The polishing wheel and cerium oxide we sell works great for VERY light scratches only. Anything you can feel with a fingernail will be too deep for our stuff.
There are other companies that sell equipment that they say repairs deeper scratches, such as the Scratch Hog that Glass Technologies sells.
I have never even seen those used, so I couldn't say how well they work.
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Jeff Higgins
Delta Kits, Inc.
Hey tx, I purchaced the delta stuff jeff described and it is workable if you have the time. I believe my time is better spent on repair work. The scratch hog is an option but my feeling is that the demand isn't great enough to support the investment in a timely manner so there is my 2 cents worth. BTW good to see your still around the forum.
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2004 7:41 pm Post subject:
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Just a quick $.02 since scratches are popluar today... outside the obvious info you can read from the suppliers, etc...
The Scratch Hog type system is a scary thing to use. What I mean is that the first step is to completely "destroy" the surface of the glass. Picture taking a belt sander and grinding the scratch out... that's what it does basicly. Then you go to two or three progressively finer pads and polish out the destruction you just imposed. Bottom line is that it REALLY works and can remave any scratch, BUT you need a lot of practice to be able to go through the steps without leaving behind some swirls, etc. It's tricky but it's powerful.
The "other" popluar system (GlasWeld and others) )is much less frightening to use because it doesn't wreck havok on the glass and then "fix" it. But it's more hit and miss as to what scratches it will remove, and it also has the ability to leave a swirl mark if all does not go perfectly.
Glass is a tough animal to polish. You have to try it to find out if it's for you.
Have done hundreds of buffs. I can tell you that buffing tempered glass can be risky. Hit it wrong or get too much heat and "Poof". Have only seen it happen 1 time, but that happened to be a $1200.00 back glass. We just don't bother with tempered.
As far as a windshield is concerned, if you don't listen to me, LISTEN TO JEFF!!! If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, it is probably TOO DEEP!! I don't care what system you are using, glass is glass! If you remove too much glass in one area, you end up with what I call the "coke bottle effect". You CAN get the scratch out, but your customer will wonder why they get sick & dizzy when driving. It is due to the distortion caused by the buffing.
For the time and MESS involved, buffing probably isn't a valuable "add on" option for most.
I got the gt hog 4 weeks ago and still have not got it. I did one today and use the last step because I could not feel it,and then used janvil compound.It ok u could not see the scratch from outside and the windshield look great but when u got in the car you could still see it some so i just dont know about it. The only reson I got it was I get a lot of calls for it and thought I could make my money back but dont know now.I also got there headlight kit which I like alot and think I will make it back with it.
We have the scratch removal system of our choice. It is a good system but there are lots to learn. We charge $75.00 for the first hour and $65.00 for each additional hour. It does work and it is 100% Distortion free with a certain size pad. It makes a good mess also. If we had it to do over again we would skip this purchase due to in that hours time we can make so much more doing repairs say in an hour we have 4 injectors how many repairs can we do? Do you see the point. However we do get to use the system for instance I did 10 pieces of glass on a 2002 Suburban that had acid rain on them so bad that when I went and picked it up I had to let the front 2 windows down to see to drive the thing. I took my time and spent 8 hours for a $800.00 repair for one of our better dealers. He bought this vehicle at an auction on the coast and it was raining at the time so it wasn't as noticeable until it dried. I have never had a scratch per se that I couldn't remove within 2 hours time so far. It takes a lot of practise to get good and I find myself having to get the correct technique again every time we use it. I did crack the first windshield I tried to take a scratch out of and I know why I did it. I got in to big a hurry and when I got down toward the edge I got it too hot and it cracked. It was so bad of a scratch that if we couldn't take it out it was going to get a new windshield anyways. I tried to pay for it but the dealer wouldn't stand for it. We did remove 90% of the scratch except where I quit near the edge when it cracked. There is a calling for this somewhat, especially in newly constructed homes where the painters scratch the glass removing tape and paint. Wiper buffs come out quickly but like I say you can do better with time spent repairing breaks. If you decide to purchase a system learn how to use it correctly and it works, get in to big of a hurry and watch out. I am not familiar with the scratch hog. Hope this helps someone out there.
These were taken from our glass forum and it should give you the info you and others here have asked about polishing or buffing glass.
