Easy way to hide glass scratches?

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone has any success in buffing out/polishing or hiding fine scratches on the outside of a glass tank?

I have some fine scratches from an old magnet cleaner and i want to try and buff or polish out the lines. Has anyone tried before? I thought maybe the same kind of polishing pads you use to polish car windows might work?
Any suggestions?

Ive searched here and cant see any posts relating to this...

 

you can fill them with super glue or clear nail polish then buff that out... but it will still show up in the right light.

 

There is a way of actually sanding them out. I cant remember who it was exactly, but someone here is a glass worker and was going to try it. If I remember right it is quite the challenge though, and if the scratch is too deep it can cause distortion in the glass.

 

There are buffing supplies to buff out glass if you have a glass place that does banks and stuff they ought to have a kit to help you get them out I use 2000 fine bowling bowl polish for acrylic and it works great if you have a bad scratch you get a lower number and work your way up to the 2000 I ts the best way I have found and works every time. There are also jewelery polishes to take glass scratches out like they use on watch chrystals and such

 

I have buffed out more scratches in glass then I care to remember you can find the polishing kits on line Like with buffing a car scratch or acrylic you have to feather out about 6 inches from the scratch or there will be a divit if you just work that scratch area , Looks for a glass polishing kit It has the finishing rouge and couser buffing compounds in it Dupont fine auto buffing compound will do a lot of them alone ..We used to buff out windshield wiper scratches before out car inspections where due .

 

Thanks guys!
I think i might take a trip out to the car place and see what glass polishers they have. The scratches are very very fine so i figure i will get very very very very fine pads and remove as little surface as possible to avoid a divit. but.... im a little worried cause its a curved glass front and im guessing any small divit will be really noticeable on an angle.

One last question, would it be ok to use a polish pad attached to a slow drill to polish the tank? While the tank is full, with fish etc. Do u think the vibrations would be bad for the fish or the structure of the tank?

I guess if the above is too risky im goind to try Greysouls tip

 

that would be me.... not something I would suggest to someone else if they havent done it before... I have yet to get rid of mine.

I guess you could practice on a sheet of scrap glass...which is what I would do anyways.

the basic process would be use a series of increasingly finer diamond polishing pads, I would go 120, 400, 600, 1200, then 15,000, 40,000 and cerium oxide. It's an involved process, and requires some special tools and a steady hand. A dremel, or flex shaft tool, and a spray bottle for cooling. Tape a sponge or towel under the area.... like I said, a lot of effort.

-Doug

 

Mmmmmmm okay, im not doing it now, too hard and expensive lol The scratches arent that bad, i thought maybe i could get away with 1200, 15000, 40000 but ive decided not to risk it. If the scratches were worse I'd maybe invest in the pads/time.

Im going with the nail polish idea. So basically, paint the polish into the scratches and than polish the crap out of it?

I'll try post some before and after pics, but not sure if my camera will pick up the scratches

 

you could start with 1200 but would be working it for days. Start with a grit that is slightly smaller than the scratch you're trying to hide, i.e. if the scratch is very small and light a 600 may be fine to start with. If it's a big deep scratch you'll want to start with a 120 or 220 grit.

the idea is to not make bigger/deeper scratched than the one you're trying to fix.

 

if theres less scratches on the back side of the tank, you could flip the tank around (if its empty)