Novus 1-2-3 plastic polishing kit

Update. After a day and a half of little progress using the polisher and Novus system decided to try automotive wet/dry 1000 grit on rubber hand block. This wasn't my idea but something I had read about as a pre-treatment before the use of Novus for heavily opaque acrylic tanks. But becasue it was mentioned as an inclusion rather then as a necessity I overlooked it.

After trying the use of 1000 wet/dry sand paper with water I couldn't belive how fast I was able to make progress removing the old dead layer and scratches in minutes rather then hours with the Novus 3 & 2 polish.

So now that I have finished all sides using 1000 grit, I will be switching to 2000 grit today and hopefully finish up with Novus 3,2,1 machine polishing. I will be following up with photo's as soon as Im finished. Incidentally one 6X8" sheet of automotive grade wet/dry sandpaper which can make 6 sheets for a sanding block cost about $1 which is enough to do about 6 tanks.
 
Below is a pic of the tank being sanded with 1000 grit wet sandpaper block. the white cream you see is not Nuvos but rather oxidized acrylic dust mixing with water.

Trust me on this I know now that you cannot brake through the old oxidation layer of an opaque acrylic tank with just Novus 3 not even with a polisher. Use 100 followed by 2000 or 2500 grit 3M automotive wet/dry sand paper.

Block sand the complete tank with 1000 then clean very well with a new microfiber cloth and water until the tank and work are is free of 1000 grit dust, then switch to 2000 and a new microfiber towel and clean water.

After block sanding the entire tank with 2000 clean the tank and work are free of dust and using a polisher and new terrycloth bonnet polish the tank with Novus 3 keeping the buffing head moving and damp (not watery and not dry) until you have polished all interior and exterior sides except the bottom panel (who cares). Make sure you have a clean rubber pad beneath the tank to prevent scratches as you flip the tank to different sides.

Repeat the process mentioned above with Novus 2 after you have cleaned the tank and work area of Novus 3 and using clean water microfiber rag and a new bonnet. Its very important you do not cross contaminate the use of abrasives in order to get a crystal clear finish.

More to follow later after I collapse for a while LOL.
SandingAcrylicTank001.jpg

SandingAcrylicTank003.jpg

SandingAcrylicTank005.jpg
 
this should be linked in the stickies. excellent choice for a project/write up gunner. i'm sure people pass up old acrylic tanks all the time because they assume they're wasted permanently.
 
Will see what happens tomorrow with the final buffings as I expect a huge improvement acceptable and clear but not like brand-new acrylic. The tank was sold in 1998 making the tank an incredible 12 years old and was called a Plexi-aquarium by a company called Triton. I didn't want to mention this becasue I was afraid they would be right but the LFS told me that becasue it was used for salt water (and it was at one time) one can never polish out the inside due to embedded salt chemicals. I suppose that was all that white crusty film on the inside top and bottom that completely disappeared with the use of the 1000 grit wet/dry LOL.

But yes this is uncharted territory for me as well and a great lesson leaned that with the use of water and wet/dry 1000 to 2000 grit sandpaper you can take micro layers off in a matter of minutes rather then hours using strait strokes NOT circles, after-which the a buffer with Novus turns those miro strait scratches into circular polished transparent acrylic again. Tomorrow after I'm done with the Novus 2 terrycloth-bonnet polishing and then fleece-bonnet polishing with Novus 1, I will show the final results.

As far as being placed in a sticky the important thing is that if I'm successful helping just 1 person that is looking for a solution and they find it in my strait-forward answers, that is more then enough reward for me.
 
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Well finished with Novus 2 using terrycloth bonnet, next its time to use the fleece bonnet and Novus number 1. Already with the tank even with the tank dry it looks pretty clear and with water probably pretty good.

After I do my monthly 50 gallon RO run this afternoon I hope to do the final polishing. I dont think I would have gotton this fare without the 3M 1000/2000 wet/dry sand paper treatment as I only ended up using 1/4 of each bottle of Novus 2 & 3 (2 ounces). I can see know how its possible to go through an entire 8 ounce bottle if Novus is all you use.

Alrighty then, more photo's when Im done and ready to start the cabinet restoration, its quite a wobbly piece of furniture LOL.
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Well had a slight setback which is always the case when things are going too smoothly. Even though Novus 1 is supposed to be a sort of cleaner-polish that rub in circles to give and I quote "luster finish", in reality it is nothing more then some sort of polymer film that really does nothing to polish that I can see and in fact a bit on the slimy side mucking up the finish even using the fleece bonnet. Sort of like trying to polish with Vaseline.

So tomorrow Im going to take a step back and instead of finishing off with Novus 2 using and terrycloth bonnet which is a bit rough as polishing cloth goes, instead use the fur-fleece bonnet and see if I can get the luster I'm looking for. IMO Novus 1 is not very good for cleaning either as RO and a micro-fiber cloth does a way better job IMO.

To be continued.
 
Nowadays I swear by "Brillianize" when cleaning my acrylic tanks. I paid like $4.50 for a 240ml bottle and one bottle will last forever. It's non-toxic and truly polishes acrylic. The best polisher I've ever used on tanks.
 
You da man! I love yur threads!!!!!!!!!!
 
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