Mineral Glass Polishing

[Ashnz]

Howdy to all. Its amazing to see how this forum is flourishing exponentially. Mark deserves a lot of credit for pulling this together :thumbsu:

I need some help with restoring a mineral glass. I believe it is possible to polish a mineral glass by removing the scratches. I have never tried it myself but would love to give it a go.

 

I understand that its just not worth investing so much time polishing it esp if its a round glass which costs only couple of dollars. However, it might be worth for some odd shaped glasses.

 

Have any of you guys performed that before? I would love to hear all the different approaches.

 

Thanks a lot in advance

 

Ash (NZ)

[Vich]

Hello Ash,

 

If you have a look at Tissot 2031 in this forum you will see my first attempt.  There is a guy called Ian on you tube advertising his wares -   http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Watch-Mineral-Glass-Crystal-Scratch-Removal-Glass-Polish-Powder-Small-Kit-/380895737649?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_WatchAccessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item58af27b731%C2'> and I watched him and basically copied using my dremel first with emery and moving on to paste from his cheapest kit.  I think it is fair to say it worked.  You can not just work on the scratch or you perceive distortion.  the edges have to be feathered across the glass and even then if you look through a loupe there is a change in the glass which is not visible to the naked eye.  There are loads of diamond cutting pastes available on ebay and in general you start with the rough stuff and finish with a fine polish.  PS Saphire crystals are a different animal and I would think twice about attempting them.

 

Now the bad news, probably because I was over cautious and had not done it before it took me about 2 hours working through two grades of emery and three grades of paste.  For me this is just a hobby and the end result was my reward.  However, I now believe that it would have been easier for me to replace the glass ! but at least I had a try and it more or less worked.  The watch however, can be said to be completely original.

 

Acrylic / plastic however, is a different thing and I used polywatch and in 7 mins it worked its magic, again there is an example in the hints part of the forum.

 

Again I must say I am a complete novice and if anyone contradicts what I say they are most likely correct but have a look on you tube and decide whether you want to give it a try.

 

Good Luck,

 

Vich

[Invicta]

Vich,

 

I can echo your comments.

 

I have used the same guy's products which I bought via eBay. tried his techniques and then added a few similar methods of my own based on the same principals/materials.

In my opinion if you want to try it and do this as a Hobby then it's interesting and rewarding to have a go.

But if I wanted a totally unblemished finish relatively quickly I would buy and fit a new glass.

 

Bern