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Polishing a dust cover

The Shocker

The Shocker

Super Member
Due to the kind generosity of a fellow AudioKarma member, I received a dust cover for Technics SL-D2 turntable for my birthday! I will not name names, unless the person tells me it's OK to do.

Because of this extreme generosity (Have you seen what dust covers sell for on eBay?!), I subscribed to the forum today. This place never ceases to amaze me.

The dust cover arrived today, and like any other dust cover from a turntable from the 1970s, it showed signs of being used. The two big things I expect to see on any dust cover are fine scratches and oxidation making it cloudy. This cover had both.


Here's what it looked like when I put it on the turntable:

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I was looking for a way to polish it up a little, just to take the haze off.

After watching a YouTube video I ran out to Pep Boys (an auto parts store in my area) and bought a bottle of Scratch X 2.0. I spent about 15 minutes polishing the lid inside and out, and then washed it with some Dawn dish detergent and sponge. Here is what it looks like now:

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It took the haze off and removed some of the fine scratches.

I rate it "more than good enough" and plan to just back and enjoy it.

I'm sure I can get a "NIB" finish with a polishing pad, but I am not doing that. I'm just going to enjoy this generous gift as it.

But, there's one problem. STATIC. Lots of it. If I run my hand over the top, static builds up and the tone arm actually comes up off the rest and hits the lid.

I took my Vinyl Styl anti-static brush and ran over the entire lid, inside and out. That took probably 95% of the static away. Still feel some static in some small parts, right on the edges where the top meets the sides. But I can run my hand across the top and I no longer feel static and the tone arm doesn't rise up.

Is there something I should do to eliminate the static? Is there something I should coat the lid in? Did the lid perhaps originally have an anti-static coating that I now rubbed off?
 
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The static charge is normal. I experienced the tonearm lifting off the record when dusting a dust cover when I was a teenager. LOL. I never wipe my dustcovers with anything. I remove them, run cold water over them and pat dry. No scratches ever.
 
I've had good results with Mothers Plastic Polish and a similar product by Meguires (I think that spelling is correct). A polish wheel in a power drill, or an orbital polish machine, work really well - you just need ot remember to put osme support under the inside of the cover or you risk cracking it.
 
I had great luck with Novus 3,2,1 products to remove scratches and swirling in a 45 year old Thorens cover. I could have gotten it 'brand-new' with a few more rounds of work, but decided it looked so good I'd leave it as is. Didn't even need tools, really good product IMO.
 
DavidTT said:
I had great luck with Novus 3,2,1 products to remove scratches and swirling in a 45 year old Thorens cover. I could have gotten it 'brand-new' with a few more rounds of work, but decided it looked so good I'd leave it as is. Didn't even need tools, really good product IMO.
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This is what I use. Great stuff. I snagged an orbital buffer from a detailer friend of mine to do the cover for my 1800 and it came out amazing.

As far as static, rinse with water and then dry with a soft cloth.
I keep my table covered so the dust cover doesn’t get dusty (this seems weird now that I typed it out) and only use Swiffer dusters to go over everything once in a while.
 
You might have further success with repeated polishing sessions. As the old saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day".
Best to do the least amount of harm, go slow and as gentle with processes, and use that as a guide.

Yes, the Novus Polishes are very good. #1 is great for just general cleaning and upkeep.

Wet sanding papers as mentioned can help remove more stubborn scratches, but starting too aggressive in grades such as 600, 800, 1000 can have you in a quagmire of a lot of serious followup work, and further damage that you might possibly never get out fully by hand polishing methods. If I was going to try hand wet sanding, I'd likely start at 5000 grit, and then maybe try 3000, and doubt I'd go much further and heavier. 3M makes such fine wet sanding Pads-Papers called "Trizact".

Auto Paint Supply Shops commonly carry a much more vast assortment of sanding and wet sanding products than say a home improvement store.

What you have to worry about, is rubbing too hard in certain areas, and then causing an unevenness of final finish.
And machine polishing can be damaging as well if not careful and experienced, generating too much heat, and literally burning the material.

Generally, the scratches are "commonly" found on the outside of the cover. Note how I say commonly. And polishing the outside is usually a heck of a lot easier than the inside.
Hope this helps.

Anytime you rub on such a material, static electricity can occur. A damp soft microfiber towel for a final wipe should eliminate such.
 
Blowby said:
Had the same static problem lifting my tonearm when I swiped my hand across, even if I just lowered the cover it altered my VTF. Ended up spraying on some of this. Problem completely went away.

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It works!

Went to West Marine and picked up a bottle:

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Sprayed on. Wiped off with a microfiber cloth. Static completely gone. Thank you for the tip!
 
AudioFeline said:
Well done. An amazing difference. It's making me feel that I need to get started on my dull perspex lid.
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Thank you. It really was minimal effort It still has some deeper scratches in it. I may take the effort to buff those out at some point in the future. But, for now, I am quite happy with it.
 
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