Face shield repair

[Steve Campbell]

:DI had a great day in the shop yesterday. Finished 2 bowls and built a longworth chuck for my "Little General" I was finishing up the last bowl when I looked through my full face mask and realized that it was getting so scratched and full of sap that it was more dangerous to wear it than to not wear it. Well being the frugal or should I say cheap gentleman that I am, I went about fixing it myself. I figured it was toast anyway so I went to my Beal buffer and put the white diamond wheel on. You wouldn't believe the difference. Saved me a new mask.

Steve

[robert hainstock]

I have tried to buff plastics before and could not because the buffer speed was too high and melted the plastic. What rpm were You using? :eek::eek:
Bob

[Paul Engle]

One could use "tear aways" like the dirt bike racers use. just a thought....

[Allen Neighbors]

Steve, thanks for the post. White Diamond. Never thought of that.
Just don't ever use acetone on it, trying to remove CA glue. It melts. DAMHIKT. Well, I clean my glasses with acetone, and they have plastic lenses.... and they don't melt.

[Clem Wixted]

Thanks Steve,

I was given two face shields by a friend who is in construction. These things were beyond scratched but the price was right and they were extras for guests in the shop.

Based on your post I just tried to buff them out with white diamond. It didn't work. So, like you said, they were toast anyway so I tried Tripoli on it. WOW. It removed most of the B I G scratches but the Tripoli left some "cloudiness" of very tiny scratches. So, out comes the white diamond and buff it again. This worked great. I now have one more sparkling clear face shield. Even the remaining big scratches are clear. One to go.

Clem



:... I figured it was toast anyway so I went to my Beal buffer and put the white diamond wheel on. You wouldn't believe the difference. Saved me a new mask.

Steve

[Ben Gastfriend]

Good idea! I'm going down to the shop to try that now, one time my procrastination paid off. It'll save me from buying a new one!

[Richard Madison]

There is a polishing kit available for plastics that works well to salvage and maintain face shields. Has three grits of "polish" and some sample cloths to start with. Works well with a bit of elbow grease added, and restored a face shield that I was ready to discard. If interested, I'll go look for source and report.

[Steve Campbell]

Bob I just went down and looked at my buffer it is 1725 rpm. When I first started this I used the wax wheel. That just kind of clouded the lens. Maybe if I would have wiped it off with a soft cloth after I finished it would have been clear but I just tried the white diamond instead. Just what is "White Diamond" anyway?

Steve

[Jim Underwood]

I tried to use my Micromesh to buff out the scratches on my Triton face shield, but I wound up just making it more cloudy. Don't have enough elbow grease I guess.

So then I used the Beale Buff system. I forget whether I used both the tripoli and the white diamond or just the white. But it was a whole lot better than when I started out. I could actually see what I was trying to turn again.

It's a bit scary to buff the inside of that Triton though...:eek: It would be a bit safer if you had a bowl buff.

[Glenn Hodges]

I wonder if this would work on my plastic bifocal glasses? Does anyone know?

[Clem Wixted]

...

It's a bit scary to buff the inside of that Triton though...:eek: It would be a bit safer if you had a bowl buff.

Jim,

I don't know if you can take the shield out of the headgear of the Triton, but I took the face shield out of the headgear of my face mask and it was a lot safer. I caught the edge if the whole shield while buffing and the wheel grabbed it out of my hand. It's pretty tight inside of the whole asembly.

After I removed the shield it was a lot less stressful.

Clem

[Paul Downes]

A word of warning about this idea. I wear my mask like everyone else who is concerned about safety. The thought crossed my mind while reading this post that you might get away with polishing the mask a few times but i wonder if it gets weakened by the process. I rely on the face shield to keep my face relatively presentable in public. I would hate to have it shatter from the occasional direct hit. I might think about polishing minor haze/scratchs out but I wonder if heat will change the impact resistance of the plastic?

[Richard Madison]

OK guys, what you need is Novus Plastic Polish. I rarely recommend or endorse any product, but this stuff does work. I was skeptical, but had a very heavy faceshield that I couldn't actually see through, and wanted to save. Go to www.novuspolish.com (http://www.novuspolish.com). Suggest the expensive kit with all three grades of polish. Naturally I tried the finest grade first, then the next, and finally started with the "coarse" grade and followed the instructions. Knowing that one does not start sanding a bowl w/ 400, I should have known better, but of course had to learn the hard way.
Richard in Wimberley

Edit: This is a manual process, so not likely to overheat the plastic, but it is really not so difficult or time consuming.

[M Toupin]

OK guys, what you need is Novus Plastic Polish. I rarely recommend or endorse any product, but this stuff does work. I was skeptical, but had a very heavy face shield that I couldn't actually see through, and wanted to save. Go to www.novuspolish.com (http://www.novuspolish.com). Suggest the expensive kit with all three grades of polish

If it's good enough for aircraft windshields, it's good enough for a face shield! Expensive, but it works great. It also works for many other things too, like those cloudy headlights on the car that the dealer wants $400 to replace.

Mike

[Jim Underwood]

I don't think the tripoli or white diamond is going to harm your faceshield. If memory serves correctly it's made for polishing plastic. Correct me on that if I'm wrong.

Now if your faceshield is already crazed or cracked from prior damage or age, then yes you should replace it. And I've also been told that trying to get super glue (CA glue) off of the face shield with Acetone (CA glue remover) will damage them - so I wouldn't do that either.

When I buffed my Triton shield, I had to take the bubble off to even get it up to the buffing wheel, but it's so curved that trying to get the thing buffed on the inside is so tight you run the risk of having a bad catch and defeating the whole purpose by bouncing it off the lathe..:rolleyes: That's why I wished I had a bowl buff...

[Bob Hampton]

lol...sorry have to chuckle a bit ...tripoli polish...white diamond..buffing wheel ..hey never thought of that one...i just use plain ol car wax and a rag to buff out the scratches ..guess im really cheap..used it for years on my boat windsheild...

Bob