Smoothing out/Sanding Buell Blast windscreen?

[JM500]

Picked up a blast windscreen to put on my F to E conversion.....
It is a hideous blue color that i would like to cover up, but has a little rash on it, and light scratches.
And tip on shooting down that kind of plastic.

Ill snap a pic when Im home this afternoon.

Also, any tips on ghetto mounting it...besides M2 brackets, which are proving hard to find.

[GS500Schultz]

I would say wet sand  high very high grit to smooth it out.  But I'll reserve judgment until I actually see it

[JM500]

I meant to snap a pic yesterday, but forgot Ill post one up later when Im home....Its not severely damaged just lightly but I'm sure it'll still be a wee bit of a pain in the butt

[twocool]

I've restored some clear plexiglass canopies on aircraft...

I use Novus...three part system...and LOTS of elbow grease

There is a kit called MICRO MESH..which contains all the necessary grits of sandpaper to super fine..and then polish.....

deep scratches can be made clear again...but will leave a slight distortion in the "optics"

Some motorcycle windshields are Polycarbonate...much harder to polish...actually softer material...


Cookie

Picked up a blast windscreen to put on my F to E conversion.....
It is a hideous blue color that i would like to cover up, but has a little rash on it, and light scratches.
And tip on shooting down that kind of plastic.

Ill snap a pic when Im home this afternoon.

Also, any tips on ghetto mounting it...besides M2 brackets, which are proving hard to find.

[twocool]

http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=665778628001

here's how you do it!   Airplane windshield or motorcycle same deal..

Takes time...and work.....

Sandpaper, micro mesh kit and polish cost some $$$...so make sure its worth the price of the windshield!

Cookie

[JM500]

This is actually just a opaque plastic windscreen not an optics one, just solid piece of plastic

[twocool]

Ok so more tolerant...

Just start with wet sand with enough grit to remove scratches and problems..and work through finer and finer grits until it looks nice...finish with plastic polish like Novus #3 then novus #2...

You can get ii smooth and shiny if you work at it enough!

I once made an award trophy by sculpting a solid block of acrylic....Initially I cut it to shape with a course band saw...then 40 grit sand paper...all the way through the grades to 4000, then to rouge on a buffing wheel....when done it looked like a big cut diamond...

Cookie

This is actually just a opaque plastic windscreen not an optics one, just solid piece of plastic

[JM500]

yeah I have no clue how I am going to re color it.....

its a horrible blue color, Im not sure it is really paintable with any good result as it is plastic that i have heard is difficult to paint, so once again it may just be a plastidip project for me once it is smooth.

[twocool]

Is there any way to figure out exactly what kind of plastic it is?

"Plastic" is such a broad term...

many types of plastic are quite easily painted....If you paint you have a good opportunity to get it really smooth and shiny if you so desire...

Plastics in the HDPE  (polyethylene or polypropylene) family are slick and "waxy" and not much is going to stick...

But Acrylic which is common for windshields, or ABS (fairings) are quite paintable..

Cookie

yeah I have no clue how I am going to re color it.....

its a horrible blue color, Im not sure it is really paintable with any good result as it is plastic that i have heard is difficult to paint, so once again it may just be a plastidip project for me once it is smooth.

[JM500]

sorry I'm trying to find that info and no luck and not a lot of time to google it.....
it looks like online others have painted them but no details exactly on what they used.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Is there any way to figure out exactly what kind of plastic it is?

"Plastic" is such a broad term...

many types of plastic are quite easily painted....If you paint you have a good opportunity to get it really smooth and shiny if you so desire...

Plastics in the HDPE  (polyethylene or polypropylene) family are slick and "waxy" and not much is going to stick...

But Acrylic which is common for windshields, or ABS (fairings) are quite paintable..

Cookie

yeah I have no clue how I am going to re color it.....

its a horrible blue color, Im not sure it is really paintable with any good result as it is plastic that i have heard is difficult to paint, so once again it may just be a plastidip project for me once it is smooth.

nit too keen on plastidip yet myself, BUT it may be an option for you if you desire

[JM500]

yeah I think it might be my best option just gotta get the fairing smooth enough and find a method to rig the freckin brackets...

i found the Buell M2 brackets online but its gunna be like 40$ to get em which is painful when all the old threads from the buell days the were like 4$ a bracket

[J_Walker]

as for mounting brackets. I've used acrylic sheets, and PVC sheets, to make headlight brackets. the hard part is finding a local vendor that sells sheets think enough. you can use a coping saw, or jewelers saw and a hand drill, and a few hand files.. then spray paint it. it has worked for over 8k miles on my sv650s headlight. and the mounting brackets are held on with pipe clamps.. not the prettiest but I didn't have an oven at the time of making them to shape the PVC sheet. also PVC sheets become flexible in boiled water. so you don't need a heat gun, just a pot large enough to fit your pieces.