I thought I'd separate this discussion from the other thread as not to interfere with the project and also to keep it afloat. (in the other thread its likely to get swallowed up and forgotten by dozens of replies)

I have a handfull of small scratches on my glass substrate, and a few scuff marks on the front polarizer. (see "antiglare removal: previous mistakes to avoid" for how they got there and how to avoid it happening to you)

My antiglare removal process was pretty rough and I doubt I'll ever get rid of these scratches, but I'll try what I can, maybe I'll get lucky. I am hoping that at the very least, I can compensate for the minor damage to the lcd, by helping others not to make the same mistakes, or find solutions for those who end up in deep water. In this case, a solution for those who accidently scratch their glass substrate or scuff up their polarizer.

So to summerize, I'm seeking to find a method to remove the scratches from both the glass substrate and front polarizer. (note, the scuffs are not on the polarizer itself, but on its protective covering).

So far I'm tried Mothers Plastic Polish and Mothers Mag and Alluminum Polish. Neither of them worked to remove scratches.

What confuses me about these scratch removers is this: They don't remove scratches, they just fill it in to make it invisible. So when you polish, the polish needs to remain inside the scratch, but everything above that must come off. It seems to me that whenever I clean off the excess polish, the polish in the crack comes out as well.

Mik,, can you estimate how deep the scratches are?

because most scratch polishers are only meant for fairly light marks..

They are not gashes. They are pretty light scratches. The polarizer is just lightly scuffed and the glass has a few hair thin scratches in it.

I think what I need is something more solid to fill in the scratches. The other stuff seems to come out when you wipe it clean.

Wax would probably have the right thickness, but they often have a foggy color to them. Maybe I can find a clear one.

Someone mentioned earlier pouring a sort of clear goop on the antiglare to fill in the rough surface and harden. Maybe if I had something like that I could put a drop on a scratch and wipe the surface clean, so little by little, a little of the goop is left at the bottom of the crack to harden. Then reapply it a few times to fil it up completely. I just feel that the problem is it keeps coming back out when I wipe it clean. I need something that sticks.

Another idea I had, was to put a small piece of clear tape on the scratches just large enough for the scracth. it worked to smoothen the antiglare. I tried it on a cd to take out the scratches and it seemed to work. You would probably see a clear outline of the tape projecting but if we get a clear enough tape it might not be noticable.

Perhaps I should try "Peek Polish" thats supposed to work better then mothers.

(edit) WHOAH! This was my 1500th post! I'm now "omniscient" lol, yeah right....

PEEK will not polish the PVA. It will simply scratch it. I tried this already just to see what would happen.

Thanks, Sonic. But also I have the glass substrate to polish. Think it might work there?

Metal polish is supposed to work on glass. I scratched up my panel and polished away with PEEK for about 5 minutes, and I can't say if it made a difference or not (it definitely was slow if it was working). Maybe try the metal polish that you have for 10 or 20 minutes on a very small scratched area and see what happens.

I know you wrote the polarizer scratches are showing on projection, but are you saying the glass scratches are too?

Mark.

I have Novus Plastic polish#2. I scratched up a junk CD with some ScotchBrite and
used the Novus to polish it. It removed about 40% of the scratches.

FYI, LCDs are made with borosilicate glass which is supposedly harder to scratch.
This implies it will also be more difficult to remove scratches.

Mikau do a search for cerium oxide, I think that’s how its spelt. It’s used to polish lenses. I’ve never used it so I can’t say how good it works

DJ

edit: This is for the glass LCD.

I read that when I was looking for a optically clear heat shield on some page about borosilicate sheet, but wasn't sure it was used in all panels. If it is, it would answer Mark's question whether a panel might crack in the heat with one polarizer removed. It shouldn't be a problem because of the low expansion rate of borosilicate.

To scratch remover on TAC perhaps a product made to remove scratches on the non-emulsion side of photographic film. Is that stuff still made of cellulose? Here's a link to some stuff, maybe you can dig up a supplier in the States.
http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/pp...ch_Remover.html

[edit] sorry, Hide-A-Scratch is only a temporary filler.

Whew, finally this thread is getting some attention. Thanks!

My apologies if this is a double post...I did do a search on this but didn't turn up anything. I ran across this info while searching on different methods of applying chrome type finishes for a car I'm rebuilding. Apparently india ink has super fine grains of carbon and can be used as a "super" polish for aluminum. I wonder if it could be used on lenses too? (or would it stain the lens). At the least it seems like it could provide a great method for polishing reflectors.

NASA tech

So has anyone decided the best way to remove scratches on the polarizer side of the screen?

BUMP. Any new ideas for scratches on the glass? And do they actually show up in projection?

I saw one of those TV infomercials that talked about a scratch remover for your glasses. Try doing a search for scratch remover for glasses.

Edit: the name is liquid lens.

Here are some links:

Liquid lens
Safevision
GS27

These are cheap and easy to use. There are tons of other stuff too.

Hey, thats a great idea. They make glass repairs for chipped windshields for cars I can't see why this might not work for glass substrates. Nice pitch phutton.
sim

Hey all - I am really stupid and strached up the layer right under my AG when removing it. I was thinking of trying scratch remover for CDs. Or any of the others listed here. Anyone have luck with this? Thanks - Tim