Anyone have experience buffing acrylic? - Large, dry tank with many scratches...

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blaze422

Premium Member
[I was wondering if any of you guys/gals have any experience buffing scratches out of acrylic. I am helping a friend out and the tank is BIG...around 400 gallons, and has tons of scratches. None too deep, but a bunch of small ones all over. I am planning on using a large buffing wheel with some compound.

Anyone here have any experience or opinions?]
 
[The buffing wheel won't get into the edges and corners, that will need to be done by hand or skippied.

I buffed by 125 a long time ago by hand, and was very disapointed with the results. I ended up sending it to our acrylic guy at the time, who had it for over a month before having me come pick it up, unfinished. He basically said I was crazy and his guys didn't have the time or energy to finish it. At least he didn't charge me.

Its certainly doable, just a pain.]
 
[definately not aiming for perfection...just improvement. Whoever had the tank earlier used steel wool to clean the inside of the tank...so there is tiny scratches everywhere. Not too concerned about the corners either. Do I need different grade compounds?]
 
[Plan on spending a LOT of time buffing but it can most likely be done.
This website has a lot of the supplies that you will need:
Eastwood

They make special buffing tips that will get into corners and tight areas. See pictures.
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There is also a special buffing compound that is made for acrylic. An air powered buffer would also be very helpful due to the high RPM.

Good Luck!]
 
[the front piece of glass is 8'x3' so I will not be dealing with the corners or edges....pretty much what I can get to with a large buffing wheel. I wonder if normal buffing compounds that you can get at autozone will work.]
 
[You can buy the buffing compound at Home Depot. It is called Tripoli. Also referred to as Jewelers Rouge.

However, you could take it to Ken's House of Fish in Dallas and he'll restore the tank to a brand new look. He builds acrylic tanks, and when I called him about my L-shaped dream tank, he told me he'd be happy to polish it out in a few years if I didn't like the scratches.

Honestly, I couldn't imagine tearing down my reef after 3 years to get the tank polished. So I have stuck with glass tanks instead.]
 
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