[Ti] Albook scratch

[Dr. Trevor J. Hutley]

At 08:12 +0100 26/4/04, Colin Buttimer wrote:
>I've just noticed a scratch on the lid of my Albook. I've no idea how it
>happened, but it's certainly disappointing to discover. It's about 3cm in
>length and hairline width. Does anyone know of anything I can do about it or
>is it something I just have to live with? Thanks for any suggestions.
>
Colin - I am a polymer scientist, not a metallurgist, but I think 
aluminium is usually "anodized", a process which gives a very thin 
but hard, embedded layer of protective oxide on the surface.
Without this, you would get your hands grey or black every time you 
touched the aluminium.

Once the coating has beeen scratched away (sounds like your case), 
the aluminium metal is exposed.  I guess you can find out if you are 
down to the aluminium by wiping the scratch slowly with a cloth, and 
see if it becomes grey or black.

What can you do about a damaged coating ?  Probably not much 
yourself, on a laptop.
If it was just aluminium, or some other metal (eg Titanium!!) you 
could polish it out, but when the metal is anodized, there is almost 
nothing the consumer can do.  Any polishing would simply remove the 
protective oxide layer from a greater area.....

So although I cannot give you a definitive answer, not being a 
metallurgist, I have the feeling that "live with it" is probably the 
path forward.....	:-(

Trevor