what you call fast. its going to be a lot of work and your arms are going to hurt, even with a electric buffer.

well not like 1 hour fast, but i mean like faster so i can get it done in a couple of hours.

 

[honda237]

one of these (forget those random orbit buffers, theyre junk)

and a set of this stuff:

i pretty much have everything except the novus 3, but what about the bigger scratchs? and do you use any type of cloth or something with the buffer and novus 3? is there a step before the novus 3? i am new to this and don't know how to exactly do it.

 

[jcardona1]

i pretty much have everything except the novus 3, but what about the bigger scratchs? and do you use any type of cloth or something with the buffer and novus 3? is there a step before the novus 3? i am new to this and don't know how to exactly do it.

i used just a standard polishing/buffing pad, like what you would use on a car. if the scratch is real deep, you may have to wetsand it with some fine grit sandpaper, like 1500+. it will take some time, but you should be able to get all but the deepest scratches out.

the Novus 3 and a very high RPM on the buffer will get out most scratches. once the acrylic heats up the scratches just disappear. just be careful to not leave 'burn' marks on the acrylic as you may have to start the whole process over again.

 

[Egon]

^^^^ I agree. Use a direct drive buffer. Mine bugger stops when I push to hard which is nice because it wont burn the acrylic but it's also wont heat up the acrylic enough to take out the scratches. I have to buff for a long time to make any progress! If I could do it over again I would go with the above buffer.

 

[kevinfleming21]

good advice ^^^^

 

[honda237]

i used just a standard polishing/buffing pad, like what you would use on a car. if the scratch is real deep, you may have to wetsand it with some fine grit sandpaper, like 1500+. it will take some time, but you should be able to get all but the deepest scratches out.

the Novus 3 and a very high RPM on the buffer will get out most scratches. once the acrylic heats up the scratches just disappear. just be careful to not leave 'burn' marks on the acrylic as you may have to start the whole process over again.

Ok thank you very much, this makes me feel a lot better about doing it. I think my dads is a direct drive buffer, if i remember correctly from working on my car, i will have to stop by his house and pick it up.
one last question, do i want to manually sand the scratch with the 1500+ grit paper or do i use the car buffer?