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Renew your faceshields

bowlman

bowlman

Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
117
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4
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Website
www.dickgerard.com
If you are like me you have several flip up style face shields around the shop and maybe even a trend or racal airstream or something like that. Problem is, over time, those plastic shields get scratched, catch drops or globs of finishes, and even sap and/or resin from some of the woods we turn. The temptation is to buy a new face shield when all you really need is ...

Novus Plastic Polishes number 1 and 2 ... maybe 3 if you have really really bad scratches.

After beginning to use Novus on my faceshields, inside and out (weekly or more often as needed), I now have clear vision through the plastic and no more blotches, splotches, scratches or other vision impairing gook to look through. I haven't purchased a new shield in over 10 years. Give it a shot!
 
Motorcycle shops have a variety of good polishes available. Helps with that night glare problem we get as we age.
 
Do you have a source for the polishes you are recommending you can give us. Also, have you tried to remove repair from CA glue damage?

Thanks
 
Well, for the CA, friction polish, and general crud stuck on the mask, I use a clean and new safety razor, light pressure with the edge almost flush with the mask, and just chisel stuff right off. There will be small scratches and such but that's for step two.

Step two is to fire up the beal type buffing system and go at it with EEE. Folks don't generally know this but EEE (tripole), white diamond, etc are designed for polishing metal and plastics. Works fine for the polycarbonate masks. Just be careful cause, when you catch on that wheel and send the mask bouncing around the shop, it tends to kinda counteract the whole intent of the thing.

Dietrich
 
MichaelMouse said:
Motorcycle shops have a variety of good polishes available. Helps with that night glare problem we get as we age.
Click to expand...


What.. you use it on yer eyes? :D

Good tips folks... I was wondering how to clean off my faceshield yesterday. It was getting harder and harder to see.... :o
 
Sources for Novus Plastic Polishes

eBay
Amazon
Packards
Craft Supply
I'm sure there are many more ... got mine from eBay

As for CA globs ...
soak a cottom ball in acetone and place sopping wet on ca glob.

Wait a few minutes and wipe away. BUT ... be sure to test the acetone on a side area first. I dissolved an el cheapo flimst plastic shield once. Has not happened on polycarbonate shields ... yet. :rolleyes:
 
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You can also try McGuires #10 and #17 which are a plastic cleaner and polish, available at most any automotive shop.

Tony
 
Be careful with acetone and Ca remover. One of our club members cleaned his mask and as he was showing it to someone he flexed it slightly. It completely shattered. It must have somehow changed the properties of the plastic.
 
Once again, a fresh safety razor, used lightly and almost flush with the surface of the shield will shave off the CA nicely. With a little practice, you get a clean surface with only slight scratching/clouding where the CA actually was. Buffing takes care of this.

No messy chemicals. No harsh abrasives......

Dietrich
 
Careful with Acetone

I tried some acetone on the edge of my Woodcraft face shield, and it immediately turned into a frosted window. Luckily, some 2000 grit sandpaper and the Beal buffer helped clean it up.

Scott
 
Thanks for all the tips. I've read through several of these threads about renewing a faceshield.

I just want to report that the Beall buff and EEE got most of the scratches and general "fog" off of my Triton. Micro Mesh took a lot of time, and just didn't get it all out without a lot of elbow grease. :eek:

It was a bit of a trick to get that big wheel on the inside of the shield though. I definitely held it so that if it did catch it, it wouldn't drag me in... :o

It's a ton better than it was, but I'd like to finish it off and get rid of the rest of the haze. Is there a finer abrasive that will polish it a little more?

Or,

Will any of those aforementioned products like Macguires or Novus polish it on down and get rid of the "cloudiness" that's still there?
 
1. I would recommend the Novus 32, the white liquid, to get the final "fog" off.
2. Acetone causes polycarbonate to stress crack. A drop of acetone on the poly, bend it slightly, and watch it disintegrate.
 
Glass shops wet the surface of the glass with glass cleaner before using the razor blades. The cleaner acts as a lubricant and keeps the glass surface from scratching. I suspect this would also apply to the plastic shields.

Woody wax ultra gloss fiberglass restoring compound works great to clean up fine scratches on plastic. I use it to polish up the surface of my "big game" fishing lures and have used it on my shields with good results. You can get it from a good marine store or woodywax.com. The abrasive in the compound is very fine.

I have not tried it on a turning but I wouldn't be surprised if it would make a good friction polish. Having just said that, I just might just give it a try.
 
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