Removing scratches from clear instrument plastic

[dude]

A couple of weeks a ago I accidentally put a great big deep scratch onto my 187's LCD glass with a screwdriver. I'm not normally that much of a klutz but hey I repair more than I wreck. I wasn't too worried as I knew I could get it out but it's still been annoying the hell out of looking at it as it cast a big shadow onto the LCD. Finally got the chance to do it this morning.
My method for polishing things like that is a soft cotton cloth and a small amount of Brasso. Polish in a circular motion and make sure to mask the edges with tape (I use scotch tape) as you don't want Brasso running into any crevices as you'll have a hell of a time getting it out later.
For restoring old instrument dials etc, that's how I do it and with some elbow grease you can get them looking like new.
Here's the 187, anything you see on it is just lint from the cotton cloth.

 

[Jagtech]

Is that the actual LCD glass that's scratched, or is there a clear plastic protective face in front of it? IIRC, my 77 has a separate plastic face, which you can polish with some rouge and a buffing wheel.

 

[dude]

The plastic face, LCD sits under that. Yes rouge is also good although never tried it on plastic, I know its good for giving steel a mirror finish as a final polish, either in paste form or just plain old iron oxide. There is also pumice powder, talcum, graphite, even cigarette ash, depends what you're doing. I don't use a buffing wheel on instruments myself as its very easy to overdo it. That 77 is a great meter

 

[davenn]

just clarify ... you removed the scratch from a plastic face ? not a glass one as mentioned in your first post ?

 

[dude]

yep, the clear plastic face, uppermost. sorry about that.

 

[davenn]

cool

do you have a before pic so we can see the initial damage ?

D

 

[dude]

No as it occurred to me to post this up only after I finished. You can remove some pretty deep scratches with this method, its just a matter of being patient. It took me about 40 minutes on this one. Just listen to some music and noodle away.

 

[Morgan]

Meguires Plast-X is also very good for removing scratches from plastic, so is toothpaste!

 

[davenn]

Meguires Plast-X <--- never heard of that ?

Toothpaste, yes a good gentle cleaning abrasive

D

 

[Morgan]

It's a car polish brand, sold primarily for renovating headlights and instrument clusters.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-and-exterior/meguiars-plastrx/prod_283.html

 

[davenn]

ahhh Ok maybe native to your country ??

where are you from ? .... put it in your profile

don't want street addy LOL just country will do

D

 

[Morgan]

There you go Dave, Kent in England