Can this Zaccaria control panel plexi overlay be saved?

[DarthNuno]

Can this Zaccaria control panel plexi overlay be saved? 



I think (hope) I could remove few of these surface scratches on the top of the plexi with the help of magic sponges... but my main concern are the 'bended' areas 



I don't know what happened to that control panel! how the hell these deformations of the plastic were made? Fire or something!? 



Did you already tried to fix such damages?

[PaulSwan]

Folks leaving their cigarettes resting there while they played back in the day

A heat gun on low can be used to soften the plastic and then use a weight to flatten it whilst it cools.

The burn damage, I 've only cleaned mine and not attempted anything more than that. Eventually I may go with a repro, but I'm OK leaving it as battle damage from a life well lived

Paul.

[DarthNuno]

Folks leaving their cigarettes resting there while they played back in the day

yeah it explains the damaged spots/yellow marks, but I don't thing cigarets can lead to a such damage on a so big area? 

A heat gun on low can be used to soften the plastic and then use a weight to flatten it whilst it cools.

Yeah, I had that in mind too, but I only have an hair dryer  Will it be hot enough? I'll give a try anyway 

The burn damage, I 've only cleaned mine and not attempted anything more than that. Eventually I may go with a repro, but I'm OK leaving it as battle damage from a life well lived :

Totally agree! I've seen repro but I would prefer the orignal one even  with battle damage. As I said, I guess I could reduce visual 'yellow' damages, but that is the bended plexi areas  that annoying the most 

[PaulSwan]

There were a lot of cigarettes rested in various places over several years

Never tried a hair dryer so I don't know if that's hot enough. On low, my heat gun is still a lot hotter than a hair dryer though.

Paul.

[Digimon]

Just use a heat gun, and fix the CPO with glas or metal plates to get real flat.

With sanding and polishing afterwards it will look nice (and original).

[DarthNuno]

OK so I'm going to test it with an hair dryer as I do not have an heat gun.
I wedge my plate between 2 pieces of flat wood 



I climb on it to give weight 



But an hair dryer, as I imagined it, is not hot enough 

Well, all I have here is a portable convector radiator 



Impossible to remain myself on my knees in front of the radiator. So I use clamps 



2 sessions of 20 minutes and here is the result 



Hey, it's not too bad 

But I've done a mistake, I tightened the clamps too tightly on one of the two sides of the plexi when it wasn't hot enough. This caused a crack!   



Whatever, I still plan to use it on my panel. This gives a little bit more history... 



Next step, try to remove a little bit of these cigarets burns . I presume sandpaper will do the job (600 or higher grain) ?

[PaulSwan]

It takes time to heat through, more time than you would think, until it becomes soft to the touch, basically like a rubber sheet. I usually use my fingers to press on it to get to approximately flat and then load it up with books to full flat. Doesn't need a lot of pressure when it's soft.