I've machined a fair amount of plastic in my years in the shop and can't imagine taking a cut on a CD that would improve the surface. Have you tried flame polishing? Not that I think it will work, but it is likely to work better than machining. Most plastics don't cut with a shiny surface. Further, it's entirely possible that if you remove material from one side, the CD might just turn into a bowl from the release of internal stress. Let us know if you come up with something that works.
Harold
I don't think that would work. And flame polishing doesn't work, I've tried that.
I thought of using cerium oxide to polish the surface, but I haven't tried it. People use it to polish glass lenses and telescope mirrors.
I have made the kids' PS2 disks playable by polishing them with toothpaste, and I'm told some metal polishes work too. You don't need to actually remove the scratches, just smooth the edges of any scratches that run parallel to the track.
You can only do this a little bit though, if you polish too much with toothpaste you will make the CD surface white rather than clear, and it won't play any more.
Btw, on CD's the track starts in the middle and works outwards. You probably knew that.
Not quite off topic, but .....
Has anyone here managed to remove scratches from CDs' (compact disks) in a lathe?
I have a few that have been abused to the point that I can't copy them and start over. I have tried various buffing proceedures with little success. Any thoughts on the feasability of making a backing plate and taking a light pass or two over the surface.
I'm a novice, so advice on chuck speed and tool shape would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
In WalMart they sell the tool to do the job, it laps the surface RADIALLY using water to wet the surface and works very well. Ask any kid near the CD games section and you will learn everything!
Definitely DON'T put it in the lathe. Any polishing needs to be done radially, not along the circular data path of the CD. I think you can buy polishing devices at most stores that sell CDs. Even Best Buy and places like that carry them and they work quite well as long as the scratch isn't real deep.
Robert
Bingo. Lathe would spin rather than work from center to outer rim.
You're probably not taking a deep enough cut in the CD surface. You have to get below the "data" level which is about 1/16" deep. Be sure and use a very sharp tool.
Just take out your pristine back-up CD and make a new copy. Oh, you forgot to make a back-up? Bet you won't do THAT again! (Do as I say, not as I do.) Actually, I DO have ISO's of everything important.
Cerium oxide _might_ work. I use it to polish rocks and it definitely leaves a high-quality surface. However I can forsee a couple of problems. For one, cerium oxide is just about useless for getting out visible scratches because it is too fine an abrasive. You've got to work up to it through successively finer grades of abrasive. The other problem, paradoxically, is that it might be too aggressive for the plastic of the CD.
What the heck. Drag out one of your AOL coasters and try it on a flat lap.
--RC
Sleep? Isn't that a totally inadequate substitute for caffine?
The data surface is actually on the top of the CD. The label is what is protecting the actual data from your fingers and so forth.
-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?
GO TO A VIDEO STORE AND HAVE THEM POLISH THEM FOR ABOUT $3.00
I've removed some extensive scratches from CD's.. I learned how to do this after my JVC cd changer ate my cd's and JVC refused to warranty their changer or the damage their lousy changer caused.
I took my electric buffer that I use to compound my car, and used some Liquid Ebony polish/compound and buffed the CD's. What I did was to place the buffer upside down on the workbench, and hold the CD against the wheel. Takes out even deep scratches in the plastic. Low wheel speeds are important. One caveat, I lost my grip on one cd and it flew across the room and shattered. But out of 12 CD's I salvaged 11, so I consider it a success.
Tony
New sport! CD sailing. Where can I get more AOL missiles. Gerry :-)} London, Canada
A CD-cleaner worked, at least for me. First, it should mentioned that the label-side of a CD is muct closer to the data than the shiny side. Damage to the label side is unrepairable.
In my case a mechanical failure in the CD player gouged a cut that looked like a circular Grand Canyon on a software CD that would have cost real bucks to replace. In a "what can you loose" mood bought one of these kits and, with lots of elbow grease, polished the groove out completely. The disk is 100% readable now.
I had a micro finish kit for repaiting acrylic windows. We had a lathe guard made from a helicopter windsheild, and I was always able to repait even deep gouges with that
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required