Technical Polishing plastic reverse lenses

Howdy,

I've gotten my hands on a pair of NOS reverse lenses for my '55 Plymouth. They're damn near perfect aside from a few fine scratches/rub marks from the inside of the no in which they came.

Has anyone used anything special to polish plastic like this? Looking for any recommendations.

Thanks!

Frank


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Ive had good results in the past w progressive sanding, like 600 to 1000 to 1500, then compound buffing

 

X2 the finer the better , Polish With tooth paste

 

This is the stuff:



...polishes plastic like no tomorrow !!

 

I found some stuff called 'lens gloss' they have several other products, works great.

 

Thanks errbody. The scratches and rub marks are really too fine to get after with sand paper. I'll give the plastx a go and see how it goes. I get one shot. Apparently these lenses are rarer than hens teeth......


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I'll second this. If they're too deep for this, they do make a dedicated polishing compound for use with a loose cotton buffing wheel, but make sure you don't go over 1800 rpm on the wheel speed.

 

Then practice on something a little less rare

 

Toothpaste .50 cent !!!

 

Use abrasives to get scratches out and continue to refine the scratch as fine as you can go...grab a 3" polisher and a 3" compound pad along with some rubbing compound and make those baby's look brand new. I have done several friends and neighbors headlights over the years

 

No to toothpaste! Most have chloride in it which will clean but dull the surface. PlastiX is the shit. I use it all the time. Great stuff. Guitars, plastic in large picture frames, plexi windows on race cars and old metalflake helmets just to name a few.

 

Find a local motorcycle shop and get Novus plastic polish. #3 followed by #2 should do it. Also works good on cycle windshields and helmet face masks.



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Believe it or not try White Diamond the best metal cleaner and polish I've used and works great on plastic

 

Just Regular toothpast ,, Not no fancy one's, Plain jain toothpast like closeup Red !
The Trick Is, the smoother it is ,the easier it will polish better results ,

 

Get a headlight polishing kit for the newer cars, works good......

Lynn W

 

I had a pair of sunnies that were too scratched to use so I gave them a go on my sisal buff a very fine one and used blue rouge they came up a treat.....this is the set up I used for my stainless firewall

 

I'll practice on the one I have left on the car. It's seen much better days but is unrestorable as is.....


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go get yourself some 3M Trizak off Amazon or locally, they sell these in packs which have a foam backer in 2000, 3000 and 5000 grits. I just discovered this stuff this year and its amazing on polishing lenses. I wet sand up to 5000 and then take my drill with a 3 inch wool pad and some NOVUS fine scratch plastic polish and the results are perfect. I practiced on my wifes car and got the hang of it quickly. Trizact is expensive but its so worth it, il never use anything else now, i even use this to polish stainless and aluminum by hand with some Mothers.

 

White liquid jewelers rouge. Can find it in the truck stops as a aluminum polish. I have used it to polish scratches out of eyeglasses and sunglasses.

 

Sand them with 800 grit then clear coat with a good quality clear. They will look better then new red lenses really look good after.

 

Back in the 70s at a used car dealer, I polished paint, windows, plastic emblems and lenses with the same Ditzler compound. I think it was DRX25.

 

So the end result of all these replies is that polishing plastic is just a process of abrasion. You have the option of using almost any sort of abrasive. Rubbing and polishing compounds for cars' paint works well on most plastics, jeweler's white diamond compound, Tripoli, Zam or rouge all work well if you have a rotating polishing buff. More liquid types of polishing compound are easiest if you are polishing by hand.

The trick is to start with a compound or sandpaper that is coarse, but just as coarse as needed to remove the scratches you want to polish out. When you have attained a uniform surface with coarse compound, switch to a finer compound to remove swirl marks left by the coarse stuff. Then use progressively finer compounds until you are happy with the shine.

Polishing plastic is the same process as polishing paint, silver, gold, aluminum, stainless or wood. It's just abrasion, using finer abrasives in each step. The only caveat is that plastic can be affected negatively by the acids contained in some compounds, particularly compounds meant for polishing metals. I would try whatever polishes you already have around the house or garage. Test each on an inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn't contain an acid that reacts poorly with your particular plastic formulation. If you have to go out and buy a polish, get something that is intended for plastic, like headlight or motorcycle winsdscreen polish.