20 May
2002
20 May
'02
1:08 p.m.
On Tue, 21 May 2002, Tony Duell wrote:
Any particular grade of rouge? I've got a couple
of lenses with minor
scratches that would probably benefit from gentle polishing. But the
jeweler's catalogue I've just looked in (H.S. Walsh) lists about a dozen
polishing compounds, none specifically for glass. Or doesn't it matter
too much? Jeweler's rouge is amongst them (and is not too expensive).
That'll depend on the depth of the scratch and how much elbow-grease
you're willing to invest. :)
Generally, I'd treat it as a lapidary repair, because it is.
First, trying to treat a deep mar with a finish-grade abrasive is an
exercise in futility.
Choose the grade of abrasive _just_ finer - maybe 2 grades - than the
blemish itself. Remove the scratch, leaving a lot of finer scratches.
Go to the next finer grade - or skip one - of abrasive and polish out
the aforementioned finer scratches.
Repeat. Be careful to gradually expand your coverage. A very smooth,
but very sharply graduated, indentation in the surface will be as
distracting as the original blemish. Spread the low spot out.
Use abrasives suited to the material. For example, Red Rouge is a
metal polish. It _will_ eventually polish glass, but there are better,
faster abrasives. Chromium Oxide comes to mind. Diamond grits are not
as expensive as you'd expect, and your local custom jewelry shop might
sell you the little dab you need.
Most any good lapidary catalogue will have charts of the grades and
applications of their polishing compounds.
Doc