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Spartacus
10-11-2005, 12:58 PM
I've always thought that having a way to resurface game disks would be something that would come in very handy around the home. My first attempt at this was to purchase a manually operated Disk Doctor. I learned that a non-motorized unit is a laborious process and the results were unsatisfying to boot. It did not remove even mild scratches and the finished result leaves a distinct look to the disk. Not so much a mirrored finish, but something else entirely that I can only describe as a "Disk Doctored" look. If you've ever seen one, you'd recognize it immediately. Not what I was hoping for.
So, I turned my attention to perhaps finding a more professional home solution and started looking at the machines being used in my area. There's a flea market near me that has a vendor who will polish disks for a fee, so I decided to take him a CD and see how his machine operated. I was a bit suprised to see that the 3 stage process involved first using actual sandpaper! Then a foam pad was used that I'll assume had some polishing compound to it. The final step was another foam pad that produced the desired mirror finish. The results were excellent! It was a pretty simple looking device and being a machinest, I thought it was something I could make for myself. All I needed would be some badly damaged CD's to perfect it on.
I know that Blockbuster routinely destroys DVD's and games for inventory purposes, so I asked my local store for some destroyed disks just to have something to experiment on. I guess they think I'm a good customer because they gave me a whole box full.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/spartacus34669/pilea.jpg

I didn't ask how they were "destroyed", whether it was automated with a machine or done with a hand held device, but the process leaves pretty deep scratches on the disks that traverse straight across from one side to the other. It's a pretty effective method too, because I checked quite a few and none would load. Perfect for my future project!
When I brought them home my wife spotted the box and being a huge movie buff, she was immediately very interested in attempting to salvage the DVD's. I handed her the hand cranking Disk Doctor and told her I didn't think it would work, because the scratches were so deep, but she was welcome to try. She reads the instructions, loads a DVD in the Disk Doctor and begins cranking away. About 20 minutes later she reappears with the Disk Doctor and says "I think somethings wrong with this". I look at it and the DVD is smeared with clumps of melted black rubber! She hadn't kept up with spritzing on the cleaning solution and when the polishing wheel eventually wore off the buffing material, the friction literally melted the rubber wheel onto the DVD! HOLY SMOKES!
In the meantime, I've done some searching on the web for other home methods people have been using to remove scratches. Thought I'd share the collective wisdom from music and movie affectionado's too gamers and while I made no attempt to differentiate between them here, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that gamers appear to be the stupidest group of the bunch!

These are actual quotes of scratch removal methods people recommend that you may or may not want to try at home!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Toothpaste Method:
"have had good experience with toth paste...
(no bull..) i have found the paste with a sander effect to be good..
(it contains teflon)"
*****

(I was suprised to find out that toothpaste contained Teflon!)

*****
"Toothpaste will work to eliminate quite a few problems - using it, I have fixed problems that so called commercial products won't fix. It's just acting as a very weak abrasive...so the clear gels don't work as well as good only white...YOU NEED TO WASH IT ALL OFF BEFORE YOU PLAY DISC....the "filling in of the cracks by the flouride" is a myth."
*****

(And I thought Fluoride was just a tooth hardener. Some think it fills in cracks as well? Great advice to wash off the toothpaste before using the CD. Makes sense. Here's some other toothpaste cautions.)

*****
{Toothpaste Caveats:}
"Toothpast does not work but Here's some advice if the clear hole in the middle is gross looking wash it out by holding your game straght up under running water!!!"
*****
"hmm... toothpaste method didn't really work for me...
i tried my deoderant hehe... sorta worked at first but still failed."
*****
"OH MY GOD THE TOOTHPASTE IDEA SUCKS whoever came up with that idea should be thrown in a pit of lava!!!!"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Peanut Butter Method:
"penutbutter works to repair scratches on cds"
*****
"What and use chunky for deep scratches?"
*****
"Don't use toothpaste. Use Peanut Butter. Regular not Chunky. Just smear is on and rub it into the scratches. Then use one of those coffee filters to wipe it off. Make sure you get it all off. Trust me it works."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Oils Method:
"I used olive oil on my X-Box game. I let it set for 5 minutes and washed and dried it."
*****
"buffing it with vegetable oil is said to work as well"
*****
"I've found that a light coat of mineral oil (baby oil is the same thing) works really well. Use a soft cloth and gently work from the center of the CD outward."
*****
"Mayonnaise works too just use a little bit though if you use too much you're screwed. Use a papertowl and rub the mayonnaise on the skratch and then rub the rest off and let it dry and then your game should work."
*****
"Take petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) and apply it on the CD. Let sit for a couple of minutes and wipe off. It really works - even on fairly larger scratches!!"
*****
"Use an oil-based marker pen! Write it on the damaged part and voila! Remember not to apply too much on it. If too much is applied, the laser can't read the CD because the ink layer is too thick. Good Luck!"
*****

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Common Household Chemicals Methods:
"I found another way of fixing those CDs up. Firstly, take a glass of milk. (Works best with room temperature 29ºC) Then, use a cotton or wool cloth to wipe the disc with the milk. Let it dry by itself. It may stink so rinse it under water for 1 minute or so, then, place it in the freezer for 5 minutes. Take it out, dry it and it seems much better."
*****
"You can use chrome polish ( car chrome ) or a paint refinisher T- Cut"
*****

(I didn't know what T-Cut was, but somebody helped me out.)

