That wonderful Tormek honing compound

[grepper]

I have some plastic safety glasses that had scratched spots on each lens from setting them down on the bench. The scratched areas were about 1/2" around. Very annoying.

So, I took some of the wonderful Tormek Honing Compound together with a little water and some Windex, and buffed the area.  Scratches gone!  I wouldn't call it optically perfect.  If you shine a light on them at an angle there is still some very minor scratches still there, but not enough to notice when wearing them.

Has anyone tried this on oxidized headlights?  I suspect it would work great.  Mine are glass so I can't try it.  If anyone has cloudy headlights, I'd be interested to know if it works.  Just try it on a small area.

1.  Wet the rag and apply compound.
2.  Spray the rag and area to be polished with soapy water.
3.  Buff.
4.  Rinse well.  Buff a bunch again with a soft buffing cloth.

Then I used it on a plastic knife handle.  Was dull, now nice and shiny.

Great stuff, that wonderful Tormek Honing Compound.

[PGB1]

I'm new to Tormek, but read your post just in time to test your headlight hypothesis on the taillight lenses on my truck! Mine are (were) so oxidized & scratched up from 14 years of Michigan winter road salt they were nearly white. While changing a bulb today, I took one lens inside to warm up and tried your safety glasses trick. The Tormek honing compound & rubbing alcohol worked great! (Window cleaner's in the garage- Frozen solid)

Now, on to those 6 pair of scratched up safety glasses...
Enjoy Today!
Paul

[grepper]

Cool! Glad that worked. Thanks for letting us know Paul.  That's good to know.  Let us know how it goes with the headlights too.

The Tormek compound contains 1 – 3 micron (8,000 – 14,000 grit) abrasives, so I guess that's fine enough to do a fair job on polishing scratches out of plastic.  Before polishing,  I could feel the scratches on my safety glasses with my fingernail and they were ready for the trash can, but now they are perfectly useable.  I suspect that with some nonabrasive polishing rouge and some more buffing I could have removed most visible scratches, but the Tormek compound did a good enough job that it wasn't worth it. 

Interesting that you used alcohol.  Maybe that helps as a solvent for some of the compounds in road crud embedded in the surface.  I had used soap as both a solvent and surfactant, but more to provide a little more lubrication.  The Tormek compound is 25% ammonia and water, so I'm sure that helps too.

I wonder if after polishing your head and tail lights if waxing them would be good or bad thing?  Or maybe a good thing for taillights and a bad thing for headlights?

I don't know how anything survives here in Michigan, let alone head and taillights.  What a tough environment they exist in!  Last night it was 4.8F degrees with a nice stiff wind.  A real vacation spot.  A can't imagine what it must be like to be a little Chickadee and have to spend the night in hypothermic torpor sitting in a tree!  At least a good breakfast awaits them in the bird feeder.

[PGB1]

I know we are miles off topic of Tormek, but maybe your idea will help people save their scratched safety glasses and be happy to wear them. They are very critical when working with any tool. I speak from experience. I have permanent eye damage from being too cool to wear them about 30 years ago. One stupid move....

I used alcohol only because my window cleaner was frozen solid. Interestingly, so was my new jug of washer fluid. I tired some cheapie safety glasses this morning with Tormek compound & plain water, water and with glycerine and thawed out window cleaner. (Guess I'm bored.) They all worked great. I even tried it on some old, scratched prescription bifocals & an acrylic showcase. Great results.

Time to order more Tormek Honing Compound!

Enjoy Today!
Paul

[grepper]

I'd have to agree that Chickadees are a bit off topic, , but the rest is Tormek related. 

I did some research on tests of rouges and honing compounds, and it was interesting that quite a few were at variance from their advertised grit levels.  I'd say from both of our experiences with clear plastic that the Tormek compound is very consistent. 

I found it illustrative seeing what the stuff does to a clear plastic finish.  It is a very consistent, fine abrasive.  The scratch pattern it gives is very predictable, with no occasional deeper scratches from larger abrasive particles.  Nice stuff.

I also find it interesting that while very fine, it also cuts steel well.  I have a 400X microscope and have seen up close what it does to steel.  To a certain extent, it cuts well enough to actually remove a "toothy" edge from a blade if you spend some time at it.  You can actually sharpen with it.  It's surprisingly aggressive, yet very fine.

Seeing what it does to plastic was a very visual way to see it's scratch pattern, and helped me to further understand exactly what is going on when I goop up the leather wheel and hone a blade.

[PGB1]

I was amazed at how it gave a mirror finish to some high speed steel lathe bits I honed after sharpening with the Tormek. Even after sharpening & honing with my old compound and a hand strop, the finish did not approach that provided by the Tormek compound. The chips slide right off the chip breaker and the cuts are very peaceful!

[MakerUnknown]

I've been using Micro Mesh sandpaper on my Audi headlights for years..taking it up to 12,000 grit almost makes them look new.  It's my observation though the clearness of the lens doesn't last very long before they start to yellow and go cloudy.  A new headlight goes for  years before starting to look yellow, once you start to polish them then they yellow faster and faster.
Your mileage may vary

[Herman Trivilino]

I think the older plastics behaved like that.  The newer lenses are supposed to be better.  We'll see.   

[grepper]

If you Google:

headlight uv sealant

Looks like there a a bunch of products out there.   

I have no idea how well they work, but it might be interesting to give one a try.