how to sand glass??

[scarf_ace1981]

hi guys

you may or may not know that i'm in the process of polishing some scratches that exist on my 90g. i already have the cerium oxide which is the material used to polish the glass but before i can polish i must 'sand' down the scratches on the glass. it is my understanding that i need 1500 and 2000 grit for this job. can i use any 1500 and 2000 grit paper? is there a specific one for glass?

 

[Pseudo]

http://www.fitchfamily.com/glass.html

Kasei

 

[scarf_ace1981]

thanks kc. that's the site that inspired me to polish my tank but he doesn't state anything about what type of paper he used to sand the tank down. i don't even think he did sand it first. i think he just went straight w/ the cerium oxide, which is the reason it took him forever to polish his glass.

 

[meschaefer]

He has this to say at the bottom of the web page you linked to.

"As a postscript to the above, at least one reader of the Aquatic Plant Digest suggested that the work would have gone more quickly if we had used a coarser "grit" first, before finishing with cerium oxide. In particular, he recommended learning how amateur telescope makers grind mirrors. Rob Kulakofsky, mentioned above, suggested "...for other than fine surface scratches I recommend a couple of grinding steps first. A little 3000 grit diamond powder mixed with olive oil will do the trick for most fine scratches. If your scratches are deeper, then you might also need a 600 or 1200 grinding step before the 3000. The only thing that truly polishes glass is cerium oxide." Both cautioned that it was critical to remove any grit completely (not easy in a situation where you can't hose down the glass!), before the final polishing."