Repairing scratched glass?

[Sam]

I have a small antique magnifying glass that is scuffed on both sides of the glass. Anyone know of a way to remove scratches? It can't be taken apart so whatever I do will have to be done by hand.
Hmm..I just remembered that I have some diamond paste around here somewhere. Maybe that'll work.:thinking:

 

[kcrutche]

Sam

I would think Diamond past would be a little to course.

I have used ordinary toothpaste as a polishing agent if scratches were not to bad.

Ken

 

[JJ Roberts]

Sam,Parsons Scope Service in Ohio maybe able to help you,they repaire target & vintage scopes 513-867-0820.There must be someone on there staff that polishs scratchs out the of lens on the scopes they repair. J.J.

 

[mrthe]

I have make a course of sculpture in glass a few years ago,for "polish" the glass i had used a machine like a very big power hone with felt discs,you can try if the piece is small using little felt disck mandrels for jewellery polish with the micro motor or flexi shaft,usually are used three steps,for heavy scratchs is used carborundum powder with differents grits, for the first brightness and little scratches ,was used dust of pumice stone ,and for the final very fine brightness cerium oxide, that always mixed with water at very slow speed, taken care of never to warm up the piece to avoid fractures, test before with an old lensi hope that will help you

 

[Marrinan]

Sam, I got a small amount of lens polishing compound from the local optometrist office,one hour optical. worked to take scuffs off my eye glasses. Fred

 

[Glenn]

I used liquid polishing compound I purchased at automotive paint suppliers. This was available in very fine grit which I used for polishing the windshield on my airplane. You should, of course, practice on a favorite mirror of your wife's.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

and for the final very fine brightness cerium oxide

If you only have a fine haze on the glass, levigated alumina powder with water on felt really works well. I've used both cerium oxide and levigated alumina powder on watch crystals. But, as mrthe mentioned, you need to get the deeper scratches out first.

 

[Ron Jr.]

Many years ago I worked with a guy who was a tv repair man for most of his life. One day he asked me to save my ashes from my smokes, of course I asked him why and he said he was gonna use them to take the haze out of a tv screen. I told him he was full of it but he insisted you just used the ashes like a polish and that it worked extremely well.................

 

[canadian]

Sam,
I can send you some Serium Oxide, which is what you want to use.
However, if the scratches are too visible you may have to sand it down first with 1200 grit diamond or the same grit sand paper.

Basically, you have to go deep enough to remove the scratches before you go to polishing stage.
Make sure that at all stages you are using lots of water except when you go to polish. You want the felt buff to be moist enough and to to be charged with Cerium but it needs to grab the glass a bit to polish. Do avoid overheating.
pm me if you have any questions.
Let me know.
Boris

 

[Sam]

Thanks Boris and others. You've certainly offered many good suggestions. As for the scratches, I can live with a few and I'm not concerned with making the glass flawless (although that'd be nice). If I can just clear-up the center area a bit where it's scratched on both sides of the glass, that'd be awesome. I should probably take a picture and post it here. I'll do that later. In the mean time, yes, I'd like to have a bit of your Serium Oxide stuff, but don't go to a lot of trouble.

 

[monk]

cerium oxide, elbow grease, and many hours in front of your fireplace. time required is directly proportional to scratch depth. if you use power, you cant dwell long on any one spot. btw cerium oxide is just an oxide of tin.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Cerium Oxide

btw cerium oxide is just an oxide of tin.

It's actually an oxide of Cerium: Cerium(IV) oxide

 

[monk]

hey, doc-- i sit "corrected". i thought it was tin.

 

[lesholmes]

We old timers used tin oxide (also known as "puddy powder") in the early 1950s. These days I always use cerium oxide for opal and quartz.

Les Holmes

 

[Sam]

I ordered a little jar of cerium oxide on eBay. I'll let you know how it works