Buffing Acrylic

verde_ad · 08-08-2006, 01:21 PM

I just bought a 200 gal tank that needs some work. The whole front pannel needs to be polished. I would prefer not to polish it by hand. I will if i have to, but 72"x22" doesn't sound like fun to sand by hand.

MY question is could someone give me some advice on the tools needed and methods to do this in the quickest way.

Thanks,
AJ

Fly Guy · 08-08-2006, 01:39 PM

A couple of minthsa go i spent 12+ hours buffing out scratches in a 225, the majority of which were urchin tracks so it was pretty severe.......thankfully the urchin tracks were on the edges becasue i took off enough material that there IS distortion. If all of your scratches are fairly minimal you just need to find sandpaper ranging from 1500-8000 to buff them out starting with the 1500 and going up 1000 every time till you get to 8000 and then use a buffing polish to get to the final 12000 for perfect optical clarity. I ended up getting a drill kit that i wish i would have had in the beginning and it would have cut my work down to only 4 hours total.
Here are some product packages for you...but like i said if your scratches are minimal, you can save a TON of money by just buying the sandpaper.

When you start, sand in one direction(starting across the scratch) only and then change directions for the next grit up.........this allows you to see when you are ready to change grits and not do any needless sanding.....sand wet...with a spray bottle always keeping it wet and free of acrylci grime.

HTH

heres the link

verde_ad · 08-08-2006, 01:51 PM

basically the whole front is full of fine scratches. We are talking about so many that when it is full of water it looks foggy, but you don't really see the scratches. I am in the process of sanding a 60 gal by hand it does take a while. I guess I was wondering if I could get a buffing wheel for my drill and some compound and buff out the bigger tank this way?

verde_ad · 08-08-2006, 01:54 PM

I just found the link, thanks. It looks like there are some nice kits.

Did you use one of these? If so, which one?
Thanks,
AJ

Fly Guy · 08-08-2006, 02:31 PM

I used the drill kit towards the end of the project

and the hand kit for the first part. You can save a ton of money by simply buying the sandpaper but the pads that the sandpaper comes on for the hand kit they sell are sweet and not bad to have arouond for anyone with an acrylic tank.

you cant use the buffing compound inside a stocked tank but you CAN use the sandpaper pads in case you drop a rock or something while the tank is stocked

However, for the damage you descrive, simply the buffing coumpound with a drill attachment that they sell i think would work great for you.

Id call them and ask for simply the drill buffer and some compound and possibly the basic hand kit for what youve got going on

verde_ad · 08-08-2006, 03:43 PM

Thanks, I will look into it. I am going to go to taps plastic up in Portland and see if maybe they have these items. Save on shipping

Thanks again,
AJ

Fly Guy · 08-08-2006, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by verde_ad

Thanks, I will look into it. I am going to go to taps plastic up in Portland and see if maybe they have these items. Save on shipping

Thanks again,
AJ

no problem

good luck