*****
"In the UK, we have an automotive product called 'T-Cut', removes the 'dead' outer paint layer, seems to work pretty well on scratched CDs."
*****
"Use Avon's Skin So Soft Oil. I swear it works! I used it on one of my old CDs that had a huge scratch on it. I just buffed it with Skin So Soft and toilet paper."
*****

(Not only will it remove scratches from your CD's, it will prevent mosquito's from biting them as well!)

*****
"Pour orange soda on it until it bubbles, then quickly wipe the CD off with a soft cloth in an outward motion from the center."
*****
"To fix the scratches, the best thing to do is use hair conditioner. Rub it with your finger all around the cd, leave it for 10 minutes, and then rinse. Repeat if desired. The coating that makes your hair shiny coats the cd, and it works better than all those expensive tricks."
*****
"I used a cocoa butter hair product. It works great. Just put it on and wipe it off with toilet paper!"
*****
"I came across this site in a frenzy, desperately looking for some quick solution to my problem. I tried (sceptically) the hair conditioner option. I put the CD back in, and now I have my photos! I used Aveda rosemary mint conditioner. I can't believe this worked, but I'm over the moon. This site is great!! :)"
*****
"Rub the scratches with an ordinary pencil eraser, then wipe well with a dry face cloth or a soft cloth."
*****
"Put it in Lime/Lemon juice then wipe it."
*****
"Try pimple removing pads or rubbing aocohl shaving cream helps too."
*****
"If you want your CD to work, spray perfume on it. Let it sit for 1 minute, then quickly wipe it off."
*****

{Chemical Methods Caveats:}
"one of my games got perfume on it from my wife, it left little spots on it that are not comming off, other than shooting my wife are their any suggestions?"
*****
"Don't use hairspray, It leaves a film on the CD and it won't play at all."
*****

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Combo Methods:
"I did three things and it played perfectly, oh my computer at least.
1. Coated the CD in Dish Soap for 10 minutes, then washed it off with warm water, pat dry.
2. Coated it in toothpaste, and washed it off almost immediately with warm water, pat dry
3. Coated it in Skippy creamy peanut butter, and took it off with soft toilet paper/tissue, from center out, not circular motion, no washing.
It must have done somethin, because it plays just fine now. I'm not sure which exactly worked, but it looked its best after the peanut butter."
*****
"Use toothpaste and rub it on the scratches for 20 minutes. Then spray on CD cleaner and perfume it on till it drips. After that, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes and presto, it's like new!"
*****
"What you need to do is mix hair conditioner, toothpaste, peanut butter, and some Vaseline together for about 2 minutes, then put it in a freezer for 5 minutes. Next, wipe some on the CD from the middle to the outer sides, let it sit on the CD for 5 minutes. Rinse the stuff off with water and gently wipe the CD with toilet paper from the middle to the outer sides."
*****
"Ok, i got a sollution and it workin' like a charm. see the story with my FFX game is that it wouldnt make past the intro or wouldnt even turn on at all! so this is what i did so listen carefully and take notes:
-get something that can spray water
-fill it halfway with water
-throw a little alchohol, baby wipe juice, dishwasher soap, vhs solution cleaner, little clumps of soap, shampoo and condishioner, and/or whatever you can find that cleans stuff.
-(you dont need all of that stuff but it is good to have it anyway) (and it all makes the game smell good)
-ok, now shake it all up till' the water looks nice and mixed
-now put you disk in running water
-take the disk from the running water and spray it real good
-let it sit for a minute or two
-now gently scrub the disk with the soap on it with your fingers
-now put the disk under running water (again)
-dry with something really soft
-done!
now my game turns on and i can play it... but it freezing at one part, and when i restart it, IT KEEP ON FREEZING ON THAT SAME PART! HELP ME SOMEONE!!"
*****

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Unusual Sanding Methods:
"My friend runs a disc around his carpet which is a bit rough. then he uses a denim pad on it. then a softer denim pad on it and that usually buffs out scratches. I guess its like using a disc doctor."
*****
"a new method is pourin powder on your cd and then wipe it off with a soft material and "voala" u got ur cd back unelse it has a deep scratch it won't work."
*****
"You take soil, wet it so it turns into a light mud, put the mud on the disc (not much), then you gently rub it in with a soft cloth (such as a tissue), then you dampen the soft cloth and slowly rub out the mud outward, not in a circle."
*****
"aparently, if you rub ash on to scratched cds and dvds the they should stop it jumping. rub only a small amount on, apply it in small circular motion, and gently blow off the excess ash making sure you dont remove it all."
*****

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Freezer Method:
"Sometimes, Disc Cleaners work. I heard of when someone putting A PlayStation disc in the freezer and it works."
*****
"Pour some rubbing alcohol over the CD and let it drip dry. Then put it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. Take it out, let it warm back up to room temperature, and play it. I have no idea why, but it works for some scratches (not heavily damaged CDs though). I know it sounds weird, but try it."
*****

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(Or, if that doesn't work, you can try the opposite approach!)

