So I was messing around with a light and I melted the optic a little bit. This particular optic isn’t one I can just buy a replacement for. Would it be possible to sand/polish the bubbles away? If so, how would I go about that?
Plastic’s generally soft, so polishing it can be tricky at best. If you can grind away bad material, you can go finer and finer until you get it maybekindasorta smooth and clear. Check out those headlight restoration kits.
Also, grinding away any bad material’s going to fundamentally change the shape of the lens, screwing up the focus. Keep that in mind.
I’ve got some stuff that’s pretty good, but I haven’t been able to get it back to a glass-like finish, although the plastic I was cleaning was pretty garbage (we’re talking grocery store $5 flashlight)
This is the one I got, but don’t worry about this one specifically: Get CarPro CeriGlass Polish Kit | Waxit – Waxit Car Care
Check out polishes that contain Cerium Oxide, that’s the compound that’s a super fine abrasive.