I am trying to polish a Carclo 10511 optic to remove or diminish the frosting to be somewhere between a Clear Narrow Spot (10507) and Frosted Narrow Spot (10511).
Has anybody successfully polished/buffed the surface of a frosted TIR?
What was your technique and what did you use? Can it be done by hand or is that wishful thinking?
If that doesn’t work, wayyyyyy back when I took an “arts - metals and plastics” class in high school. We used Tripoli Compound to polish lexan and casting resin projects.
I just used 1000 grit then 1500 grit papers slightly wet —- you have to hold the paper over your finger tips because the optic is slightly concaved — if you try to sand with a block you’ll see the edges cut first—- after that I just polish with fine compound and micro fiber towel—- I have done dozens this way—- my favorite optic after polishing
You can buy at an automotive finish supply like Sherwin-Williams up to 2500 grit silicon carbide paper (which will also remove scratches from glass by the way.) Then Trizact pads in 3000 and 5000 grit. Then you can use your polishing compounds of choice on plastics. I use 3M Micro-fine compound (blue) and Glazing compound (yellow) for a scratch-free finish. For glass, cerium oxide powder, mixed with water in a slurry, on a felt or leather pad.