Help! Sanding. polishing a acrylic aquarium
- Thread starter kdblove_99
- Start date
you have to wet sand out the deep scratches, then buff the rest.
here is my old build thread on RC hope it helps
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1819792&highlight=pic+intensive
here is my old build thread on RC hope it helps
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1819792&highlight=pic+intensive
I've finished the sanding. Just the polishing is well ****ing me off.. What polish did you use? Seen on Youtube quite a few people use plastx with very good results so thats what i got..
Yeah i have done the wet sanding. I just need to do the Buffing. But the buffing is killing me. Like i said i have seen several videos on you tube where the guy uses maguiars PlastX and a buffing wheel he got from a Mothers Headlight restoration kit. SO i have all this bought already. just think i stink at buffing. Cause the guys looks awesome and he wasn't a professional.
So what time should i come over, I can bring beer
Yeah i have done the wet sanding. I just need to do the Buffing. But the buffing is killing me. Like i said i have seen several videos on you tube where the guy uses maguiars PlastX and a buffing wheel he got from a Mothers Headlight restoration kit. SO i have all this bought already. just think i stink at buffing. Cause the guys looks awesome and he wasn't a professional.
So what time should i come over, I can bring beer
I sh!t myself and thought I ruined my new 200G acrylic tank recently. I got some help from guys on the forum, and also had the ADHI owner stop by and give me an opinion on how to fix. I ended up sanding it to 1500 grit, then used novus 3-2-1 (with a flannel rag) to finish. At the end it looked really foggy, but I filled up the tank with water to see how it was coming along. It looked crystal clear to me and I decided not to do any more sanding/buffing. If you can fill it with water to check your results before you go further, you may be very surprised and decide that you've done enough.
But if you can't stop check and decide to keep going, I would just be careful. For me, my whole fiasco started when I tried to do buffing in the beginning (didn't need sanding) and the buffing wheel got away from me for a split second. So be careful, if you've never done this stuff before (newb like me), you could lose all your efforts in a heartbeat.
But if you can't stop check and decide to keep going, I would just be careful. For me, my whole fiasco started when I tried to do buffing in the beginning (didn't need sanding) and the buffing wheel got away from me for a split second. So be careful, if you've never done this stuff before (newb like me), you could lose all your efforts in a heartbeat.
Have you tried filling it with water to see if the haziness disappears? You may be ok at this point if the scratches are gone.
I don't like orbitals for polishing...all it takes is a small piece of crud getting stuck in the pad to bring your work a few steps backwards...hand polishing should be plenty IMO. Whether I'm painting or just polishing parts...I rarely use an orbital pad/sander once I get beyond using medium grit paper.
I don't like orbitals for polishing...all it takes is a small piece of crud getting stuck in the pad to bring your work a few steps backwards...hand polishing should be plenty IMO. Whether I'm painting or just polishing parts...I rarely use an orbital pad/sander once I get beyond using medium grit paper.
Fill the tank and check it! You will be shocked. Water fills in tiny abrasions and makes them look gone. If you are just dealing with haze and not visible scratches, then you are done or almost done.
Everyone has different experience with this kind of thing. Based on mine, on buffing/polishing I 100% agree with jahmic. Having never done scratch removal on a tank, I went more than a few steps back - I got myself in a way worse mess than I even started with when I tried a buffing wheel.
If you're worried, then start back at novus 3, then redo novus 2, then do novus one. Flannel cloth buff/dry in between each step. Then fill.
Everyone has different experience with this kind of thing. Based on mine, on buffing/polishing I 100% agree with jahmic. Having never done scratch removal on a tank, I went more than a few steps back - I got myself in a way worse mess than I even started with when I tried a buffing wheel.
If you're worried, then start back at novus 3, then redo novus 2, then do novus one. Flannel cloth buff/dry in between each step. Then fill.
I agree. I used to use small acrylic tanks for breeding...and some of them were previously used as terrariums for amphibians and reptiles. Even bad scratches tend to disappear when you fill the tank up with water...that haze will probably look crystal clear once the tank is full.
Test it out by spraying a generous amount of water on the acrylic, then slapping some saran wrap over the wet spot. The plastic will obviously distort things a bit, but you should be able to tell the difference with that "layer" of water sandwiched against the acrylic. If you're even somewhat satisfied with what you see...fill the tank and see what happens.
Test it out by spraying a generous amount of water on the acrylic, then slapping some saran wrap over the wet spot. The plastic will obviously distort things a bit, but you should be able to tell the difference with that "layer" of water sandwiched against the acrylic. If you're even somewhat satisfied with what you see...fill the tank and see what happens.
Ok there's the problem. You can't jump more than 200-300 grit between standings, and have to change sanding direction with each step and make sure you completely sand out the prior step. Right now you are not getting the 400 grit sanding out. You need to start with 600, move to 700, then 900,1000, 1200, at least to 1500.
I have a 125 gallon. ok i have some 600 and 800 i can go back then 1000, 2000. You think i need to go in between the 1000-2000 with a 1500?
Also i had seen in a old thread somewhere yesterday that about doing the 2000 that using Novus 3 is a waste. Because its equal to 600 grit so i would just be going backwards..
Also i had seen in a old thread somewhere yesterday that about doing the 2000 that using Novus 3 is a waste. Because its equal to 600 grit so i would just be going backwards..