Buffing out Polymer Frame Scrathes

Dr.Islay

Dr.Islay

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Anyone have experience buffing out some scratches on a polymer frame?

I'm thinking (hoping!) it shouldn't be too difficult, but want to look into this before screwing things up any more.

Long story short, forgot the key to the trigger lock on my missus new M&P9. Made amends by jimmying it open.

Noticed a couple of small resulting scratches on the trigger guard. Nothing too major, and she hasn't noticed it yet, but wanted to put in the effort to make this right before she does.

For what it's worth, I learned two more things today:

1. Don't jimmy the lock
2. Buy some combination locks
 
Pics would be super helpful to judge how deep the scratches go.

Polymer can be buffed just like steel. The difference is that it's less tolerant to heat so you need to be alot more patient with it. Jewelers rouge or a similar very fine compound will work fine. If you've scratched an edge into the plastic, sand it with a super fine grit first then buff it out to match the rest of the finish.
 
If they're small scratches yes I'd start with a dremel in order to be precise. I'd probably finish with a large 8" to 12" wheel to do a full match.

A couple small things to mention. Personally I find buffing compound to be revolting. I've yet to find one that doesn't make my nose twinge from the smell, so make sure you're in a well ventilated area. Even with the dremel they make a mess so wear a shop apron or some disposable clothing ( A hat or bandana is nice to. Getting that crud out of your hair is a PITA ).
 
Pretty tough (okay, impossible) to get it back to that factory textured surface. You can, however, reduce the scratches somewhat with careful and gentle application of fine sandpaper / emery cloth wrapped around something like a pencil. Try to get a small contact point, or you'll wind up polishing the factory texture off of a greater area around the scratch and thereby draw more attention to it.

Or stipple the area to cover it up.

Or sell it for cheap on the EE to someone who doesn't care about scratches (--->this guy<---). ;)
 
Are these polymer frames embedded with fibers? Not much you can do to get it anywhere near factory. Using a dremel will most likely end up making it look worse as that little spot would now look polished instead.
 
The plastic in the polymer matrix will respond to buffing with a power tool by melting and making MORE of a mess. It's tough to power polish plastic. By the time you have enough friction to ensure a cutting action you have enough to make the plastic melt.

A better way is to start by using something hard and shiney like the shaft of a polished screwdriver to burnish the plastic burrs back down. To do this lightly oil the steel and then press hard while drawing the round blade over the damaged area. The pressure will push much of the plastic back into place. You'll want to back up the other side of the trigger guard with a block of wood or similar so you can use both hands on the screwdriver. Just be sure that the end of the driver doesn't slip onto the area or you'll create new damage due to the pressure.

If there are still some marks left then you can look at scraping them down with the edge of a sharp knife to blend them in. From there you can TRY to simulate the original finish with some sort of sand paper. But don't RUB it with the paper. Instead lay the sandpaper on the area and actually tap it with a hammer from the back to make a pebbled sort of print that hopefully more or less matches the original texture.
 
alpining said:
Or sell it for cheap on the EE to someone who doesn't care about scratches (--->this guy<---). ;)
Click to expand...

I hear you. I don't mind scratches that I put on my toys. It's called character. I am feeling guilty about being responsible for them on someone else's.

Someone selling something cheap on EE? Did I miss something?
 
I would leave it. Looks natural like regular wear and tear. If you polish it, you'd get a smooth spot which would look much worse I think. If you were to try to texture it back, you'd probably have to melt the surface while holding some sort of textured material on it and I'm guessing it's unlikely that the pattern would match the rest of it afterwards.
 
That sucks, I would probably leave it. I mean eventually it will probabally get nicks and dings but it would drive me nuts for a bit that's for sure.
 
Personally I'd leave it. I was expecting to see alot worse. The nice thing about polymer is that it has better memory than steel. I doubt it will bounce back 100% but in a week or 3 it will probably be a bit better than today.

If it still really bothers you after 3 weeks, sanding with a fine grade and finishing with emery and a buff polish should solve it. Because it's on the trigger guard it should blend in pretty well.

But I'd still leave it.
 
Yeah I like things pristine too so I know how ya feel op. but given the material I would:

A) leave it alone
B) retexture it (grooves? Stippling?)
 
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