The Flame Method:
"You can use a lighter. Quickly and lightly graze the flame around the bottom of the CD. Go around 1 to 2 times. If it doesn't work the first time, do it again. Do not hold the lighter in one place on the CD for any amount of time. You will burn it, and it won't work. Always keep the flame lightly moving across the CD."
*****
"Hi,
I repair them with a hadheld small butane torch,adjust the lenght of the the flame to about 4 cm. (You may have to close one or two air intake holes if necessary)place the cd on a flat surface light the torch and wait until the flame lenght stabilizes hold the torch horizatally and apply the tip of the flame to the scratch for a very short time polycarbonate fuses and the scratch is gone....
try on a discardable cd first!!!!
If you hold the flame longer than necessary the cd warps
I haven't tried this on a cdr yet and don't know if the dye gets harmed."
*****

(About the Flame Method. Honestly. Would you? Could you?)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/spartacus34669/coulda.jpg

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Water Method:
"Good ol' saliva. If something doesn't work, you either hit it or spit on it. I licked the cd then let it air dry."
*****
"Boiling water.
Get a small pot and fill it with water. Put your stove on high and let the water come to a boil. Get a piece of sewing thread and insert it into the middle of the CD. Place the CD in the boiling water for a few minutes (holding onto the thread), this will temporarily soften the plastic, filling in minor scratches and steam cleaning all smudges and liquids off the surface of the CD. Do not place the CD in cold water (it will crack) or wipe it dry afterward (you'll ruin the plastic), let it air dry. Also, don't keep the CD in the water for too long, a few minutes should do it. Make sure it's fully dried when you want to use it again, excess moisture could damage the disc reading mechanism. I've done this with at least 20 CDs and it's always worked."
*****
{Water Method Caveats:}
"Don't immerse the disks in water to clean them. Most especially, don't try to clean your CDs by putting them through the dishwasher! (Don't ask me how I know that. Just don't do it, okay?)"
*****
"And also never blow your breath on the CD then wipe the CD with a shirt. This is done by a lot of people to a lot of games for the PlayStation 2 and X-box. This is one of the fastest ways to damage your Cd's."
*****


My favorite Water Method thread:
*****
CaMpErS TeNT
"It sounds wierd but I did it yesterday before I traded 2 cds in
flush them in the toilet (make sure it's flushed and clean) and just whip them off, I've been doing it for years"
*****
Cornholio
"me sniffs one of his 2nd hand CDs...
i think i've got one of yours right here"
*****
Agent-F
"and why the toilet rather than the sink?"
*****
CaMpErS TeNT
"loooook peoplre...trust me"
*****
.pranK.
"you just want lots of people to flush their CD's, come here and complain that it didnt work, then laugh at them for being stupid ;p"
*****

whoisKeel
10-11-2005, 01:26 PM
Ouch that burned Radiant Silvergun hurts :(

I've heard a yellow highlighter works too (highlight the scratches), but I've never tried. There's some insane tips in there for sure :)

I've had good results with professional resurfacing like you said. First I try one of those repair kits with the solution, but if it still skips/doesn't work I get it resurfaced professionally. It usually costs $2-3 per disc, well worth it imo. But unfortunately my local game shop just closed and I don't know anywhere else to get them resurfaced.

I'm pretty sure those machines are pretty expensive, good luck making one!

Kuros
10-11-2005, 01:43 PM
I'm also interested in what works best for resurfacing discs. I just picked up a bunch of disc only DC games for very cheap and all have scratches on them. Some load but I wanna get those scratches out so I can log them into IGN and play them.

fishsandwich
10-11-2005, 02:29 PM
I've tried the toothpaste method with varying degrees of success. Toothpaste does not contain Teflon, though.

I may try the peanut butter method sometime. I've heard good things about it.

:/

GameSlaveGaz
10-11-2005, 02:35 PM
Some of those are some bizarre cleaning methods. I've seen the toothpaste and peanut butter methods on HGTV and if they say it on HGTV it must be true. I haven't tried any of those methods yet but when any of my discs get really bad I will.

BTW, did you save any of those destroyed discs?

