Embedded Files
Original Xbox
April 15, 2022
After seeing some of the results that others have achieved through polishing plastic, I wanted to try my hand at it to see I would make out. I had an original Xbox on the bench which had some notable gouges on the top shell, and some fairly deep scratches on the jewel.
I have seen someone selling replacement jewels online and they look to be very nice quality but I wanted to see if I could bring this one back to a more acceptable state. After reading some guidance online, I determined that many recommended Novus Plastic Polish. There is a three step system which can deal with light scratches and also some deeper ones. I tried the system, starting first with the coarsest polish, and then moving to the finer finishes, but the results were not ideal. The scratches were just too deep to show much improvement.
I decided to jump to the big guns, and grabbed a detail sander and attached some 120 grit paper. It took some work but eventually I was able to get deep enough to remove the worst scratches. From there I tried some 240 grit paper and began moving up from there. After some work I inspected the shell but I was disappointed to see several 'skip' marks from the sander.
After the 120 grit sanding, note the dull appearance.
After moving up several grits I noticed 'skip' marks.
I decided to change away from the electric sander to hand sanding, and start over again with 400 grit, and then moved to 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 and finally 2500. With each grit I sanded in light, straight lines, rotating 90 degrees between each step. At the finer grits I used a magnifier to inspect the results, and I kept sanding until the lines from the previous grit were no longer significant.
The results were pretty good. After the 2500 grit I tried both the Novus Plastic Polish, and also a Maguires polish. This combined with foam pads and a drill attachment allowed me to better buff the surfaces. The shell wasn't perfect, but it had come a long way from the original deep scratches, and I felt happy with my first attempt. Of course normally the Xbox has a textured finish on the case but the sanding meant that this was not a smooth almost glossy look. The jewel looked spectacular!
So sanding with multiple grits in perpendicular lines and following up with a liquid finisher to buff is what provided the best results for me. Your mileage may vary, but I think the effort is worth it for something which may not be easily replaceable.
Report abuse