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Scratches! many on unibody MBP, will this help?

M

megamouse

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 7, 2008
91
0
I knew it was meant to get scratched with normal usage, but I did not expect it would get this bad. :(

After a LAN party in the house, all mine and friends' 2 week-old unibody MBPs got heavily scratched because we accidentally hit the screen lid on each other all the time.

All scratches are very shallow, can't feel them on fingers anyway, but HIGHLY VISIBLE.


If they were 1 year-old machines with some scratches, I wouldn't mind. But right now they look really ugly.



Fellow Users, My Question is, can we use Aluminum Polish to restore the scratches?

If yes, what is the right type of Polisher for unibody MBP?

Will the 3M One Step Aluminum Restorer & Polish (for Marine use) be alright?
177870110.jpg


Or this one?

290321_300.jpg



Any material / mechanical engineers here, please?
 
The MBP's are painted I think, so better be careful with polisher...

I'd be careful using any of these polishes because as far as I know the MBP's aluminum is painted over. The paint can't have exactly the same color as the aluminium under it, so if you polish it you would notice changes in appearance between the polished and unpolished places. One alternative would be to polish the entire MBP, but I'm not sure you want to go that route.

I never understood why they paint the aluminium btw. Seems the cool thing about it is that it's naturally beautiful and corrosion resistant.

I know for sure they painted the last generation MBP's. On mine the paint is chipped of on all the edges after three years of heavy use.
 
I think the surface is sandblasted then anodized. The anodizing is going to have a very thin layer and if you polish it you'll probably rub right through the anodizing. If you don't rub the surface against other metal surfaces you'll probably be fine. Also, I posted in another thread a macro picture of the metal surface and a polish is gonna probably smooth it out. So even if can get out the scratches there's going to a be a different feel and look to the surface. So you might not be able to do anything about it, but if you need to, I'd do a small test on the inside of your battery cover. Let us know how it goes. And can you post pics of the scratches as well as your polish test?
 
thanks for the all the inputs guys, I really appreciate it. :eek:

Sounds like there would be too much risk just to polish out those tiny but long scratches. The only camera I've got is the iSight on the screen, so can't take photos of the damages (they are all on the other side of the screen)

I guess there is NO way to separate the LED screen from the Aluminum Back, as the photo suggested:

989.jpg



So change the back is no go. Well, I might get laser engraving on the back just to cover the scratches then. :rolleyes:
 
pdxflint said:
:eek: Yikes! I didn't know that. I've had mine for 8 months so far (granted, it's the MBP classic...) and so far no scratches with normal usage.
Click to expand...


My last two MBPs all showed obvious scratches after two years of intensive use, no matter how careful I am. :(

I have lived to accept that, but not on 2 week-old machines thought.
 
Don't forget to test the setting on the laser cutter to make sure the penetration doesn't go too far. Also I'm under the impression that laser cutting your body voids your warranty but I might be wrong.
 
megamouse said:
thanks for the all the inputs guys, I really appreciate it. :eek:

Sounds like there would be too much risk just to polish out those tiny but long scratches. The only camera I've got is the iSight on the screen, so can't take photos of the damages (they are all on the other side of the screen)

I guess there is NO way to separate the LED screen from the Aluminum Back, as the photo suggested:

989.jpg



So change the back is no go. Well, I might get laser engraving on the back just to cover the scratches then. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
its probably the easiest solution... i will probably get mine laser etched in a few months... i have a few ideas for images to get etched onto it but we shall see
 
DYER said:
its probably the easiest solution... i will probably get mine laser etched in a few months... i have a few ideas for images to get etched onto it but we shall see
Click to expand...

what if your machine has to be replaced... you're gonna lose all your laser etching and have to pay again for your new macbook to get etched
 
I would start with iKlear which is used to clean the display models at Apple Stores. If that is not sufficient I would actually take it in and ask one of the Apple employees.
 
Fonzijr1964 said:
yeah u right but it is essentially a layer of paint
Click to expand...

Anodizing is not essentially paint. It's a chemical surface treatment to the metal as opposed to an added spray on surface. It's just that the surface treatment is thin and susceptible to scratching and chipping off. Unlike paint though it is far less likely to chip/scratch from not metal objects and the finish will last far longer than paint (without clear coat, which paint is worthless without).
 
the glass on the LCD is held on by magnets.

you'll need some suction cups or the like to get it off.
 
Pneublet said:
Anodizing is not essentially paint. It's a chemical surface treatment to the metal as opposed to an added spray on surface. It's just that the surface treatment is thin and susceptible to scratching and chipping off. Unlike paint though it is far less likely to chip/scratch from not metal objects and the finish will last far longer than paint (without clear coat, which paint is worthless without).
Click to expand...

You're almost right but mostly wrong. The anodization process places the aluminum in an ammonia acid bath which changes the structure of the aluminum. It does not chip and cannot chip because there's no material added on top of the bare aluminum, the structure of the metal is just chemically changed but that's it. The reason some anodized metals such as those non-stick pans appear to be much darker than Apple's computers is because it depends on how long the aluminum is left in the acid bath, the longer in the bath the darker the metal becomes until it's completely black. It blows me away people think it's paint on the Macbooks. It's obvious it's bare metal.
I do agree that the OP should not use any solvents to remove scratches as you can mar the finish.
 
No anodizing can chip. The chemical burn only happens on the surface and that surface can chip and scratch off. There's tons of examples of this out there
 
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