Matt-El
10-11-2005, 02:35 PM
And if that doesn't work, you could always take another cd and have a peanut butter sandwich. ;)

googlefest1
10-11-2005, 02:58 PM
im more suprised that that box o goodies you got

what exactly did you ask them?

doing an experiment - can i have your intentionally damaged disks


man i wonder if this is where ebgames gets some of thier games from -- many 1$ ps1 games i have gotten from ebgames look like they went though a big resurfaceing procces - some of them still have scratches that the ps1 cant read

ive used a a dremel and that worked (but cloud like patterns on disk - work fine otherwise)

used light sand paper and then polishing paste with dremel polishing tool

also tried a hand drill set up with polishing kit -- that also worked -- but no perfect mirror finish

also - take a walk into a gamecrasy if you have on in your area - take a look at thier polishing machine - pretty simple

ive also used them and they worked too -(had a free coupon)

Tron 2.0
10-11-2005, 03:02 PM
Most i've ever used is "WIPE OUT! cd repair kit"

http://www.inkfilling.com/show_cd-cleaner.html

rbudrick
10-11-2005, 03:20 PM
I actually successfully used spit and a sock one time to get out a scratch. Took about 15 minutes but worked perfectly. Damn scratched rental movie.

By the way, I have the motorized disk doctor, but it only turns one way. The manual one turns both ways and has been much more effective, but much more laborious. The manual one even says in the instructions to go clockwise afte going counter clockwise. Why doesnt the motorized one do this? Argh.

-Rob

CYRiX
10-11-2005, 03:33 PM
*Goes to Blockbuster to ask for destroyed discs.*

DogP
10-11-2005, 06:38 PM
*Goes to Blockbuster to ask for destroyed discs.*

*Then creates an ebay user and sells off all games as perfect working games and then disappears off the face of the earth* :P

DogP

Jorpho
10-11-2005, 09:06 PM
I suspect ordinary soap and water would have sufficed in any of those situations where such outlandish cleaning methods produced any result.

A local store actually uses Pledge.

SuperNES
10-11-2005, 09:57 PM
cool.. i'm gonna try some of those methods, i might burn a CD and scratch it just to try some of those... peanut butter? toothpaste? LOL

Slate
10-11-2005, 10:18 PM
I've heard of those machines before (the ones that make the games look like new) I know they are sold on a site called "Compact disc handyman's" - But i forgot the URL. Someone please direct me to it.

Mr.FoodMonster
10-11-2005, 10:20 PM
Wow, a huge box of damaged discs. I can't believe they gave that to you. I really should see if a local place will do that for me. I know a place where I can get them resurfaced for $3 a pop.

CrimsonNugget
10-11-2005, 10:24 PM
That lighter one gave me an idea. Though using an actual lighter may destroy the disc by sooting it up or bending it, why not lightly "fry" it on a really smooth sheet of metal? The outer surface would melt, creating a new, level, scratch-free surface. Does this sound plausible?

MarHel78
10-12-2005, 04:47 AM
I always bury my scratched PSX CDs under a willow tree in a full moon night then exhume them 28 days later and pee on them to get the dirt off. Works like a charm.

BTW, any clues on how to tame a Were-PSX? It keeps snapping at my fingers....

zerohero
10-12-2005, 05:45 AM
That disc doctor works for some games. I've used it as well as my friends on some old PSX games we don't care about that we scratched.

Haoie
10-12-2005, 07:41 PM
Because of the black/blue discs, PS scratches show up so easily. Most minor 1s won't cause any issues, but they just look bad cosmetically. Almost all of my discs have some degree of minor damage, a few with major but still works.

tonyvortex
10-12-2005, 09:19 PM
at the used store i work at we used to have two machines.the one that you could put fifty discs into just broke.it was a four to five step process and the machine cost somewhere in the $12,000 range.the one stand by machine we have just sands down the discs and we put a wax on the discs as well for heavy marks.it works perfectly in all honestly.

drcurtis
10-12-2005, 09:50 PM
I had a classmate in dental school who got a whole box of karaoke disks that were scratched beyond use. He used a benchtop lathe with a buffing wheel to polish them, first with tripoli, then with a product called hi-shine. They are used for polishing acrylic retainers. It took a while, but he got about 100 of them back in working order.
I have the equipment in my office but haven't needed to do the same trick. My wife bought the manual disk doctor which is a piece of crap in my opinion.
I should see how hard it is to do one in my office and start charging my patients to fix their games and dvd's LOL

Slate
12-21-2005, 07:33 PM
I have a blank CD that has about 100 megabytes left (Tried to burn emulators onto it but it didn't work) So, do you think i should.. "Test" These methods with this bad CD?

Jorpho
12-21-2005, 08:59 PM
If the CD is readable at all, there can't be anything that wrong with it. If you simply can't end another session at the end, then there was probably just some problem with the way the last session was closed. And anyway, some methods that work when cleaning a real CD probably wouldn't work with a CD-R and vice versa.

Haoie
12-21-2005, 10:46 PM
Boy, I'm glad this topic got dragged back up when it did. Found out last night that 2 discs of mine are this close to full and total destruction. So after XMAS I'll see if I can get them professionally done, hopefully the video store I went to still does it, as I haven't gone in over a year.

