DIY repair tips for scratched Wacom tablet

May 29, 2012 4:46 AM

Wacom Bamboo fun tablet has a scratch on touch surface - is there any way to fix it myself?

I have a small wacom "bamboo touch fun" graphics tablet that I use as instead of a mouse for my iMac. It's about 3 years old, but has had pretty much daily use since I bought it.

I don't know how, but I've managed to scratch the touchpad near the centre and the scratch is deep (about 1.5 mm) enough that it continually snags my finger.

Is there any way I can fix it myself or do I just have to live with it? I know that abrasive toothpaste can be used to fix minor scratches on other touch interfaces such as an iPod touch, but would that method just further destroy the surface of my tablet?

I can't really afford to replace it right now, but seeing as swapping from a mouse to a graphics tablet virtually cured my RSI, I can't really afford NOT to be using one.

Any cheaper replacement tablet suggestions have to be OSX friendly.

Any help / advice much appreciated.

posted by Faintdreams to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Best answer: I can't speak to fixing it, but regarding replacements, is Apples Magic Trackpad a replacement option?
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:05 AM on May 29, 2012

try putting a piece of tape over the scratch?
posted by Infernarl at 5:52 AM on May 29, 2012

Does that version of Wacom tablet have the plastic "tracing overlay"? If so, it's removable and you'll get down to a much harder plastic that won't scratch. I had a much older version though.
posted by bookdragoness at 5:54 AM on May 29, 2012

Best answer: Scratches on the surface won't affect the capacitive response of the tablet, so polishing would work just fine. If toothpaste won't do it, you can try something stronger like Novus.

You could also get a cheap iPad screen protection film and cut it to fit the active area of the tablet.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:03 AM on May 29, 2012

Best answer: Toothpaste definitely won't fix it; it'll only polish out the most superficial of scratches.

There are lots of scratch removal kits available that may help, but I suspect that such a deep scratch won't polish out anyway.

If it were me I'd probably mask the scratch with tape, apply a really miniscule amount of epoxy to fill the scratch, then scrape/polish away any excess after it sets. Note though that this is quite possibly an easy way to ruin your tablet if the experiment goes wrong.

Covering the whole surface may the be safest bet, if you can find something suitable.
posted by pipeski at 7:08 AM on May 29, 2012

Response by poster: Original Poster here:

Effigy200 - thanks for the suggestion, but in the UK the Apple trackpad is twice the price of replacing the trackpad itself (via ebay but still boxed). Plus it would mean using a smaller trackpad area than I do now.


Infernari - Again thanks, I tried your tape suggestion, but that just gave me more 'edges' for my finger to come into contact with!

bookdragoness - It is the Bamboo One Fun wacom, and as far as I can tell there is no tracing overlay.

Joezydeco - I used toothpaste plus a little baking soda to polish just that area and although the scratch is still visible and there, the edges are defiantly less pronounced.

pipeskie - You are right, poilshing it hasn't removed it all together, but it has defiantly smoothed the edges so it doesn't snag my finger (and train of thought) anymore. I am not brave enough to try t he epoxy fix you suggested. I might do once I've saved enough for new tablet should the experiment fail!

Thanks everyone.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:02 AM on May 29, 2012