Ar9Jim 5,909 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I brought home a bunch of CDs from work that had been exposed to a machine shop environment for years. Many of them won't play and should likely be thrown away.. One time last summer I bought some used CDs at a second hand disc store. They had a heavy duty looking machine behind the counter, and the salesman looked at each CD as he rang up the total.. He noticed some scratches and ran a couple of the disc through his machine. It took about 5 minutes each so I looked around the store some more.. The disc looked like new when the machine was done with them. I noticed a bunch of consumer type machines for this purpose. Anyone tried these and found one that works well? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peck555 366 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I'm a jeweler, and I just polish them on the buffing wheel...usually works 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidcool 150 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Automotive buffing wheel and some clear coat polish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compwaco 1,129 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I kept the commercial resurfacer when I closed the shop. If you would like I can fix them for you as long as the damage is on the clear side. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbini 6,135 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Before you invest in a machine try buffing them out with Novus 1-2-3 plastic polish. I did a dozen or so for my sister by hand but if you have many a random orbital sander with a buffing wheel is recommended. NOTE: Buffing will not restore playability if the scratches are so deep that they penetrate the data layer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismiller55 4,717 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I have had this machine for at least six years. It works great for me. JFJ Easy Pro 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDR 1,192 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Dennis that cleaning machine looks very cool. I've taken to searching goodwill/second hand stores for old releases. They, for the most part, seem to sound better than most new releases. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kve777 6,640 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I have had great results with a pencil butane torch. A few quick passes melts the surface scratches. It's amazing to see, actually. Try it on some 'don't care about' discs first. If scratches persist, don't overheat them, use a 'one year' car polish on them, it really does a great job. Buff out in radial lines, not circular. I've taken discs that don't read at all to playing superbly in no time. A freshly fixed cd should be backed up on a computer right away as many of the fixes don't hold up for long periods. The torch trick holds up the longest in my experience. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I have had this machine for at least six years. It works great for me. JFJ Easy Pro It looks like a multi-step sand/polish process like wet sanding a paint job? The non-orbital sanding/polishing does not leave circular scratches, or are the sanding/CD discs offset? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismiller55 4,717 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I have found that if the surface is so severely scratched to require wet sanding it is probably a wasted effort. So I no longer use the wet sanding step. On heavily scuffed disk I just use the three different polishing compounds and buffing pads. On lightly scuffed disk the final polishing compound normally produces a perfect mirror finish. If I get a Netflix DVD that has problems playing I can usually get it to play with just a quick polish. No disappointing lost movie night. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Community Admin AndrewJohn 8,031 Posted February 25, 2017 Community Admin Share Posted February 25, 2017 I have had this machine for at least six years. It works great for me. JFJ Easy Pro That looks like a very simple, easy-to-use and effective solution, Dennis. Took a look at the website, and saw the pricing options - one option is "Push Nuts." ??? I didn't see anything about those, or their purpose, or ? Since you have one, what is that option? I'm guessing it's the button that holds the CD in place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismiller55 4,717 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 JFJ Easy Pro That looks like a very simple, easy-to-use and effective solution, Dennis. Took a look at the website, and saw the pricing options - one option is "Push Nuts." ??? I didn't see anything about those, or their purpose, or ? Since you have one, what is that option? I'm guessing it's the button that holds the CD in place? Was not an option when I bought mine. Mine has a threaded nut. It works great. I am sure for home use a threaded nut is fine. The polishing compounds they offer are on the pricey side. I tried cheaper automotive polishes for plastic. They did not work as well. NOVUS polishes work well but the cost is about the same. I decided to stick with their polish. It works and I use so little it last a long time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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