Graham Abbott 0 Posted January 6, 2007 As an ex high presicion engineer I had to work to very high grade finishes on some products that were just as smooth and clear as glass. I'm fairly sure the same method of using fine papers, then using brasso will work just the same on glass done ports as they would acrylic, all you need is a little more elbow grease. Actually sometimes you don't need to go through all those different paper grades, though it does make the job much quicker. I would often just clog one of the papers up using a fine oil like baby oil, I found this works better than water! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
I-NSC 1 Posted January 14, 2007 now we need to find out how to remove scratches from multi-coated glass lenses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wjsdive 0 Posted February 28, 2007 Just joined Wet Pixel today and the first post I come across gave me some info I really needed. My Sea and Sea port has some very small scratches in it, but I didn't want to have to send it to the dealer. After reading the post and replies I feel confident that I can handle it with the info and products recommended there. Thanks to all of you and Wet Pixel Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mathewfarrell 0 Posted May 9, 2007 This is a very handy thread. It is a very daunting task to undertake! My second-hand Sea & Sea Compact Dome Port arrived with some light scratches on the inside. Any handy hints for how to best reach these? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CADiver 2 Posted May 16, 2007 Thank you ! It's really helpful but I must say taking the first step sand down the port w/ the roughest sand paper and see how it's 'destroyed' before getting better would be really hard ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gwangi 0 Posted July 13, 2007 If you are in a country which do not have a Micro-Surface rep-office or office. You could contact the following person to order the items. I have done as the service is great... Now it just sitting down to polish the dome.... Debbie Abrahams Inside Sales Mgr Micro-Surface Finishing Products, Inc. 1217 West Third Street PO Box 70 Wilton IA 52778 Phone: 563-732-3240, ext # 223 Phone: 800-225-3006 Fax: 563-732-3390 Email: debbie_abrahams@micro-surface.com URL: www.micro-surface.com Cheers... Gwangi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhlee 2 Posted August 27, 2007 Has anybody tried this on the inside of the dome port? I have an acryllic dome port that has some small circular scratches on teh inside surface due to a zoom ring becoming dislodged during a dive (?!). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D200digitaldiver 0 Posted October 6, 2007 Has anybody tried this on the inside of the dome port? I have an acryllic dome port that has some small circular scratches on teh inside surface due to a zoom ring becoming dislodged during a dive (?!). Yes, I have and it's impossible to get close to the edges of the Dome port. I damaged my dome by trying to fit it without the extention ring after changing to a 12-24mm Lens. What happens is that the repair scratch area get larger each time you change the micro mesh. You have your hand half inside the dome and use your fingers to hold the mesh on the foam pad provided with the kit, whilst trying to keep even pressure on the pad. Unfortunately, the pad is flat and against the double inside curve of the port, only the edges of the mesh are in contact with the dome. I also tried to remove the dome from the port backing and failed - ended up buying a replacement port from Aquatica. Unless you can remove the dome from the backing plate your going to have a nightmare of a job. Also another point to consider is, if you only polish a small area you will change the optical properties of the dome and end up with localised distortion when looking through the port. This is a fact I have learnt from polishing aircraft canopies. Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sgietler 1 Posted October 6, 2007 (edited) Has anybody tried this on the inside of the dome port? I have an acryllic dome port that has some small circular scratches on teh inside surface due to a zoom ring becoming dislodged during a dive (?!). I had the same problem as you and D200digitaldiver (scratches from a zoom ring being dislodged AND scratches from trying a lens that was too big for the port!) the scratches were not a problem until I started shooting in clear, sunny, shallow water. so I decided to use the mesh kit on the inside of the dome port. the scratches weren't deep, so I didn't start with the coarsest paper. I never tried to removing my dome port from the backing. I did not use the foam pad, I used my fingers directly on the micro-mesh strips. It would not have been possible with the foam pad. I spent extra time with each micro mesh in the hard-to-reach areas of the inside of the port. it was hard on my fingers! overall the job seems to be a sucess, my images appear to be fine now. the very outer edges of the inside of the dome port don't look perfect, but I haven't noticed anything in any of my photos. take you time and I think in the end you will be at least as well off as you were before, probably better off. good luck! scott Edited October 6, 2007 by sgietler Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pterantula 0 Posted April 9, 2008 May not be a big issue, but it came to mind: Any thoughts on how repeated scratch-removal via abrasive polishing might possibly affect the depth integrity of the dome? It would seem that for every micrometer of plastic you remove, the dome would be weaker at depth - even if only by tiny fractions at a time....? I've been shooting