Disc resurfacing

I have a ton of discs that are super shabby, even some unplayable mystery betas that need to be resurfaced.

Has anyone got any experience with consumer level disc resurfacing systems? I'm not talking disc doctor or that other crap, but something that makes the disc look like new, or close. But doesn't cost $1k or more. I've seen a review of a few in Wired, but Sean Kelly told me that all the home ones suck. Anyone have any experience?

 

I have a local video game store that resurfaces the disks on an expensive (probably in the 1k range) disk resurfacer. It works great unless they're super deep or unless the scratch is on the top. They only charge about $2 a disk, so I used to buy scratched up games cheap at yard sales or whatever, resurface them, and then ebay them with the disks being in perfect condition (which they really are after they're done!). They look like brand new disks when done.

I tried a bunch of home ones and never found anything that worked at all.

 

Do you know the name of the machine? I wonder if I could find a local gaming shop here that might have one of those(doubt it) but maybe, 1k is a bit pricey for a machine only your going to use, if it was cheaper I would buy.

 

Actually the resurfacer near me is a dry process with a powder that acts as the abrasive (I'm pretty sure). I'll try to find out for you.

Not saying that a recordable CD would survive the process. I didn't really think of that when I read your post. I've never tried one.

 

what do you have in your hands that is so precious?

 

I have a shop grade one.

 

JFG has one that does not use water. Azuradisc is another one you can buy and that one does use water.

I bought my JFG machine for $500 I think the price is up a bit now. They aren't the best ones out there but I have a game store and they do it well enough for us.

 

Meguiar's PlastX is a polishing compound made for car headlights, but works just fine on CDs. I used it along with a microfiber cloth to buff out the circle of death scratch on a free copy of Gears Of War. Works great now. If you use the wrong cloth, it'll leave some very small fine lines, but mine was fine.

 

We've got a (wet process) Azuradisc 1600 machine in our shop. We've had it for years and its a pretty robust bit of kit. At times we've got it running 8 hours a day, and we've only had to have it serviced once.

The model down from it (dry process) is only $700 and would probably suit needs fine. So while I can't necessarily recommend the model - I can happily vouch for the brand.

I've also done loads of writable CDs and DVDs in it without problems - just make sure you only polish your disc as much as it needs.

 

You can tell when a disc has been resurfaced. The edge is rounded down and not sharp like a new one. Now that people are grading games I feel in years to come if the game is valuable a premium will be paid to the ones that have been untouched. So I wouldn't resurface a game like Ogre Battle unless you plan to flip it or play it.

 

I hear what you're saying, but if you're even thinking about resurfacing a game it probably has scratches that would lower the grade anyway... And to be quite honest, I don't think all resurfacers round the edge because I can't tell the difference comparing two disks.

 

You say that, but I know of many discs I've encountered over the years from new with rounded edges rather than sharp ones. Using that as a judgement as to whether a disc has been resurfaced is ill-advised, and I haven't encountered smooth edges from resurfaced discs I've encountered.

Another one that is not necessarily a mark of a resurfaced disc is a rough edge to the disc, potentially with plastic bleed over the edge of it - that's just a sign of it being manufactured at low cost.

 

I've resurfaced thousands of discs and I've had thousands of discs traded in which I inspected and there are signs a disc has been resurfaced. Try it with ps1 discs first those are the easiest to spot. Compare a factory fresh ps1 disc and another which was resurfaced to make it mint.

 

I worked in a shop where we skimmed hundreds of discs a week. You don't want any kind of home kit - they're pure crap and do more harm than good.

We used a company called TDR in the UK.

http://www.totaldiscrepair.com/categories/Disc_Repair_Machines_148.aspx

They do refurbed machines on eBay sometimes, too.

If you want just one disc done, your best bet is to go to your local games store and see if they have a pro machine. If you're talking CD-R, maybe take another CD-R first, to see what happens. The TDR machines do use polish, yes. It shouldn't really come in contact with the sides, although it does tend to leave a residue on the edges.

As for noticing a skimmed disc, yes you can if you know what to look for - but to the average joe, it just looks like a good-as-new CD!

 

Did some searching for a JFG machine but only turn up the brand JFJ, I'm assuming they are not the same?

How many times can you resurface a disc before you damage the data? Also can a resurfacing machine work with all media, DVD, GameCube, etc? I've been buying games on eBay that sell as like new and turn up on my doorstep looking like junk. Starting to get real annoyed with this so I figure one of these would be a good investment.

 

Check used music stores, too. A lot of them have pro CD resurfacing for their own use, and probably offer the service.

 

Hmm it could be JFJ

 

This is very true we at work we basically use a drill press that has a foam pad on it. Then we use 3 different chemicals to clean discs. It's usually pretty easy to tell which PS1 games have been resurfaced since near the center they are slightly faded.

I will say though the process does work pretty well since we get some really bad looking discs in (not to mention we easily do 100-400 discs a day, maybe 600 on a weekend) and the first two stages are usually really good about cleaning those up. Then the 3rd one just cleans any residue remaining.

 

Gamecube is very hit and miss - more often than not, it doesn't work.

That said, the Wii seems to be more tolerant when it comes to GC discs, so try them in a Wii if you're having problems ;-)

You'll get to learn what can and can't be repaired. Deep scratches are usually too much, and of course any damage to the topside is a no-no. Feel scratches with your fingernail (top down).

You can skim discs a few times but you're better off doing it the once and taking good care of them ;-)

One tell-tale sign of a previously skimmed disc is excess polish remaining on the edge of the disc.