Removing scratches from Display Covers

[watchmaker]

This is a very small repayment against what I have gained from this board.

Below is a pic of my DMM displays after I polished out the covers.  Watchmakers use Polywatch to remove scratches from watch crystals.

I clean it up with the cloth, then use IPA or eyeglass cleaner, and then wipe off any streaks with Kimwipes.

Deep scratches have to be removed with a polishing wheel, but you need a plastic cutting compound and have to be careful to avoid distortion or burns.

Here is a link to the product on Amazon: (I hope).

https://tiny.cc/bmievz

Regards,

Dewey

[coromonadalix]

 

in some case you have to use an plastic filler .... even polishing will not help

for the bezels  i used  some 1000 2000 grit compound

for slightly deeper scratches i covered the front panel with green tape and used water plus 1000 grit sand paper and finished with a fine scratch compound

[edpalmer42]

I looked at Polywatch, but decided it was too expensive.  I use Meguiar's PlastiX polish.  You can buy a big bottle for not much more than the tiny tube of Polywatch.  Meguiar includes it as the final polish for their headlight restoration kit.  It worked great to polish the Acrylic crystal on my watch.

Ed

[watchmaker]

I looked at Polywatch, but decided it was too expensive.  I use Meguiar's PlastiX polish.  You can buy a big bottle for not much more than the tiny tube of Polywatch.  Meguiar includes it as the final polish for their headlight restoration kit.  It worked great to polish the Acrylic crystal on my watch.

Ed

Ed,

So now I am learning watchmaking here.  THANKS.  I will look it up.

Regards,

Dewey

[edpalmer42]

You're welcome, Dewey.  Hope it helps. 

I should have mentioned that PlastiX is available as both a part of Meguiar's Headlight Restoration Kit and by itself.  The kit includes a small bottle while the stand-alone version is a large bottle.  Both are available at your favorite auto supply store.

Now that I think about it, the Restoration Kit might allow you to recover a deeply scratched crystal that would otherwise be a write-off.  Just follow all the steps instead of just using the final polish.

Ed

[richnormand]

I have really good success with the Novus No 1 (finish), 2 (fine ) and 3 (heavy) for plastics.

[floobydust]

+1 for the Meguiar's PlastX it's a very good polish for plastic, display windows.

In the old days we used toothpaste as a fine polish for watch crystals. Dental-grade abrasive is pretty good.

[UK]

Just use any headlight/car polish kit that you can afford. If you have a good carwash with a polishing service in your neighborhood you can easily get from them a teaspoon of several polishing compounds for FREE and that will be enough for most of the tasks. They mostly use compounds from 3M.

Don't forget to check the compound doesn't have any solvents in it.
And stop using IPA some types of plastics can fade or become cloudy after it! If you don't have a special degreaser for plastic just use any dish soap or window cleaner without Alcohol.