Atma Shiro
12-21-2005, 11:29 PM
There is a simple and cheap solution for repairing disks (including DC ~ I would not cut DC more than once, unlike all other disc systems).

To start you will need
~ 1 can of brasso
~ 100 count bag of large cotton balls
~ 1 bottle of either 70 or 91 percent Isophyl alcohol
~ 1 bottle of scratch remover - you can find it at radio shack for around nine dollars
~elbow grease

To begin dampen a single cotton ball with the alcohol and proceed to wipe off the surface of the disk and then use a dry disk to buff excess alcohol off. Nest dampen a single cotton ball with brasso and starting from the inner ring move the ball of cotton with basso back and forth between the inside ring and outside of the disk (not in a circular motion or else you may damage the disk). Repeat 10 times then move the cotton ball left 2 inches and repeat till the entire disk has be cut. now take the disk and a cotton ball to your water facet and use the cotton ball to remove the brasso under the running water. Now grab another cotton ball and dampen with alcohol and rewipe the disk. Now you have remove many of the large scratches (if some remain then repeat cutting step) but the brasso has left numerous micro scratches. This is where the disk repair solution comes in, use about a thimbles worth of the solution on the disk and use a cotton ball to coat the disk with the solution and allow to dry. Allow five to ten minutes to dry and remove the dried solution with a cotton ball and then buff till a sheen forms. Now your disk is finished and ready to play.

currie64
12-21-2005, 11:45 PM
hey there!!!!I am new to the board. I have been selling on e-bay for quite some time and a product i use is called the opti-fix pro. You can buy this thing at any walmart for $27 CAD. The product is made by Memorex and looks like a discman. It is motorized and uses 2 sets of wheels 1 for cleaning and one for repair. On deep scratches you can run the disc through 1-3 times but then it works great. In cases where the scratches are not that deep it will smooth the surface out. The solution is made of aluminum oxide which is ironically the same compound that is used to finish some hardwood floors and has a 25 year warranty for a floor. Anyway its a bit cleaner than peanutbutter and i swear by this product and i move alot of stock. Thanx and its great to be a new member on this board.

Clint.

P.S

Emory boards work great on cartrige game contacts.

lendelin
12-21-2005, 11:59 PM
I heard that a gool old fashion exorcism works well. Needed:

1. A true videogame nut with a pure heart.

2. Special water blessed by Ralph Baer in a rigorous ceremony. (Some water blessed by Nolan Bushnell was effective sometimes, in some cases it actually deepened the scratches. Some say water casually blessed by a simple videogame designer is enough, but do that at your own risk.)

3. A room steadily hold below 5 degrees F.

4. A game magazine (anyone will do.)

5. An assistant with at least aspiring to have a pure heart.

6. In the cold room, sprinkle the water on the disk while your assistant reads excerpts from the magazine. The disk has to be in a videogame system. You have to cant repeatedly "The power of the collector compells you!" as long as needed.

7. Keep calm, no matter what happens. In some cases the disk spun actually in a 360 degree fashion which cannot be explained by logic.

8. If you hear very strange sounds (or even strange voices), turn the speakers off. If you still hear sounds or voices...well...good luck and pray!

Chronodriftersx
12-22-2005, 12:06 AM
sees topic title,

Hmm "neosporin"?

scorch56
12-22-2005, 12:47 AM
I just find it ironic that one game store destroys it's discs by putting a big scratch on it.. while others are offering resurfacing services. Is the store you got them from so cheap as to not spring for a resurfacing machine?

Anyways.. I've tried just about all of those methods (except for the blatantly preposterous ones) and have never got any of them to work. My local Gamecrazy (which just came to our town less than a year ago) got one of those smaller resurfacing machines so now I just take all of my CDs to them; and pay a couple of bucks. I haven't had them fail to repair one yet.

I was on eBay just the other day and noticed some people are starting to sell "home models" of resurfacing machines. The one I saw went for about $129 and was a little bit bigger than; but shaped like an electric coffee bean grinder (The disc went on top; on a spindle, under a clear blue lid). While I STILL consider $129 to be too much for something I might only need a few times a year.. if I could get some local game store to give me an entire box of scratched discs.. I might invest in it. But like I said.. any local game store that has one of these machines simply repairs them themselves before they put the game back on their shelves for sale.. so that might be self-defeating.

Spartacus
12-22-2005, 08:25 PM
I just find it ironic that one game store destroys it's discs by putting a big scratch on it.. while others are offering resurfacing services. Is the store you got them from so cheap as to not spring for a resurfacing machine?


Actually Scorch, they weren't destroying the disks because of scratches. Almost all of the games and DVD's were in excellent condition. I think they were simply reducing their inventory. EB games would probably send their excess inventory back to the parent company to sell online. Maybe Blockbuster doesn't do it that way. I don't know. I guess they only have so much shelf space to give to any particular item and some product doesn't have any shelf space reserved for it at all. I've never worked in retail, so I'm not familiar how "zeroing out" stock works or what methods are considered normal and reasonable to control excess inventory.




