Acrylic buffing

[dylpik27]

Does anyone on here have experience buffing an acrylic tank? I'm considering buying a used one and would want to buff it out prior to setting it up. I really don't want to upgrade unless I'm going into a better setup, so I don't want to buy the used system unless I know that I can or can have someone buff the acrylic into as-new condition.

My questions are does anyone do this regularly for a charge? Is it reasonable to expect as-new results? How hard is this to do if I just bought one of the kits I see online for about $30?

Thanks.

 

[crew]

I've heard that you can make an acrylic tank look like new with buffing and i've heard it's a huge pain. Haven't done it myself, but I'm sure someone here can help you. I've read that a good place to start is with automotive detailers. A lot of people use headlight polish or a combination of the meguire detailing polishers.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

talk to dball711 (I think that's right). He's very experienced at it.

 

[dball711]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Jeff! Yes it is possible to buff out acrylic to a “like new” condition but and it’s a big but (not mine). IF the scratches are deep or if you remove too much material in one spot it’s possible the end result may have a deformity as you look through it. The key is to remove as little surface over as large of an area as possible. It’s not really hard but it takes a lot of effort and patience (and some practice). Also remember you might need to remove scratches from the inside and outside of the tank.

The on-line kits are really for the fine polishing, most of the scratch removal is done with sandpaper unless the scratches are very fine. Watch an episode of tanked and you’ll see them going to town sanding acrylic. If I was buying an acrylic tank, I would avoid one that needed a lot of scratch removal, some scratches are too deep to remove.

If you want some scraps to practice on just let me know. Good luck!

 

[snowmansnow]

I can say that unless you're using a power tool it is REALLY time consuming. The best way to think of it is like sanding really hard wood


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[dylpik27]

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like it's probably more than I want to bite off... I might just have to wait for a glass tank.