through some real doozies of dings & scratches, due mainly to rough shore entries/exits, and I think it's about time I looked into the solutions noted here..... cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UWphotoNewbie 1 Posted April 9, 2008 You are talking about very very small differences in thickness. If you had a scratch there, the material at that point is already compromised and structurally, its weaker with the scratch than with the surrounding material removed because the scratch causes stress concentrations there. In any even you are talking about such small differences even with repeated scratch removal. Its hard for me to believe that anyone has had a housing fail because a domeport imploded because of pressure. Unless it was shattered against something. There has got to be so much conservatism on the structure of a housing. Housings leak because of seals and controls not structural failure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RVRinTAS 0 Posted April 25, 2008 (edited) Are the ports as strong? Are they weaker due to the material being removed? A new port may be cheaper than the port giving way and flooding the housing? Edited April 25, 2008 by RVRinTAS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randyj 0 Posted May 7, 2008 I had the same problem as you and D200digitaldiver (scratches from a zoom ring being dislodged AND scratches from trying a lens that was too big for the port!) the scratches were not a problem until I started shooting in clear, sunny, shallow water. so I decided to use the mesh kit on the inside of the dome port. the scratches weren't deep, so I didn't start with the coarsest paper. I never tried to removing my dome port from the backing. I did not use the foam pad, I used my fingers directly on the micro-mesh strips. It would not have been possible with the foam pad. I spent extra time with each micro mesh in the hard-to-reach areas of the inside of the port. it was hard on my fingers! overall the job seems to be a sucess, my images appear to be fine now. the very outer edges of the inside of the dome port don't look perfect, but I haven't noticed anything in any of my photos. take you time and I think in the end you will be at least as well off as you were before, probably better off. good luck! scott Same deal with using the pad. What I found out is if you work (slowly and meticulously) about 3/4 inch from edge and work it perpindicular to the edge and than do the vertical for the center it came out better. I ended up starting with the 3600 and working to the finest worked for me. At least my wife is happy I'm not spending more money on domes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marjo 8 Posted May 16, 2008 Just tried the Micro Mesh "for the giggles" this weekend fully expecting to have to puchase another dome port regarless of the "fabulousness" of teh product as I had some pretty serious (easy to feel with fingernails and certainly very easy to see) scratches. I used the Micros Mesh acryllic restoral kit and went thru all the grades. It ttok me 3 hours, tho I am sure I could have donne it faster if I wasn't so pricky about it. At the last "mesh" the dome looked nice, but not "band spanking new". However after having used the liquid abrasive - OH MY - it felt like I had performed a miracle! The darm thing could go back up onm the store shelf and pass for brand spanking new (well the dome itself anyway, maybe not the clack frame part). I felt so pleased with myself that I considered asking friends if I could polish their domes just for the pleasure of it... and I was showing of my clear restored port to my (non-uwphoto) friends until my roomie pointed out to me that she is not sure that they are quite as excited about the finer details of the "acryllic restoration project success" as I might think they are... Anyway. I recommend giving it a try even to those who hesitate about the probablilty of success as much as I did!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tobbe 0 Posted May 17, 2008 last week i just did the same thing with my brand new rig as for two years ago - when i swimed into a banister on a wreck and scratch the acrylic dome. I don't think it will affect the images noticeable, but it's really annoying. What i don't understand is why the "sand paper method" involves grinding the entire dome It looks scarry... Wouldn't it be enough to polish the scratched area ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marjo 8 Posted May 17, 2008 You shouldn't work just one area, because you are grinding away material and the area you worked om would be thinner and theoretically optically different from the rest. Not sure it would actually be noticable tho. However, as domeports are typically 8 or 9 inces in diameter (or smaller) it think it would be difficult to work a smaller area. It would also be difficult to get an "even" finished look as the idea is that for each level of abrasive that you are using you are removing the scrathes from te previous level. So it would be very difficult to be able to go over EXACTLY the same area as you did on the previous level. You would basically have to expand the area a little bit at each level to cover up the scratched from the previous level and with 8" or so of surface to work on, you would probably quickly expand to working on the whole area. So why not go the whole area at once and avoid the possibility of getting an uneven thickness in the dome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjaz 0 Posted August 16, 2008 It finally hapened to me: a boat guy put my housing on the flor with a dome facing down!!! The result is a 4-5cm scratch on a glass dome. Luckily i didnt notice any influence on the photos but it is still very distracting. At home i went to a local glassworker and he sad to me they can polish it out. Since the scratch doesnt affect the image i decidet to ask you what you think first. