Acrylic Haze

[Anonymous]

I've been sanding and buffing these tanks for a while now, and I have gotten all of the really deep scratches out. But now I'm having a hard time getting it polished. There seems to be a haze of really fine scratches and swirls that I can't quite get rid of. I've been using the various grades of micro mesh, but it doesn't seem to be doing much about it. I'm also having a difficult time knowing when to switch grades.

Any suggestions?

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you switch grade too early, and as a result, slight haze is left behind. Go back up to the grade that will scratch similar marks on the acrylic, and work from there.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm using the lowest grade that came in the micro mesh kit and it's not really doing anything. Seems that there is too big a jump between the fine sand paper I got from HD and the coarsest grade that came in the Micro mesh kit.

 

[Anonymous]

The coarsest Micromesh is 1500, and this is equ. to grit 400. What is the grit of the sandpaper you got from HD? I either use 300 or 250, but don't have the stuffs with me at work...

 

[Anonymous]

The stuff I got from home depot is 220 grit. Using it will turn the tank a milky powdery white. There is some improvement when I switch to the micromesh, but I still can't get rid of the haze. Is it better to use it wet or dry or does it make a difference?

 

[Anonymous]

Rover, you have to go in small steps in grit, sanding thouroughly with each grit. The jump from 220 to 400 is too big, try to find something in between.

Learned that from polishing corian, which is the same principle.

Are you using a pad to hold the sandpaper, a sander or what?

If a sander, make sure that the pad is perfectly clean as the slightest bump will produce digs and wirrls.

HTH Bryan

 

[Anonymous]

Any idea where to get something in between? 220 was the finest that i found at Home Depot.

 

[Anonymous]

I will check tomorrow where we get ours, but I think you can order online

Bryan

 

[Anonymous]

thanks!

 

[John_Brandt]

Glenn,

Are you buffing the inside, the outside or both?

 

[Anonymous]

You can get away with some of the polishing if you are working on the inside surface since once you fill it up with water, most of the haze goes away.

I just checked my sand papers. I go from 220 to grit 400 THEN to a u-mesh 1500. You may want to see if you can get 400 grit...

I got mine from micro-surface finishing products, inc in Iowa. Try to see if you can find their info on the web, or PM me and I will give you their phone number.

 

[John_Brandt]

You can get away with some of the polishing if you are working on the inside surface since once you fill it up with water, most of the haze goes away.

That's what I was leading up to.

 

[Anonymous]

I was hoping so.

I ordered some 320 grit paper tonight, do i need the 400 as well?

 

[Anonymous]

Sandpaper is really cheap, but you can try to go from 320 to u-mesh 1500 and check the result before going further. You maybe able to get away with the 320 grit. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

The 320 helped but it looks like I am also going to need the 400.

But I can tell an improvement.

 

[ScottC]

I've polished acrylics with Novus 3 and have had good results, but the stuff gets messy with a power buffer slopping it all over the place

 

[pncstod]

Go to an automotive store and you will find grits up to 2000. When i buffed my tank i started at 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1600, 2000 then went through all the micromesh grits up to 12,000. I had about 50+ hours of sanding by hand and with a palm sander. I did both the inside and out of a 48x24x30 tank. Try reaching to the bottom of a 30 inch tank with only the opening on the top to fit inside. I think the tank came out nice but would never do it again. I got the tank as a deal when someone scratched the crap out of it. It already has a few minor scratches in it from use. Next time i will definately go back to glass.

 

[Fishbreath]

I just bought a new acrylic tank with an overflow and I put a scratch in it putting in the live rock. Dang! I was soooo careful, too. After reading this thread I'm wondering if it's best to just leave it alone. I don't have any experience polishing plastic. Can it be safely buffed out when the tank is full of water and fish? Next time I'm going to put in sheets of 1/8-inch thick acrylic first and lean them up against the inside walls of the tank before I put in rock. Get everything all set up and locked in, then remove the sheets of acrylic. I live in Ca and my old acrylic tank road out the Northridge quake in 1994 without damage or leaks. But I saw a few glass ones out by the curb.

 

[Anonymous]

It will be easier to work on it before you put any more things in it. But if the scratch does not bother you at all, don't be too much of a perfectionist. However, if you decided not to do anything about it now, you may want to kick yourself later when it would be a RPITS to polish then.