Best scratch removal for acrylic?

[hvuong]

Ive seen two different types of acrylic removals out there, one that utilizes sandpaper and another just compounds.

the sandpaper method would be Pentair's

The liquid compounds would be TruVu's, Novus

The sandpaper method seems to be labor intensive and the liquid ones seems so easy to be effective.

Which method do you guys prefer and what brand, even if i didnt list it, would you guys use? thanks

[fshfanatic]

I have used in the bast the two bottles of liquid scratch remover. At the time, 10 yrs ago, they were 1 brown and 1 green. They worked great. Cant remember the brand sorry. Followed your Truview link, that is the stuff.

[Sticky230]

i have used novus and i can recommend it.

[screename]

+1 for Novus unless its a DEEP scratch

[jmhart]

For light Scratches, Novus 2 and 3 will do the trick...I like using 1,2, and 3, but 1 isn't really necessary.

For anything but a light scratch, you will require more than Novus. I have no successful experience removing deep scratches except to just live with them.

[Pomacanthus]

Depends on deep they are, Novus wont touch a deeper scratch unless you have titanium hands and fingers.
I fabricate acrylic aquariums, and have done more than my share of scratch removal. You can take anything out, given enuf time and materials. The best is a 3M product called Trizact it comes it a variety of grits and is fairly expensive, did i mention you should have a Orbit sander, and will need to drain the tank to use it? Second up it the Rainbow/Pentair kit in the little blue box. This will work well, given enuf elbow grease, I work the grits backwords, i.e. start with say 3000 and if that doesnt work you can always drop down to 2400, you can remove haze from 2400 with NOvus 2 & 3. Incidentally Novus 1 doesnt remove anything, it simply shines the acrylic, in the field I always use Novus 2 even for final polish, theres not enuf grit in 2 to create visable scratches. Hope that helps Pomacanthus

[hvuong]

Oh thanks pomachanthus, i used novus 3 and 2 last night on my scratches and it remove the fine scratches/scuff marks, but theres still a lot of scratches remaining. i was thinking about buying the pentair kit but the kit seems to just be sandpaper and a liquid similar to novus so i was thinking about doing exactly what you said but i needed a confirmation that i can just buy sandpaper from home depot or something. saves me the time of asking what you have already explained. thanks again

[hvuong]

Oh i forgot to ask, will i be wet sanding or dry sanding with the Trizact sandpapers?

[Pomacanthus]

OK numero uno - Its very special sandpaper in the kit you will never find anything close at the Depo. The finest grit they have is 1000 maybe 1200 (OUCH) to abrasive. You will using grits like 2400, 3000, 3600 and second its "really special stuff" nothing like "normal sandpaper. Now Ive never fabricated sandpaper so I cant tell you the exact differences, but suffice to say its special. I vaguely remember them saying something about "a gelatin base" where the abrasives "float" instead of being stationary. Trizact is used Wet with a sprayer and a random orbital sander (Dynabrade works best like for autobody but you need a monster air compressor to run one) an electric Bosch will work as well. Heres the quote from the 3m website and a small image so you can how "special" this stuff is BTW special = expensive. A bit of trivia for you, Trizact was originally created for restoring windshields on Lear Jets when it gets all scratched up. Stuff is hard to find but I see it on Ebay once in awhile.
3M description "Produced with 3M's microreplication technology, this film backed abrasive ensures a fast, consistent cut rate through the long life of the abrasive. Fantasic results on solid surface composites, plastics and glass defect repair."