Scratches on glass

[Len]

I may have asked this ages ago Is there good products and techniques to removing scratches in glass? I have three relatively long (2"+) scratches due to people not being careful with my magnet cleaner.

 

[Anonymous]

Do a search on RDO

Seriously, glass is a lot harder to scratch and even hardier to remove the scratch. Some products out there is usually osmium oxide powder that used in making telescope lense.

 

[bleedingthought]

Asked the same question not too long ago when considering buying a tank with some scratches.

I ended up calling a bunch of glass shops around and the concensus was that usually when scratches are removed, it leaves behind a bunch of little scratches/blemishes.

 

[Anonymous]

Not if it is done properly.

 

[bleedingthought]

So, it can be done properly? Hmm, people even went as far as telling me that if you can feel it with your fingernails it is not going to be removed completely (not worth it, they said). :?

 

[Anonymous]

I may have asked this ages ago Is there good products and techniques to removing scratches in glass? I have three relatively long (2"+) scratches due to people not being careful with my magnet cleaner.

I hide the magnet cleaner so folks are not tempted to use it! I know, too little too late huh?

 

[bleedingthought]

I may have asked this ages ago Is there good products and techniques to removing scratches in glass? I have three relatively long (2"+) scratches due to people not being careful with my magnet cleaner.

I hide the magnet cleaner so folks are not tempted to use it! I know, too little too late huh?

How do you 'hide' it, Laura?

 

[Anonymous]

So, it can be done properly? Hmm, people even went as far as telling me that if you can feel it with your fingernails it is not going to be removed completely (not worth it, they said). :?

If you look at the quality of hand-polished telescope lense, you will know that any scratch on glass can be removed. The main issue is that rather is it worth your time to remove the scratch, or just ignore it visually.

There will be some distortion after the scratch is removed, since the refractive index of glass and seawater is not the same, but this issue is the same for both acrylic and glass tank.

 

[Rob Top]

There is a product sold on TV to remove scratchs from your glasses. It is a liquid that fills the scratch. I though about ordering it, but have not seen it advertised since then. Wonder if it would work on our tanks.

 

[Eboman]

Not to change the subject.....but how can someone use a magnet cleaner "wrong" and scratch the glass??

The only thing I can think is they drag it through your sandbed then up the side of the glass.

Please let me know (so I don't go and scratch the heck out of my glass by using my magnet cleaner wrong).

With the exception of the above (or going too quick and the inside magnet losing its bond and falling to the bottom of the tank), my magnet cleaners seem pretty idiot-proof (because I'm an idiot and haven't scratched anything yet...hehehe).

Thanks,
Eric

 

[bleedingthought]

Eric, you got the idea, a grain of sand or something coarse gets stuck between the magnets and you know the rest...

I still want to know how Laura hides hers.

 

[Anonymous]

Len has a tank? :wink:

 

[Len]

Eric. One other way is that break away some thick coralline and carry it away with my magnet cleaner.

And YES! I have a tank!

 

[bleedingthought]

Eric. One other way is that break away some thick coralline and carry it away with my magnet cleaner.

And YES! I have a tank!

None of the magnets I've had were able to break away pieces of coralline, though. The one I'm using now can "scrub" off coralline with enough strokes over it but it's tough!

 

[bleedingthought]

P.S. Meaning I always have to use a razor blade to get the coralline off...

 

[Anonymous]

Eric. One other way is that break away some thick coralline and carry it away with my magnet cleaner.

That's what caused scratch on my recently polished acrylic tank, but coralline algae scratches glass too?

 

[Len]

On a few occasions, really thick pieces will flake off when I chip them with my magnet (not purposefully, as I use Kent's scrapper for my coralline removal). The thick chunks apparently can dig into glass too.

 

[bubblepuffer]

hmm thinking about high heat with a bunsen burner and a glass rod.. to fill the scratch ..then polish it.. .. Will that work?

 

[Len]

Underwater?

 

[Anonymous]

hmm thinking about high heat with a bunsen burner and a glass rod.. to fill the scratch ..then polish it.. .. Will that work?

bunsen burner can soften the glass, but the scratch is very thin, so it will probably bead up if you use a glass fiber. And the polishing afterward (if you can get all the gas bubble out) is just as time consuming anyway, and the process probably going to weaken the glass panel that there maybe a big of distortion. Keep in mind that glass is a super-cooled liquid, not a solid.