Dear Cur Mudgeon
I was wondering, since you are the undisputed expert on finish restoration can you suggest anything that will remove the (many) scratches from the screen of my ipod?
Polishing iPod?
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jingle_jangle
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Re: Polishing iPod?
What is Cur Mudgeon?
A Mudgeon who keeps Curs? The Mudgeon's Mind boggles.
Here's a general set of considerations, along with procedures, for any kind of polishing.
How hard is the material?
If it's metal, you need to work with something harder than the metal that you're polishing. (N.B., "Chrome polish" does not polish chrome. It removes anything occluding chrome's shine, but if chromium is scratched, it will generally not polish out. What makes chrome shiny is the copper and nickel under a triple--plated chrome job, and the polished steel under a cheap "flash" chrome job.
Nearly the same for glass--you can polish glass, however. It just takes a felt buff, diamond polishing dust, and a fast-spinning drill motor. Oh, and lots of water to make a slurry and cool things down. Otherwise, without specialized equipment, faggeddaboudit.
Then we get to really soft stuff like paint, and slightly harder stuff like plastics. The iPod window is an acrylic alloy. Depending upon how deep the scratches are, you might need to wet-sand the plastic with #1500 paper, then bring it through the step of polishing compound into Scratch-X or Novus Plastic Polish (Meguiar's is similar). If the scratches are light, like pick scratches on a pickguard, Novus, Brasso, Meguiar's, or Scratch-X might all work. Brasso is easiest to find--most supermarkets carry it.
Generally, the deeper the scratch, the closer to the beginning of the list below you need to start. This list is of abrasives and polishes, going from coarse at the left for very deep scratches (you'll have to sand the scratch out of the surface before polishing to remove the scratches with successively finer grits of abrasives. Polishes are actually very fine abrasives, too. When I say, "sand the scratch out", what you're really doing is sanding down the surface around the scratch, down to the level of the deepest part of the scratch. In other words, you're flattening 99.99% of the surface, down to the level of .01%, in order to get things smooth. Dat's a rotta work, Cholly.
OK, here's the list:
COARSEST
1000 grit Wet or Dry, used wet
1500 "
2000 "
White polishing compound (Du Pont or 3M Perfect-It 3000)
Brasso OR
MAAS
Scratch-X OR
Meguiar's Plastic Polish* OR
Novus Plastic Polish*
Xymol Cleaner-Wax*
FINEST
(NOTE that * denotes a water-based material. Many plastic polishes have no petroleum distillate because of problems softening or crazing some plastics. Also note: NEVER, in any case, use anything containing denatured alcohol to clean plastics...it with almost always soften or craze the plastic. This is especially critical with acrylics!)
A Mudgeon who keeps Curs? The Mudgeon's Mind boggles.
Here's a general set of considerations, along with procedures, for any kind of polishing.
How hard is the material?
If it's metal, you need to work with something harder than the metal that you're polishing. (N.B., "Chrome polish" does not polish chrome. It removes anything occluding chrome's shine, but if chromium is scratched, it will generally not polish out. What makes chrome shiny is the copper and nickel under a triple--plated chrome job, and the polished steel under a cheap "flash" chrome job.
Nearly the same for glass--you can polish glass, however. It just takes a felt buff, diamond polishing dust, and a fast-spinning drill motor. Oh, and lots of water to make a slurry and cool things down. Otherwise, without specialized equipment, faggeddaboudit.
Then we get to really soft stuff like paint, and slightly harder stuff like plastics. The iPod window is an acrylic alloy. Depending upon how deep the scratches are, you might need to wet-sand the plastic with #1500 paper, then bring it through the step of polishing compound into Scratch-X or Novus Plastic Polish (Meguiar's is similar). If the scratches are light, like pick scratches on a pickguard, Novus, Brasso, Meguiar's, or Scratch-X might all work. Brasso is easiest to find--most supermarkets carry it.
Generally, the deeper the scratch, the closer to the beginning of the list below you need to start. This list is of abrasives and polishes, going from coarse at the left for very deep scratches (you'll have to sand the scratch out of the surface before polishing to remove the scratches with successively finer grits of abrasives. Polishes are actually very fine abrasives, too. When I say, "sand the scratch out", what you're really doing is sanding down the surface around the scratch, down to the level of the deepest part of the scratch. In other words, you're flattening 99.99% of the surface, down to the level of .01%, in order to get things smooth. Dat's a rotta work, Cholly.
OK, here's the list:
COARSEST
1000 grit Wet or Dry, used wet
1500 "
2000 "
White polishing compound (Du Pont or 3M Perfect-It 3000)
Brasso OR
MAAS
Scratch-X OR
Meguiar's Plastic Polish* OR
Novus Plastic Polish*
Xymol Cleaner-Wax*
FINEST
(NOTE that * denotes a water-based material. Many plastic polishes have no petroleum distillate because of problems softening or crazing some plastics. Also note: NEVER, in any case, use anything containing denatured alcohol to clean plastics...it with almost always soften or craze the plastic. This is especially critical with acrylics!)
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shamustwin
- Senior Member
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Re: Polishing iPod?
Paul, have a little more respect for Barry White. Loved the disco tunes.
Re: Polishing iPod?
I've heard good things about this stuff: http://www.radtech.us/Products/IceCreme.aspx
Re: Polishing iPod?
That stuff is expensive, and bottom line it comes down to a grit.
Paul on your list of products, what do you think the grit of each product is, if used properly?
Another question: What is the grit of a good quality 0000 steel wool like Liberon dry and wet?
Paul on your list of products, what do you think the grit of each product is, if used properly?
Another question: What is the grit of a good quality 0000 steel wool like Liberon dry and wet?
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muppetprince
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Re: Polishing iPod?
Paul, thank you for your very thorough reply, I guess the short answer was buy a new one! It's funny you should mention glass as I was going to ask about the scratches on my windscreen... 
Somewhere in your forum someone referred to your good self as 'Mr Mudgeon' and I got thinking of a story McCartney told when he was knighted, about how he thought his dad would have said 'is that spelt c u r?' And as you are held in such high esteem by the forum members I thought it fitting to address you as 'sir', using the discarded cur for comic effect...I'll get me coat...
Somewhere in your forum someone referred to your good self as 'Mr Mudgeon' and I got thinking of a story McCartney told when he was knighted, about how he thought his dad would have said 'is that spelt c u r?' And as you are held in such high esteem by the forum members I thought it fitting to address you as 'sir', using the discarded cur for comic effect...I'll get me coat...
Re: Polishing iPod?
It's that dry Brit humor, Barry. Actually it was very well thought out. 