Hi guys! Just joined and have been collecting older macs for some time. Three years ago I picked up a couple g4 cubes and a studio display crt that all have some pretty bad scuffing on them. But I feel it's nothing that can't be buffed or polished out. They've just been sitting around because I've been too intimidated to try anything. I'd love if someone that has experience with doing this might share a method and tips? I have no experience with it at all, and I don't want to screw it up. Thanks!
Tips for getting scratches out of G4 Cube and Studio CRT?
- Thread starter superpxl
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The Novus 3-step polish is generally great for this. I've used it on numerous pieces from my collection with excellent results, including Power Mac G4s, iBook clamshells, my Cube, and this CRT. It's pretty easy to use; you just work your way through each of the three bottles until you achieve the desired outcome. It leaves the acrylic feeling smooth and slick, I love it.
Just be aware that it can be a bit tricky to remove it from any seams/gaps that it makes its way into. For this reason I always try to avoid getting too close to panel gaps, inset logos, etc.
You could try to use a buffing wheel but I always found doing it manually to be fine.
Below are some images of my 17" ADC CRT Studio Display before and after a disassembly and cleanout + polish. As you can see, it worked wonders. It wasn't able to totally remove all of the deeper scratches, but it vastly improved the condition of the case, almost looks new again. Cleaning out the inside also helped tremendously.
Just be aware that it can be a bit tricky to remove it from any seams/gaps that it makes its way into. For this reason I always try to avoid getting too close to panel gaps, inset logos, etc.
You could try to use a buffing wheel but I always found doing it manually to be fine.
Below are some images of my 17" ADC CRT Studio Display before and after a disassembly and cleanout + polish. As you can see, it worked wonders. It wasn't able to totally remove all of the deeper scratches, but it vastly improved the condition of the case, almost looks new again. Cleaning out the inside also helped tremendously.
Hey! I know this is an old thread but could you be more specific with how you applied it? Did you use some kind of rag? I would love to get similar results as that looks great!
I've typically just used paper towels, and that always worked pretty well. But you could definitely also use a dish rag or other towel and that would probably work fine too.
Tried paper towels with novus on my iMac G3... not good. Left tons of scratches, at least with my standard Bounty towels. Try shop towels, they're *far* softer. Or an old t-shirt, that's what I used to undo the damage I did with paper towels. Be warned, it takes about 10x longer than you think it should to actually bring it to a good sheen. I'd probably recommend just using a drill and buffing wheel for automotive paint with the Novus.
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Interesting; I don't doubt it though. Agreed that the softer the material the better. Ideally a very soft and forgiving fabric of some kind.
Yeah you can see the sort of thing I'm talking about in your after close-up shot of the ADC CRT. Look at the spot from the light's reflection and see the swirly scratch marks, except I was dumb and used a linear motion with my paper towels, so it was far more noticeable.