Thinking about using sandpaper on Macbook

Fallooza said:

...i think a white one would get very dirty if you did

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that's true...

turtle wax.

Noxian said:

I am actually interested on how this would look, Sorta like the stainless look mod for the back of iPods with steel wool.

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Fallooza said:

you loss... weakest-joke-ever

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i totoally disagree, it gave me a laugh. +1 !

A very fine grit, like others have mentioned may do the trick. Is there any way you can get your hands on a similar surface material to try it out? Maybe an old broken down laptop or anything with that kind of plastic surface? If you rough it with the sandpaper and it doesn't quite look good, you could either get some kind of plastic stick-on protector that may act as a kind of clearcoat, or you could probably spray paint it with the correct spray.

I liked one person's suggestion of getting a speck case, but if it's gotten pretty rough from normal use, that Speck case with even softer plastic than the MB, will get scratched up very easily and quickly.

Another idea, but an expensive one, would be to send it in to Colorware and have them paint it for you. Then you can even customize it.

Kelly808 said:

I heard using sandpaper on your display makes it look awesome.

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wow thanks for the help I'm not an idiot.

I had the idea of sanding and then painting, the only problem being I would need to strip the entire case down to just the plastic, and I am not sure if I have to skill to put it back together.

If you sanded it then found some really thin laquer / varnish, it might look OK.

I'm pretty sure if you just sanded and left it, it would be filthy within a week. All those lovely micro-fine grooves for grease and bugs to latch on to. Bleugh . . .

My personal opinion is that I agree with the previous posters about your mac becoming dirty soon after, however, 3000 grit sandpaper is probably smoother than most peoples bedsheets, and I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't leave what people are imagining. That being said, I wouldn't spray paint for any reason. One previous poster suggested trying it on a similar material, another laptop wouldn't be suitable, because I'm almost positive that nobody else uses polycarbonate. Polycarbonate though, is also marketed as Lexan I think, and if you really wanted to see the outcome of sanding your Mac, the best way to do it is buy a small sheet of lexan and try it on that first. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you post your results so everybody else can see either what works or what not to attempt, I'm getting my macbook on Monday and should I run into a similar situation in a year, I would like to know what to do. Good luck.

Thinking about doing this to a mac makes my tummy hurt. Make sure you dont have apple care still because this will void your warranty.

cumber1137 said:

Thinking about doing this to a mac makes my tummy hurt. Make sure you dont have apple care still because this will void your warranty.

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how would sanding the outside of his case void his warranty?

When I had an acrylic fish tank you could get a scratch removal kit. Basically 5 different grits of cloth sandpaper with buffing pad. Might be worth a look. To remove fine scratches Mcguires sells a two step process to buff plastic. I used to use it on a Z3's rear plastic window and it always worked great.

Thanks for the help everyone, I have went out and bought 640, 1200 and 3000 grit, we will see how well it works, I might post some pics if I get my camera back soon.

640 is going to be way too coarse and is going to remove plastic in a hurry! Dont use anything less than 1000 grit...1500 or up will be fine.

Here's a good reason to use sandpaper on your laptop

JerrfyLube said:

640 is going to be way too coarse and is going to remove plastic in a hurry! Dont use anything less than 1000 grit...1500 or up will be fine.

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don't worry I am not going to go ape with the 640, it is just to rough it up a bit and take out the gouged that seem to plant them in the plastic (not deep ones, but still annoying)

Ryan13 said:

I'm sorry, but I don't see how sanding your macbook would take off the scratches without hurting it any further...

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I'd like to hear any other way to take the scratches off.. I mean... how do you think stuff gets smooth and shiny in the first place?

He's not talking about taking to it with grinder, he's talking about 1500 grit paper, which will turn a peice of rough steel into a perfect mirror surface. 3000 grit? You might as well use silk.

I would totally sand a laptop if I was unhappy with how it looked. Worst thing that can happen is it is still scratched at the end, and you're still unhappy with it.

update???

Jeff said:

Here's a good reason to use sandpaper on your laptop

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No, that's just good reason for birth control

jaster said:

How about trying little sandpaper, then spray paint. I don't have the cojones to try it, but I would love to see a custom painted macbook. There was a guy a while ago that I saw at a flea market. He did airbrushing. He would fine sand the case, then custom airbrush it. Looked like graffiti. I never saw a macbook, but he had a comp there that was airbrushed, looked great. ANyway, with a really good tape job, or better yet, removing the case to paint it, I don't see why it can't be done. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but would love to see one done.

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^
I ,personally,think this would look awesome if done by someone who knew what they were doing. I'd do it to my laptop if I had one.

ok, while some of you may think i am crazy, I went ahead and did it. it looks AWESOME! think black macbook except its white, pics will be up soon.

just a cool shot showing how dull it looks now


and this picture is with a dead on flash.

To be honest the pictures really don't do it justice, it looks alot better in person, and believe it or not 1600 or higher really isn't needed, you can achieve a good look at as low as 320 grit (I had tried 1600, but decided I liked the look of the 320 better)

DigitalN. said:

To be honest the pictures really don't do it justice, it looks alot better in person, and believe it or not 1600 or higher really isn't needed, you can achieve a good look at as low as 320 grit (I had tried 1600, but decided I liked the look of the 320 better)

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Using something that coarse is why you can see the scratch marks in your first picture. Pretty unsightly if you ask me!! If you would have started with some 600 grit and took your time working up finer grits, you would have achieved that very matte looking smooth finish. You need to go back over yours with progressively finer grits till you get rid of those sanding scratches...and sand it all in the same direction...looks like you didnt

I helped a friend do his a few weeks ago starting with 600 grit and finished with 1000 with about 3 steps in grit up to the 1000. Spent a good 10-15 mintues with each grit till the finish was constant all the way through. Came out looking like the finish on a MBP...a slight sheen to it but a nice smooth matte finish. Came out very nice.