I had a classmate in dental school who got a whole box of karaoke disks that were scratched beyond use. He used a benchtop lathe with a buffing wheel to polish them, first with tripoli, then with a product called hi-shine. They are used for polishing acrylic retainers. It took a while, but he got about 100 of them back in working order.


Funny you should mention that because while I was searching local pawnshops to find a reasonably priced professional unit, I had one pawnshop owner show me a benchgrinder he had set up to polish jewelry with. There were two soft rag wheels mounted on it and one of them was stained red with jeweler's rouge. He claimed he polished disks with it all the time and it worked great.




at the used store i work at we used to have two machines.the one that you could put fifty discs into just broke.it was a four to five step process and the machine cost somewhere in the $12,000 range.the one stand by machine we have just sands down the discs and we put a wax on the discs as well for heavy marks.it works perfectly in all honestly


I looked online at some units for sale and noticed some of the high price ones polished the disks while submerged. Anytime you polish a disk you create heat and risk warping the disk. I guess if your going to make a business out of it, you wouldn't want to take any chances of ruining a disk and take every possible precaution.




To start you will need
~ 1 can of brasso
~ 100 count bag of large cotton balls
~ 1 bottle of either 70 or 91 percent Isophyl alcohol
~ 1 bottle of scratch remover - you can find it at radio shack for around nine dollars
~elbow grease


I did run across a site that swears by using Brasso to polish out scratches. Heck, they even conducted some kind of ad hoc test proving how effective it was and put it on their page. I'm just a little bit leery of using chemicals though. I thought most disks are made of two disks laminated together and I wonder if it's possible for some chemicals to leech into the edge of the CD and possibly cause separation to occur at some point in the future. I'd like to experiment with Brasso, but if I can avoid using chemicals, I'd prefer not to.
Another reasonable sounding method was to get the same scratch removal solution used by aircraft owners and mechanics to remove scratches from bubble canopy's. I'm sure those things are terribly expensive to replace and they must have chemicals to safely removes scratches and minor damage to them. That's something I thought I might also check into.




hey there!!!!I am new to the board. I have been selling on e-bay for quite some time and a product i use is called the opti-fix pro. You can buy this thing at any walmart for $27 CAD. The product is made by Memorex and looks like a discman. It is motorized and uses 2 sets of wheels 1 for cleaning and one for repair. On deep scratches you can run the disc through 1-3 times but then it works great


Hey, I just bought one of those! It looked similar enough in principal to the kind the guy uses to repair CD's at my local fleamarket, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I couldn't get it to grind out deep scratches because the coarsest pad was only Scotch Brite. But I've been meaning to get to the hardware store and buy some sandpaper that has sticky adhesive on one side. Figured I'd cut out two pieces to stick onto the repair pads and see how much material it would remove, while experimenting with grit sizes. I'd really like to get a system down that let's me remove a substantial amount from the surface of the disk and still gives me the ability to bring it back to a mirror finish. I'll post any results I get here for people to consider.




im more suprised that that box o goodies you got
what exactly did you ask them?
doing an experiment - can i have your intentionally damaged disks


Yeah, pretty much! My wife was the one who knew Blockbuster destroyed inventory and when I told her about my plans she suggested I ask them for some. Her and I have been going to that store for many years and they know us very well. When I told the manager what I was trying to do, she had no problem donating the CD's to my cause. I don't know that they are even repairable. I just needed something to practice different ideas out on without costing me anything.




I suspect ordinary soap and water would have sufficed in any of those situations where such outlandish cleaning methods produced any result.


Of course! That's what made it all so funny! After seeing that guy's disk polishing machine at the flea market in operation and understanding that he was actually sanding the disk, I knew that no amount lotions, potions or rubbing was going to remove the amount of material he was. But what really amazed me is that after applying only two soft foam wheels to the disk after the sanding, he handed me back something that had such an incredible mirror finish to it. I was blown away! I just don't see the point in paying him $3 a CD, plus my mileage, if I can come up with an inexpensive solution to do it at home.




That lighter one gave me an idea. Though using an actual lighter may destroy the disc by sooting it up or bending it, why not lightly "fry" it on a really smooth sheet of metal? The outer surface would melt, creating a new, level, scratch-free surface. Does this sound plausible?


Man, I REALLY hope you're kidding!

Captain Wrong
12-22-2005, 09:22 PM
Novus II plastic polish.

Tron 2.0
12-24-2005, 01:27 AM
I heard that a gool old fashion exorcism works well. Needed:

1. A true videogame nut with a pure heart.

2. Special water blessed by Ralph Baer in a rigorous ceremony. (Some water blessed by Nolan Bushnell was effective sometimes, in some cases it actually deepened the scratches. Some say water casually blessed by a simple videogame designer is enough, but do that at your own risk.)

