scanner back window

I wanted to make a window for the scanner that you would be able to look through from the backside to see what it is you're scanning. I hadn't ordered enough acrylic to make this last minute item, but luckily we have an urban outfitters and american apparel beneath our studios, and they're always "recycling" their displays. Chad found a ton of thick acrylic from some displays in the dumpster one day and we brought it up to the lab to use. It was a bit scratched up, but I needed to face it down a bit to match the thickness of the back plate that it would sit inside of anyway. Aaron drew up the file, but then when I went to double check the measurements, I found that he had mad it too large, so I ended up re-drawing it but used the CAM operations that he had written yesterday. I cut a sample piece so I could see how deep the machining were and how much the inhibited seeing through the window. I figured I would be able to flame polish this just like we used to when I worked at Taylor Studios. I did a flame test with my propane torch on the untouched straight up machined part, then I did some wet sanding with water and 600 grit, and then I tested the buffing wheel against it. Each one seemed to refine the surface and make the window functional. I went ahead and cut the actual window, spot drilled the flange holes and then went straight to wet-sanding and then buffing. No flame was  necessary which is good, because I always end up over doing it and I get surface bubbles. I then dug out the Novus polish. They make a series of products for removing scratches from plastics and the work really well. I used to use this stuff on my Jeep softop windows to removed the haze. I worked the polish in and then buffed it out with a soft cloth. The remaining scratches are on the flip side of the window since it had no protective covering on it when we found it, so tomorrow, I'll do a quick wet-sand and polish job on it and I should be good to go. I will cut the opening into the aluminum scanner back panel and then I can start making gaskets and we can start wiring our fancy hall effect sensors that just arrived today. Stay tuned...