How to clean scratches on lens

N4aeq · Sep 16, 2009

I have picked up some nice spotlights from yardsales over the years & began restoring them lately. Most can be rebuilt easily however some have non glass lens that have pretty bad scratches, these are usually curved or some special type so a replacement cant be
found. Has anyone ever found a way to polish out scratches in lens?

Tekno_Cowboy · Sep 16, 2009

You might try a headlight restoration kit...

nzgunnie · Sep 17, 2009

Micromesh. We use it to polish aircraft canopies. It's a range of progressively finer 'sandpaper' that is abrasive bonded to cloth. Start with 3600 and progress to 12000, then the liquid polish.

Also, for a final step, Meguires ScratchX is very good.

berry580 · Sep 17, 2009

sh!t...? u can polish a lens? doesn't that mean the anti-reflection coat would be gone? just ask the manufacturer/dealer for a new lens, you might have to pay, but not like the sandpapers & effort is "free".

qwertyydude · Sep 17, 2009

Cheap spotlights with plastic lenses that have AR coating? I don't think you'll ever come across that situation. Plastic lenses should be can be restored with headlight restoration polish but what works even better actually is meguiars incredible billet polish. Not the mag and aluminum, the incredible billet seems to work faster and leave less scratches than headlight restoration kits.

tnforever · Sep 17, 2009

Depending on how bad the scratches are, try nzgunnie's idea. In the automotive world, we use sand paper (up to 3000 grit) then proceed to use a compound/polish to finish it off.

You have to realize, though, that deeper scratches cannot be taken out (or they can, but by the time u polish them to that level, the optics will probably be ruined. Meg's PlastX is also a good product.

Cataract · Sep 17, 2009

I was told once to use silvo (the stuff to polish silver) on plastic lenses, but that would depend on how deep the scratch is and what your lens is made of. I'd think about it twice before using it on AR coated lenses...

Bullet Bob · Sep 17, 2009

On various kinds of plastics like CDs and headlight lenses and acryllic dust covers on older record players and such I hav had good results with the NOVUS plastic polish compounds. There are 3 in the kit. The first is a cleaner/antistatic compound the No.3 for heavy scratches and the No.2 for medium to light scratches.

Larbo · Sep 17, 2009

I have used toothpaste several times to remove small scratches and polish watch crystals, I would also think it would work the same on torch lens.

greenLED · Sep 17, 2009

I've polished acrylic optics using increasingly fine sandpaper. That's worked for polishing plastic watch faces as well.

For the final touches, use toothpaste and/or Flitz polishing compound.

How to clean scratches on lens

N4aeq

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Tekno_Cowboy

Flashlight Enthusiast

nzgunnie

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berry580

Flashlight Enthusiast

qwertyydude

Flashlight Enthusiast

tnforever

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Cataract

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Bullet Bob

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Larbo

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greenLED

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