What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

[froggy47]

I see in the demo elsewhere in the forum, that a common electric drill was used. These (variable speed) typically rotate from 0 to 2000 rpm.

What would be a good speed (approx) for using Plastix on a BMW lense (1995)

Thanks.

Are you supposed to spray a UV sealer on when you are done? Where do you buy this stuff?

[k3ith]

Re: What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

I am not sure what RPM but I use a moderate to high speed. If you go too fast for too long you can melt the plastic.

[Amature Detailing]

Re: What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

I start out by washing the surface of the lense, Claying it, washing it again, then use the Meg DA polished along with the Yellow polishing pad and M205. Works out great

Before


After

[froggy47]

Re: What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

Thanks.

I'm trying for a rough idea. Some air tools spin up to 20000 rpm.

Is Mike (who does the Meguiar's seminar) still on this forum?

[Innovative Detailing]

Re: What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

I see in the demo elsewhere in the forum, that a common electric drill was used. These (variable speed) typically rotate from 0 to 2000 rpm.

What would be a good speed (approx) for using Plastix on a BMW lense (1995)

Thanks.

Are you supposed to spray a UV sealer on when you are done? Where do you buy this stuff?

In all honesty an electric drill works ok for a DIY repair......but to do this repair properly you really need to step it up and go with multi step process.
Various resurfacing discs must be used to eliminate and remove all the failed UV coating. As you work these discs on the lens you will go from course to fine, finishing the lens off as clear as possible. With the DIY kit you would just polish off the lens to optimum clarity for best result. My experience has proved that once you remove this coating, the lens is even more susceptible to further damage and cracking.

I personally prefer to NOT polish the lens after resurfacing, but I reapply the OEM sacrificial coating and then cure with a UV curing lamp. The greatest advantage is that the lens won't turn yellow again, and no need to keep polishing the lens, it is now sealed. These UV sealants are not a DIY product, more of a professional product that involves proper training and the cost gets up there ( UV Clear Coat $40.00 and the UV Curing lamp $250.00) when you include the UV curing lamp.

I am not sure what RPM but I use a moderate to high speed. If you go too fast for too long you can melt the plastic.

Not sure what machine you are using, but stay away from die grinders, they spin too fast and will definitely melt your lens. Also be careful with your backing plate, they can very easily score the lens and damage it.

I start out by washing the surface of the lense, Claying it, washing it again, then use the Meg DA polished along with the Yellow polishing pad and M205. Works out great

Before


After

Nice job, although you would be amazed at how much more clarity you could get from those lenses using the resurfacing discs and then either polishing with a rotary or sealing them....Here is a sample of the clarity of the lens I get after my repair is finished...

Thanks.

I'm trying for a rough idea. Some air tools spin up to 20000 rpm.

Is Mike (who does the Meguiar's seminar) still on this forum?

I only use my pneumatics (air tools) when providing this service, the overall ease, quality of the repair and time on the job are all on the same level making this a perfect service to provide for my clients.

[froggy47]

Re: What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

Well I gave it a shot. Here are some before pics. I took the last two with the flash and they are probably the best to compare to the finish pictures. The others have lighting off etc. & I tried to do equivalent b4/after shots, but it's harder than I thought because the sun was out & moving & then I moved the car so I could see the work better. Oh well.













Here are the tools



Came out like this.





My lenses were more sandblast damage rather than discoloration. The 3m (paint) compound did as good a job as the Plastix, I suspect the "grit" is close being ultra fine.

I started with the cloth wheel & drill & Plastix & the work was slow due to the size of the buff wheel & speed of the drill.

The speed of the drill was ok, but too slow IMO.

I took out the PC which I believe orbits up to 4500 opm and an old polish pad & went at it with the 3m & it was faster & I could finally feel some heat in the work, I was not getting heat with the drill.

I finished off with the Plastix & a MF cloth & then the interior detail for a final clean.

I'm pleased with the result & I don't know if there was any UV finish on these original 15 year old lenses & also don't know if I polished it off or not. I'm not going to bother with any.

2 hours & did not have to go out and buy any other stuff.

Hope this helps somebody on the forum, I haven't been here for a while.

[froggy47]

Re: What rpm's for polishing headlight lense?

I tried to edit the post & add more useful info but the forum has some rule about 10 min limit on editing. Whatever.

What I was going to add is that to do an even better job I would have had to go to a coarser grit to get the deep pits out & then do all the steps that I had already done, over again, so I called it quits.

It's a bit hard to figure how coarse to start with unless you just go max coarse & then thru all the rest to the final micro fine finish.

That's all.