Polishing Glass?

[CrazyBoutRacin]

I'm looking to save a windshield that has wiper scratches in it. I will also try it on a wagon back glass if it goes well. Looking around, it seems like it is possible to polish these out.

I'm wondering if anyone here has done it before, is their is a kit or product you used that did the job? Any feedback of your personal experience appreciated.

If you get the right guy, it works! Some of the higher end car detailing folks do it, as well as glass installers, like commercial window and mirror companies do. I’ve literally saved some original windshields doing this!

 

[MIKESPOLARA]

If you can feel the scratch, It aint coming out without lots of specialized sanding . And then it will be wavy

Buy a new windshield

Absolutely. Anything more then very light hazing is almost impossible to remove. And if you do it will show distortion from the waves, that's if you don't crack it trying to polish it that much. The heat generate will crack the glass.

 

[59pwrwgn]

There are YouTube videos of taking out scratches. They use progressively finer grit sand paper to get to the polishing step. Much like paint. The problem in removing scratch is you are removing glass. If you only remove it close to the scratch, that depressed area gives you a distortion when you look through it. Much like feathering body work, you need to work a bigger area than just the scratch. It's is a lot of work but if you have the time and it's more of a scuff, try it.

 

[gkent]

I bought one good kit on Amazon. Came with 5 sheets of everything from 320 to 5000 grit. Included the backing and buffing pad. I think it was $30. No compound. Good deal but like I said, still wouldn't recommend it unless you a real sucker for punishment.

 

[1967coronet]

I would not do it. But if I was going to I would check in with your local eye glass store.
Most all still do glass lenses as well as poly .
The way they correct your vision is by grinding and polishing the glass lens surface,
Hell they can even cut in bifocal sections in glass lenses.
That's who I would talk to.

 

[gkent]

That's bullshit. Eyeglass lenses haven't been ground like that in the last 75 years !!!

 

[matthon]

Start with a grinder and work your way up in grit.

 

[68-500]

He said you cannot catch his fingernail on them. Sounds like a likely candidate for polishing to me. But you some material and a da polisher and get to it! Post before and after pics.

 

[OneOfMany]

It is possible. Glass can be ground and polished, and it is done commercially. The hard part as alluded to above is that when working on a compound curve it is difficult to sand the glass evenly, and if it is not, distortion or waves will always be present.

I gave it a shot on my hard to find 86 Laser XT t-top side glass as it had deep scratches from the glass supports. It turned out good, and any small aberrations have yet to be noticed by anyone but me. It was not just a polish, but a grind where the glass was not see through after the first step.