Bill Daniels wrote:

"Richard Lamb" wrote in message
...
Bill Daniels wrote:

I bought some expensive paper based polishing towels from a plastics
company. They were touted as the 'perfect' acrylic cleaning rag.
Unfortunately, they scratched a test piece of plexy just like any paper
towel. The common advice to use only soft cloth rags seems to be well
founded.

I have polished out scratched canopies and to do it right is a LOT of
work.
Best to never get them scratched in the first place.

There are some good scratch removing polishing compounds available but I
always wind up with McGuire's #10 as the final wax. #10 takes a lot of
work
to do it right but the wax is exactly the same refractive index as
Plexiglas
so the remaining scratches disappear. There is a story going around
that
#10 leaves the canopy statically charged which attracts dust. I've
never
seen this if the polish job is done according to the label instructions.

Bill Daniels


Thanks for the wax recomendation, Bill.

Would you go into more detail on the scratch _removal_ stuff.

I have a 1968 Hughes OH6A that I'm restoring for display (non-flying)
at the new Army Aviation museum.

When I got her, the right side of the bubble was heavily coated
with a hard mineral deposit. I tried a lot of different things
but finally took it off mechanically with wet 1500/2000 grit paper.
That worked ok, but left the obvious hazy results, which I am now
trying to clear up.

The last issue on this project is that I have no financial support
of any kind for this project. So what ever will work is what I'll do,
but cheaper is better!

Thanks,

Richard Lamb

My last project used NOVUS #3 for starters followed by #2 for the remaining
fine scratches. NOVUS makes a #1 wax but I think McGuire's #10 is a lot
better.

I don't think there is any magic to these products, just a lot of hard work.
(If you think you are done. you aren't.) Don't get tempted to use any power
tools. Work slowly with muscle power. Plan a couple of full days to
complete each step.

Bill Daniels


Aw fudge. I have already started with Novus #2 - and doing it by hand.

People are gonna see that huge right arm and
jump to the wrong conclusions!

Richard (wax on - wax off)