3. A room steadily hold below 5 degrees F.

4. A game magazine (anyone will do.)

5. An assistant with at least aspiring to have a pure heart.

6. In the cold room, sprinkle the water on the disk while your assistant reads excerpts from the magazine. The disk has to be in a videogame system. You have to cant repeatedly "The power of the collector compells you!" as long as needed.

7. Keep calm, no matter what happens. In some cases the disk spun actually in a 360 degree fashion which cannot be explained by logic.

8. If you hear very strange sounds (or even strange voices), turn the speakers off. If you still hear sounds or voices...well...good luck and pray!
LOL LOL LOL

SlayerX
12-24-2005, 02:22 AM
So, why exactly did the stores destroy those games and DVDs? They just didn't work anymore? Why wouldn't they just sell em for like $5 each? Someone somewhere would buy 'em, if not to play, then to try and restore to resell...

I don't get it...

There's some pretty obscure methods in there... I just breathe onto the CD and wipe it clean... never scratched a DVD or game in my life, so haven't had to try to resurface it :D

Slate
12-24-2005, 09:27 PM
So, why exactly did the stores destroy those games and DVDs? They just didn't work anymore? Why wouldn't they just sell em for like $5 each? Someone somewhere would buy 'em, if not to play, then to try and restore to resell...

I don't get it...

There's some pretty obscure methods in there... I just breathe onto the CD and wipe it clean... never scratched a DVD or game in my life, so haven't had to try to resurface it :D

They destroy them because it is more profitble than selling them for dirt cheap prices.

I don't really understand it, But that's what i heard.

Damion
12-24-2005, 10:55 PM
I wonder how well this machine would work on that box of Destroyed DVDs/CDs

http://www.cdrepairman.com/

you could end up making back your money if all the BB's and Hollywood videos gave you there throw aways.

Haoie
12-25-2005, 08:49 PM
You know what problem resurfacing does? It gives the disc a look different to those non resurfaced, you know what I mean. It just doesn't look the same, even if it's scratches are gone. And there doesn't appear to be any way of changing the look either. It's very irritating.

Buyatari
12-26-2005, 01:18 AM
You know what problem resurfacing does? It gives the disc a look different to those non resurfaced, you know what I mean. It just doesn't look the same, even if it's scratches are gone. And there doesn't appear to be any way of changing the look either. It's very irritating.

If its done well the one way you can tell is by looking at the edge. The edge of a new disk is sharper. The edge on a resurfaced disk is rounded over.

Niku-Sama
12-26-2005, 01:26 AM
i havent seen it in this thread but automotive waxes and polishing compounds....depoends on the scratch, if its really bad start with rubbing coumpound, then to polishing compound and then to a wax...medium scratches start at polishing and then on and if its lite scratches just wax....they wont look like they used to but they'll work...or atleast all mine have

Jorpho
12-26-2005, 07:38 PM
Say, I don't think anyone has mentioned those adhesive disk-protectors that you're apparently supposed to stick on the data side of a CD to prolong its life. Seems like a mighty bad idea.

Buyatari
12-26-2005, 07:49 PM
Say, I don't think anyone has mentioned those adhesive disk-protectors that you're apparently supposed to stick on the data side of a CD to prolong its life. Seems like a mighty bad idea.

They used to shalack autograph baseballs to 'protect" them or laminate baseball cards.

Candycab
12-27-2005, 09:20 PM
Novus II plastic polish.



Bingo !

The bottom line here is definitly not rocket science bye any means, all you need a is a mild abrasive compound of some sort and the knowledge to apply it correctly { from the inside ring straight out to the edge ,never both ways or sideways }

None of this is terribly new since many people have been rubbing out acrylic fish tanks forever { myself included } Its sort of suprising that more people dont think about what is used on acrylic for scratches and apply that to cd polishing @_@

Go to any acrylic shop and ask them what they use and youre all set :)

drwily008
12-30-2005, 02:16 PM
You can not buy a GOOD disc resurfacer for less than $1000.

The best thing to do is this: Call up all of you local rental & game stores to see if they have a disc resurfacer. If they do ask to speak to the manager and ask him how much he would charge to resurface several discs.

Most of them will do it for a flat fee (probably discount for several CD/games).

Anyways worth a try and I wish I had done it before I sold my Snatcher (Sega CD) for so cheap!

Haoie
12-30-2005, 08:07 PM
I'm very keen on keeping this topic alive.

Are there instances of resurfacing in fact making the disc worse? By which I don't mean lookswise, I mean in the playing. As it worked before gingerly, but now stopped completely.

drwily008
12-31-2005, 10:05 AM
I'm very keen on keeping this topic alive.

Are there instances of resurfacing in fact making the disc worse? By which I don't mean lookswise, I mean in the playing. As it worked before gingerly, but now stopped completely.

None that I've ever heard of. Once again though, all the experiences I've ever had with SUB-$1000 machines has not been good.

