How to remove scratches from the side edges of the MacBook Air?

Well it is aluminum, so technically you could sand it with higher grit sandpaper, but you would not ever achieve the same matte aluminum finish it currently has. You could mimic it with matte clear coat and some 'aluminum' spray paint over top of the sanded area but it would stand out like a sore thumb.

Aside from replacing the scratched parts you're going to have to live with it.

I'm not sure on how strong the aluminum is and it would also depend on how deep the scratch is - if the scratch is deeper you'll have to start a bit more abrasive, maybe starting 400 or so and then work your way up to 2000. 2000 grit would give you a nice smooth finish for the most part - still would have some slight scratches though. If you were going for a mirror finish you could stop there and bust out some Brasso Metal Polish - but that would definitely make it stick out.

If it's deep the epoxy filler would work to flush the scratch but would still stick out 😟 it is definitely a tough thing to fix.

Here is a pretty good guide on repairing curb rash on wheels - similar to the material used in the Macbook but not exact.

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/realwhda.html

Thank you for mentioning this. I was not aware of the metal and irregardless of that fact I still decided to go forward with buffing the under surface of my Macbook Air. I used the cloth polishing bit attachment for my Dremel. I hope I had not done any significant damage. I use it on the back of my iPod classic time and time again and have yet to notice any ill effects. Comments/Opinions??

The MBA aluminum surface is anodized. Sanding the surface will remove the anodized coating, exposing bare aluminum, which will oxidize. My suggestion is to leave it alone.

Sorry to hear about your accident.TheMuffinMan is right about sanding out the scratch. I think Apple use a bead-blasted or sand-blasted finish for the aluminium unibody, so you couldn't re-create it properly without stripping the hardware and finding somewhere that can bead-blast it for you.

That said, you could use some aluminium-epoxy filler (Used in engineering and auto-trades) to fill the scratches (if reasonably wide) after first masking off undamaged sections. Use an old credit card or similar to reduce the excess, then when set, carefully sand or scrape until flush with the masking material (A couple of thicknesses of Sellotape would work). It wouldn't be perfect, but it might improve the worst of the damage.

If you don't feel confident in your skills I would advise against this though, as you could simply make things worse!

Ahhh gotca, that helps a lot. Given it looks like the metal has bent up a little and made a sharp little edge, I'd grab a Dremel (or similar) and grind off the little edge/lip that is there to smooth the edge. Then you could use some of the epoxy to fill the dent/scratch to flush; then sand it to the shape of the laptop 🙂

If I am not mistaken, the iPod back is stainless steel and the Mac is anodized aluminum. You are dealing with two different metals with different properties. carl wolf gave the best advice, leave the Mac alone.

Ciao.