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  • Plastic polish?

    I guess I am heavy handed but no matter what I do my bobbins always get scuffs and scratches on them by the time I'm done with the building process. How do you guys avoid that? Is there a plastic polish that actually works out there? I have tried some meguire's fine polish which gives it a bit of shine but most of the scratches stay. I was also thinking about trying to find some of that plastic film in tape form that I could cover the bobbins with until they are finished. So far I haven't been able to find any.

  • #2
    The thing about deep scratches is that you can't remove them well without taking the entire surface area down to the deepest part of the groove. Just buffing down the scratch area can cause visible distortion in the surface profile. Avoiding deep scratches in the first place has to be the easiest way to deal with them if they must not be there.

    I remember seeing an acrylic powder in a finger nail kit once. You fill the scratches in your nails and then apply this liquid and it solidifies clear, hard and ready for buffing. I don't know if this stuff is available for other applications, but I bet it is. Might take some research if it sounds interesting.
    "Take two placebos, works twice as well." Enzo

    "Now get off my lawn with your silicooties and boom-chucka speakers and computers masquerading as amplifiers" Justin Thomas

    "If you're not interested in opinions and the experience of others, why even start a thread?
    You can't just expect consent." Helmholtz

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    • #3
      Novus is still the best stuff going IMO/IME.

      https://www.novuspolish.com/

      From home receiver faceplates, to car stereo displays, to *most* plastics.
      I can only remember less than 5 times when it wasn't suited for the job at hand (barring scratches just TOO deep) over the last 25 years.

      NOVUS Heavy Scratch Remover No. 3 does the bulk of the heavy lifting.

      No. 2 does the 'finish' work.

      No. 1 is pointless IMO as windex/fantastic does the same job. (But it's usually easiest/cheapest to order them as a pack of 3)
      Start simple...then go deep!

      "EL84's are the bitches of guitar amp design." Chuck H

      "How could they know back in 1980-whatever that there'd come a time when it was easier to find the wreck of the Titanic than find another SAD1024?" -Mark Hammer

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      • #4
        That might be similar stuff but the first application is a wipe on medium instead of a powder. Once CD's had proven their status as the replacement for vinyl they also started showing a similar flaw from scratching. A friend of mine thought he was going to get rich selling refurb kits using these sorts of plastic polish products. A patent search revealed that Sony already had the idea locked up tight and was sitting on it. After all, they were (are?) the largest maker of CD's at the time. Why would they want people to be able to fix scratched units?
        "Take two placebos, works twice as well." Enzo

        "Now get off my lawn with your silicooties and boom-chucka speakers and computers masquerading as amplifiers" Justin Thomas

        "If you're not interested in opinions and the experience of others, why even start a thread?
        You can't just expect consent." Helmholtz

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        • #5
          Originally posted by larams View Post
          I guess I am heavy handed but no matter what I do my bobbins always get scuffs and scratches on them by the time I'm done with the building process. How do you guys avoid that? Is there a plastic polish that actually works out there? I have tried some meguire's fine polish which gives it a bit of shine but most of the scratches stay. I was also thinking about trying to find some of that plastic film in tape form that I could cover the bobbins with until they are finished. So far I haven't been able to find any.
          The classic protective tape would be the blue masking tape, the expensive stuff (for masking tape) that doesn't harden into an irremovable rock in a few days. Available at hardware and paint stores everywhere.

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          • #6
            I have had a couple of complaints from clients, re fine scratches on the bobbins. most like me don't notice them, but some people are just anal when it comes to details like that.

            I have done a couple of things to reduce the amount of scratching, but the best thing I have done, is to use clear pallet wrap film. it sticks to the surface of the bobbin and peels off afterwards; in a similar fashion as the clear plastic film you get on some new pickups you buy. its very cheap and tougher than lunch wrap. I wipe off afterwards with a clean cloth, to remove the "prints" it leaves

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