Sanding and Buffing Acrylic

[DaveB]

I have not tried this, but I might:

I talked for about 20 minutes on the phone with an acrylic guy out in the suburbs. For $75 an hour (1 hour estimate) and $50 in transportation each way, he would do it for me, but he also described how he'd approach it:

- high speed orbital sander (12000rpm)
- 3M Trimite sandpaper
- start high and work all the way down to 15 grit (the numbering system is different)
- very fluffy cotton attachment to a polishing wheel
- 3m super compound

He warned of distortion in the acrylic but said with those tools, the labor itself is "very easy."

 

[cpr_mike]

I have not tried this, but I might:

I talked for about 20 minutes on the phone with an acrylic guy out in the suburbs. For $75 an hour (1 hour estimate) and $50 in transportation each way, he would do it for me, but he also described how he'd approach it:

- high speed orbital sander (12000rpm)
- 3M Trimite sandpaper
- start high and work all the way down to 15 grit (the numbering system is different)
- very fluffy cotton attachment to a polishing wheel
- 3m super compound

He warned of distortion in the acrylic but said with those tools, the labor itself is "very easy."

Yeah I would say the distortion situation would come from using the orbital sander. I know they do it on car paint but I am not sure if the properties are the same as the acrylic. Maybe if the paint is the acrylic paint.

 

[cpr_mike]

Pictures:

Before

This is obviously the side piece. The sides were not nearly as bad as the front so I did not sand them.

As you can see there is some dust in there but it was almost not able to be seen through.


After:

All of the distortion you are seeing is dust on the back piece of acrylic. Not on the front.

 

[DaveB]

Damn!

I just suck at this.

So even if you get super close up, you can't see any mini scratches or sand spots at all?

The distortion would be from the fact that the acrylic thickness would vary after having been sanded down. I think he was thinking more in terms of only doing spot reduction rather than pretty much sanding the entire tank. As he described it, to remove a spot you'd sand it down but then widen it out a bit, so if it was like a 3x3 inch area he'd sand about a foot in every direction and as the grit got tinier he'd feather it out more. So it'd sort of ease its way in to that scratched spot, which obviously is a bit thinner now from having been sanded. In the extreme case, that could produce a bit of a funhouse mirror effect.

But apparently it being orbital instead of straight doesn't matter. Especially with that type of sandpaper, because it has some heat-reducing property.

 

[cpr_mike]

Damn!

I just suck at this.

So even if you get super close up, you can't see any mini scratches or sand spots at all?

Nothing!!!

The distortion would be from the fact that the acrylic thickness would vary after having been sanded down. I think he was thinking more in terms of only doing spot reduction rather than pretty much sanding the entire tank. As he described it, to remove a spot you'd sand it down but then widen it out a bit, so if it was like a 3x3 inch area he'd sand about a foot in every direction and as the grit got tinier he'd feather it out more. So it'd sort of ease its way in to that scratched spot, which obviously is a bit thinner now from having been sanded. In the extreme case, that could produce a bit of a funhouse mirror effect.

Very true. I just did the whole entire tank because of the fact that you have to spread it out.

But apparently it being orbital instead of straight doesn't matter. Especially with that type of sandpaper, because it has some heat-reducing property.
It looks like those sanders take a lot less time. I might have to look into getting one.

Fill up time t-minus 2 days

 

[DaveB]

Good luck.

Based on my mis-adventures today, let me say this:

RINSE THE CRAP OUT OF YOUR TANK.

Like rinse it twenty times. Scrub it down and rinse it more.

I watched three perfectly healthy orangeheads die today in the span of an hour and the only thing that it could've been was a toxin of some sort. And high on the list of possible toxins is either acrylic sawdust on my hands (which survived a shower, apparently) or some kind of remnant of the Novus stuff in my clothes or hands or something. Or maybe even on the 220g tank they were in before I moved them to their death box.

It's very unlikely, but there's no way they caught some mega-killing virus or disease that spared discus and ruthlessly took them out before my very eyes, and it wasn't chlorine, chloramine, or any of the nitrogen things.

So just be careful and be sure that tank is clean of residue.

 

[cpr_mike]

Good luck.

Based on my mis-adventures today, let me say this:

RINSE THE CRAP OUT OF YOUR TANK.

Like rinse it twenty times. Scrub it down and rinse it more.

I watched three perfectly healthy orangeheads die today in the span of an hour and the only thing that it could've been was a toxin of some sort. And high on the list of possible toxins is either acrylic sawdust on my hands (which survived a shower, apparently) or some kind of remnant of the Novus stuff in my clothes or hands or something. Or maybe even on the 220g tank they were in before I moved them to their death box.

It's very unlikely, but there's no way they caught some mega-killing virus or disease that spared discus and ruthlessly took them out before my very eyes, and it wasn't chlorine, chloramine, or any of the nitrogen things.

So just be careful and be sure that tank is clean of residue.

I did not need to hear this. Sorry for your loss. I am going to be really nervous to fill it now lol.

 

[DaveB]

I'm still on my first dogs (ages 5 and 4) because I got a late start, but I can imagine that just about the only thing worse than watching helplessly as three (two show males) of your favorite breed of fish die before your eyes even after you move them to perfectly fresh water... is having your best friend (dog) die on you. I'm not even the type to get emotionally attached to fish (unless I name them). But I had a wonderful and healthy breeding harem of orangeheads and within 8 hours they went from perfect to dying in front of me. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they ate some trace amount of buffing compound off the acrylic or something. It's my only theory about how they had this issue and the discus did not. But even that makes little sense, since it persisted after moving them once but then cleared up when it happened twice.

 

[sponger_2]

i bought a filter from a guy and we were talking about sanding and buffing acrylic. He used a belt sander, with different grits and then finished up with something called "micro-mesh" They have grits like 8000 and 12,000. I seen the tank and it looked really good.

here is the website: http://www.micro-surface.com/

 

[cpr_mike]

I'm still on my first dogs (ages 5 and 4) because I got a late start, but I can imagine that just about the only thing worse than watching helplessly as three (two show males) of your favorite breed of fish die before your eyes even after you move them to perfectly fresh water... is having your best friend (dog) die on you. I'm not even the type to get emotionally attached to fish (unless I name them). But I had a wonderful and healthy breeding harem of orangeheads and within 8 hours they went from perfect to dying in front of me. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they ate some trace amount of buffing compound off the acrylic or something. It's my only theory about how they had this issue and the discus did not. But even that makes little sense, since it persisted after moving them once but then cleared up when it happened twice.

That does really suck man. I have lost dogs before. It is tough but I am getting to the point where I dont get attached to much. Sucks to say. But the dogs definitely hurt more than the fish.

i bought a filter from a guy and we were talking about sanding and buffing acrylic. He used a belt sander, with different grits and then finished up with something called "micro-mesh" They have grits like 8000 and 12,000. I seen the tank and it looked really good.

here is the website: http://www.micro-surface.com/

I have going to have to look into that sponger. Thanks for the heads up.