scratched glasss

[Thomas Knapp]

I installed a pair of french doors with bevels glass panes. One pane has a scratch about 2 inches long on it. I have seen quite a few products for buffing out scratches. Have any of you actually removed scratches from glass? What products actually work well? The scratch isn't real deep, but shows up when looking through it towards the light. I'll try to take before and after pictures of the glass.
Thanks
Tom

[Paul Atkins]

Cerium oxide is used to polish glass. I would recomend going to a glass shop that does auto windows. They usually have a setup for polishing out small scratches. Might be better if you can remove the glass from the frame. Another place might be an art glass shop that polishes the bottom of vases etc.

[Bill W. White]

I'm a glass etcher and have been plagued by scratches in glass for years untill I purchased a felt buffing wheel and cerium oxide glass polisher Most of my work is on glass trophies that have a lot of etching on them so when I buff out a scratch it's not very noticable. When doing a clear piece of glass or mirror with nothing else on it you will probably get a distortion in the glass that is almost as bad as the scratch. Old rule of thumb is if you can feel the scratch with your fingernail then it is probably not worth the time and trouble of buffing it out. If on the other hand if it is a very light scratch it will probably come out with just a few minutes of polishing. CR Lawrence sells felt pads that fit in a hand drill. get some cerium oxide wet the felt pad real good put some c.o. on pad and light pressure don't add water just keep felt pad wet. Keep feeling the glass to make sure it doesn't get too hot as excessive heat might. break glass Last hint keep the felt pad moving if you keep it stationary it will make groves in glass.I work mostly with 1/2 inch glass and after I finished etching and painting a 18 inch piece(3 hours work) I'm willing to spend whatever time it takes to save a piece. In your case it might be better to replace the glass than to go thru the scratch removal drill. Hope this helps Bill W.

[Michael Flores]

Hey Thomas, In my experience with glass I'm sorry to say but there isn't much good news when it comes to scratches. I use to do commercial window tinting for large corporations. Take a look at the picture. That's a window film to look like etched glass. Those are F35's for the Northrup Grumman corp. During this project one of my workers got lazy cause when he was cleaning the glass with a razor blade you cant go back and forth. You can only go forward cause the backward motion actually scratches the glass. The glass supplier noticed it. He said look at the glass in an angle with sun light and it sparkles like a diamond. I said cant it be polished out and said polishing doesn't remove scratches, what it does is polish it out to remove that white line you get but at certain angles it will still be there. All polishing does is make it less noticeable unless its a very minor surface scratch. I hope your scratch isn't deep and can be buffed out.

[Carroll Courtney]

Bill post some pics of glass etching,I have tried it afew times to ad alittle accent to glass panels in cabinet doors.I just don't have the touch or the knowledge.I have alittle project coming up where the doors are 14"x6' and I want to put alittle design into it.Not to hijack the thread---Carroll

[Bill W. White]

I mostly do fishing tournaments my web site is www.islglass.com (http://www.islglass.com) and if you need help with your etching send me a PM and I would be happy to help