How to get a scratch out of glass?

[Moog1337]

well...



i accidentally scratched my rear windshield with a razor when cutting tint,



it's a pretty long and deep scratch, about 7-8 inches long and it will catch my fingernail when i run it across the scratch....



i've been trying to get it out by wetsanding with 600 grit sand paper but it's taking forever and it's leaving smaller scratches behind,





do you guys know any methods i can use to get it out?



i have a porter cable on the way, so if there are any methods that require machine polishing, i could also use that



really hope that someone can help me out

 

[velobard]

You're not going to get out a scratch on glass that's deep enough to catch your fingernail. Even if you succeeded you'd be likely to introduce optical distortions.

 

[Eliot Ness]

Eastwood along with some others have a glass polishing kit you can try:



Eastwood Company: Auto Tools, Body Repair, Classic Car Restoration, House of Kolor Paint, Powder Coating



With a scratch deep enough to catch your fingernail in you have to be very careful or, like velobard mentioned, you can cause optical distortions. Also, with the kit for deep scratches, they say to use a 2000 rpm grinder.



I would probably call around to some glass shops and see if they can polish it out for you.

 

[David Fermani]

I have a friend that travels the country taking very deep scratches out of all kinds of glass. I've seen him take deep gouges out of windshields and side glass. If you have a peice of glass that can't be replaced or purchased, he'll make it look like new. Here's a company that sells a professional kit for removing scratches.



glass scratch removal

 

[Moog1337]

well thanks allot guys,



i'm hoping that maybe the tint will hide the scratch,



if it does i may just leave it be and try to live with it,



but i'm gonna check out those 2 kits you guys posted and i'm also gonna see if we have any glass mechanics around



keep posting any additional info!

 

[B3Golde]

david - has your friend said anything about the effectiveness of the $40 scratch removal kits? After reading the instructions for the expensive kit it seems silly to only use a few disks a sprayer and a cordless drill.

 

[David Fermani]

I don't think he'd consider using one of those kits. I believe they may only work for really, really light scratches. After seeing what's involved with removing light scratches from worn out wiper blades, I'd have to says those kits wouldn't cut much. Like compounding paint, you start out getting light marring from the product/process and then it's slowly buffed away with special solutions and grinding stones/bits. It's really an unpresidented style of repair, due to the medium you're working with.

 

[Moog1337]

so you guys are saying that there's basically no hope