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BottomTime 4 Posted August 16, 2008 It finally hapened to me: a boat guy put my housing on the flor with a dome facing down!!! The result is a 4-5cm scratch on a glass dome. Luckily i didnt notice any influence on the photos but it is still very distracting. At home i went to a local glassworker and he sad to me they can polish it out. Since the scratch doesnt affect the image i decidet to ask you what you think first. Depending on the scratch, you may or may not notice it when you looking into a bright light source. I have a scratch on my 6" glass dome and I normally don't see it except under specific conditions. Namely, small aperture, close subject and looking into the sun. Then it sticks out like a soar thumb. I understand that I can polish it out with cerium oxide, but seeing how I have an 8" dome, I've never gotten around to it. Let us know how it works if you decide to have it polished. Cheers, Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tdpriest 115 Posted November 3, 2008 If I look very closely at the acrylic I can just see some barely noticable abrasive marks that were not there before. Ah! No-one has mentioned phase 3 of the (cheap) British option: a final polish with toothpaste, after the "Brasso". But glass... Tim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pacho 0 Posted November 4, 2008 Is a slight deformation on a flat port dû to a complete repolishing would affect the pictures ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JillHeinerth 0 Posted December 2, 2008 Great suggestion... I have also used an orbital polisher with very soft cloths and rouge and had great results. I still haven't had any luck polishing my glass port though... Jill I badly scratched up my Sea & Sea dome port (it's acrylic) while diving at Cocos and Malpelo. Lots of current and lots of rock is a bad combination for a housing with a big dome port. A couple of fairly deep scratches (you could easily feel them with your finger) and some shallower ones (you could feel them with you finger-nail). After doing some research, including some older threads on this board, I decided to try the Micro-Mesh NC-78-1 ACRYLIC RESTORAL KIT (Micro-Mesh) . It's made for taking scratches out of airplane windscreens. It cost $37 and comes with 9 grades of their Micro-Mesh papers (high grade wet/dry sandpapers), polishing paste, detergent, anti-static cream and pads and cloths. Taking a good stiff drink first, I started the job with 320 grade wet/dry paper, went to 400 grade paper and then started using the Micro-Mesh papers. Each grade took about 3-5 minutes and the instructions were to sand in straight lines only, not circular, and then rotate the dome about 120 degrees for the next grade. After the first sanding, the port looked like a diffuser (although when I flushed it with water before going to the next grade, it was clear). However, by the time I did the final polish, it looked new. I highly recommend this product. $37 and a little elbow grease (actually, not much at all) is a lot better than a buying a new port. Bob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seagrant 4 Posted December 2, 2008 Great suggestion... I have also used an orbital polisher with very soft cloths and rouge and had great results. I still haven't had any luck polishing my glass port though...Jill This may not be the correct place to welcome Jill, but I didn't want to be remiss! Thanks Jill for sharing your experience and for joining this forum; which is honored to have someone with your expertise, professionalism and sensitivity on board! Sincerely, Carol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deepsea 0 Posted December 10, 2008 Hi there Sadly I just put a nice scratch in my sea and sea dome port and even sadder it shows in my photos. I was reading the micro mesh comment on the first thread which said it used the aviation one - there is also a marine one for windows and acrylic. My question is would this one be better or not? As I have to ship this to Tonga I would appreciate if someone could let me know which they think would be better...... Sorry if someone has mentioned this before my internet is slightly slower so I sometimes dont get to read all the posts easily. Thanks Karen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gutted 0 Posted January 21, 2009 "Polishing out" a scratch in a dome port is more critical on the interior of the port rather than the exterior surface. A port with all surfaces free of scratches is always best, however water will fill in the scratches on the exterior surface while submerged and will minimize the visibility of the scratch in photos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edonnolley 0 Posted February 9, 2009 "Polishing out" a scratch in a dome port is more critical on the interior of the port rather than the exterior surface.A port with all surfaces free of scratches is always best, however water will fill in the scratches on the exterior surface while submerged and will minimize the visibility of the scratch in photos. Speaking of which, i noticed a relatively shallow but inch long scratch on my 8inch port on the interior last week. Im gathering this is going to be very difficult to remove and wondered if i should use the above procedue, or does anyone have any other tips? Ive heard of things like Wet sandpaper and toothpaste working but havent found anything useful yet. Cheers Evan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
