Tricks for Spotting Small Scratches in Acrylic?

[Seno2k]

Does anyone have any tips for spotting small scratches in an acrylic tank when sanding / buffing it as part of a refurbishing process? A high powered light at an angle work okay but not much better than my naked eye. I thought a laser point at an angle might help spot scratches but it didn’t work that well. I was thinking that maybe there’s some sort of technique I don’t know about involving applying some sort of paint or ink on the surface and then sanding or wiping it off just the flat top layer so that it only remains in the scratches, thereby making them easier to see. But I’ve not been able to find anything like this online. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

 

[elysics]

You could shine the light through the acrylic at a wall or white paper and look for shadows.

Also things like these work better if you jitter or swing the light around, our brains are better at noticing small moving things than small stationary ones.

 

[shneerf]

Does anyone have any tips for spotting small scratches in an acrylic tank when sanding / buffing it as part of a refurbishing process? A high powered light at an angle work okay but not much better than my naked eye. I thought a laser point at an angle might help spot scratches but it didn’t work that well. I was thinking that maybe there’s some sort of technique I don’t know about involving applying some sort of paint or ink on the surface and then sanding or wiping it off just the flat top layer so that it only remains in the scratches, thereby making them easier to see. But I’ve not been able to find anything like this online. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

I'm not sure about this but I feel like if you use a dry erase black marker and fill in the scratch then wipe with your finger only the scratch will remain. Then sand until the line is gone and continue through the grits until you buff. Never tried it but if there's a scratch I want to get rid of I'd try that.