Haoie
01-03-2006, 12:11 AM
Good piece of advice when you go to do a pro resurfacing at stores. Ask for a discount when in bulk [the more discs, the better]. I saved $20 today because I did, very nice.

kirin jensen
01-03-2006, 04:37 PM
cool.. i'm gonna try some of those methods, i might burn a CD and scratch it just to try some of those... peanut butter? toothpaste? LOL

That's IT! Peanut butter flavored toothpaste!

(goes off to make a million dollars)

Slate
02-19-2006, 10:31 PM
How is the work on the machine going? I'd like to see a pic of it when it is finished.

Dimitri
02-20-2006, 12:24 AM
Are there instances of resurfacing in fact making the disc worse? By which I don't mean lookswise, I mean in the playing. As it worked before gingerly, but now stopped completely.
I once ended up with a PS1 Diablo disc off eBay with some rather...disturbing...matter on the data side. It booted up but wouldn't load into the game. Tried cleaning it off and polishing it, and it refused to boot at all.

Eventually I let the disc float in shallow water, data-side down, for a couple hours. This loosened up what remained on the data side, I cleaned it off, and the thing loaded perfectly.

Wonder_Hamster
03-12-2006, 09:31 PM
Question: what's the best way to prevent your discs from getting scratched in the first place? I ask this because I was flipping through my Sega CD/Saturn collection the other day and noticed that a lot of them were looking worse than I remembered, and I haven't even played some of them yet. Can they really get scratched up just from sitting in a CD notebook? Last week, I found a very nice haul of Saturn games at the flea market, and the discs are in mint shape, and I would like to keep them that way. I would be grateful for any help here

jonjandran
03-12-2006, 11:10 PM
It's really not that hard to polish out the scratches on a disc, I've been doing it for years.

All you need is a high speed car buffer. You can get one for $50 at almost any automotive store. A high speed buffer, NOT an orbital.

Then you use a wool pad for light scratches and a foam pad for deeper scratches.

Just turn the buffer upside down, turn it on and lock it on. Then hold the CD/DVD frimly and apply pressure downward on the buffing pad. Apply more pressure as needed for deeper scratches. Turn the disc a 1/4 turn at a time until you're done.

Works perfect and I haven't found a disc I couldn't return to a perfect / brand new finish.

That's basically all the professional machines are, a spinning buffer and a foam pad.

Kitsune Sniper
03-13-2006, 12:45 AM
It's really not that hard to polish out the scratches on a disc, I've been doing it for years.

All you need is a high speed car buffer. You can get one for $50 at almost any automotive store. A high speed buffer, NOT an orbital.

Then you use a wool pad for light scratches and a foam pad for deeper scratches.

Just turn the buffer upside down, turn it on and lock it on. Then hold the CD/DVD frimly and apply pressure downward on the buffing pad. Apply more pressure as needed for deeper scratches. Turn the disc a 1/4 turn at a time until you're done.

Works perfect and I haven't found a disc I couldn't return to a perfect / brand new finish.

That's basically all the professional machines are, a spinning buffer and a foam pad.

That sounds... creepy. :|

A local video rental store had one of those buffing machines once. I have a few DVDs that are all scratched up due to lousy packaging, so I asked them how much would they charge me to resurface them.

They said $10. The DVDs cost me $3! To hell with them.

Rikimaru
03-13-2006, 01:16 AM
Question: what's the best way to prevent your discs from getting scratched in the first place? I ask this because I was flipping through my Sega CD/Saturn collection the other day and noticed that a lot of them were looking worse than I remembered, and I haven't even played some of them yet. Can they really get scratched up just from sitting in a CD notebook? Last week, I found a very nice haul of Saturn games at the flea market, and the discs are in mint shape, and I would like to keep them that way. I would be grateful for any help here

I wouldn't think that they would become worse merely sitting in the case, although I don't have any Sega CD game/cases so I don't know how close the cd sits in the case next to the...umm sides or whatever{Thus becoming scratched upon moving. Only other thing I can think of is dust may have gotten in there and moved around scratching things? That or the hamburgeler comes in late at night and is entirely mistaken with his rambunctious misdeeds!!!!






wait what!?!??!

Wonder_Hamster
03-13-2006, 01:28 AM
So are they safer in their original case than they would be together in a 200+ capacity cd notebook?

Teknik_SE-R
03-13-2006, 01:30 AM
I have used rubbing compound and polishing wax for cars, toothpaste (which actually does have some mild abrasives, but I'd rather use rubbing compound), but mostly I use chapstick. chapstick works great to fill in really tiny scratches. if I have big scratches, I break out the rubbing compound and wax for the final finish.

I have recently seen disc covers that adhere only to the hub and outer rim of the disc, but not the data surface. They are only like 4 mil thick (they stay on even when in use) and you can remove and replace them whenever you want. don't ask me about the price tho.

my question is what if you scratch the top of your discs? that is my vice and I don''t think it can be done. The reading surface is cake to fix.