Polishing pads

HeyBigb

HeyBigb

Member
Jun 10, 2016
48
Catawba Island
Boat Info
2004 320 Sundancer Green Hull with Black Canvas, Radar, twin 350 Mags
2011 260 Sundancer single 350
Engines
twin 350 Mag Inboards
Any recommendations on a good cutting pad or am I doing something wrong I am using 3m perfect it both light and medium compunds and using 2, 3m cutting pads Can they be washed?.The lint is terrible and difficult to wipe off even with lint free polishing towels. I have a green haul 04 320 And I cannot find the matching gel coat to fill in a few deep scratches from the previous owner.One more question best finish wax I used Maguire's on my last boat.Any recommendations? ??

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Lake country pads - you can get them through premiumboatcare.com. autogeek.com bought them out but there is a 15% off code you get if you go through pbc first.
With the exception of Meguiars 45 polish(leaves a haze), I have had great luck with Meguiars stuff. #49 for light oxidization and follow that with Flagship Wax.
 
I can't give you any good advice on the pads, I use the foam pads from HF and still do most of my boat by hand. But, on the gelcoat, have you tried Spectrum? They have matching patch kits for a lot of different boats, I know a lot of people here including myself have used their kits with good success. Regarding wax, everyone has their opinion and favorite, I used Meguiars Flagship for years, but recently tried StarBrite Polish with PTEF and really like it.
 
I was using Harbor freight wool pads ($10ea.) and while I was up at the boat I needed a fresh one and went over to West Marine and paid $34 for a 3M wool pad. It turned out to be far superior to the Harbor freight pad. It got the light scratches and oxidization out of the blue much quicker and it lasted twice as long before it built up. I will keep the harbor freight pads for small jobs but I am switching to all 3M.

I wash the pads in a delicate cycle in the wash machine when they are new....that gets rid of the lint problem. When using them I wash them in a laundry tub with dawn by hand and then spin them on the rotary to get excess water out of them. They will dry in the sun pretty quick after that. When my wife isn't home I will throw them in the washer and let them air dry. They come back like new.
 
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Blueone said:
I was using Harbor freight wool pads ($10ea.) and while I was up at the boat I needed a fresh one and went over to West Marine and paid $34 for a 3M wool pad. It turned out to be far superior to the Harbor freight pad. It got the light scratches and oxidization out of the blue much quicker and it lasted twice as long before it built up. I will keep the harbor freight pads for small jobs but I am switching to all 3M.

I wash the pads in a delicate cycle in the wash machine when they are new....that gets rid of the lint problem. When using them I wash them in a laundry tub with dawn by hand and then spin them on the rotary to get excess water out of them. They will dry in the sun pretty quick after that. When my wife isn't home I will throw them in the washer and let them air dry. They come back like new.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I did the boat with HF/Amazon cheapish foam this year and had to buy two of each cut. It comes out fine, but I do get a little bit of swirl when the sun hits it perfectly. I wondered about 3M since the cost seems ridiculous but for our size boat I'm guessing I could get away with 1 polishing pad. I did Imperial polish -> Finesse-IT II -> Wax this year, but next year I think I'll just do 1 or two passes with Finesse-IT using a 3M wool pad.
 
I think we are talking two different things. I was compounding my blue hull using a wool pad, 3M Compound and Finishing PN 06044 and a rotary buffer... The 3M Finesse is an Ultrafine polish... You would use that after you compounded using a foam pad and an orbital buffer...or if your hull is in good shape use the polish prior to wax. I am not sure what results you would get using a wool pad and a rotary/orbital buffer. The wool might be more abrasive then the polish....is my guess.
 
Blueone said:
I think we are talking two different things. I was compounding my blue hull using a wool pad, 3M Compound and Finishing PN 06044 and a rotary buffer... The 3M Finesse is an Ultrafine polish... You would use that after you compounded using a foam pad and an orbital buffer...or if your hull is in good shape use the polish prior to wax. I am not sure what results you would get using a wool pad and a rotary/orbital buffer. The wool might be more abrasive then the polish....is my guess.
Click to expand...

Got it. yeah, I misunderstood. I used Wool/Imperial Compound & finishing material, followed by foam/FinesseIT II polish/glaze. If I use the compound again I'll go for the higher quality wool and stick to foam for the polish. This was all on an orbital

Anyway, sorry to steal the thread. Carry on..
 
Thank you for all the replies I just went on line and watched several videos on polishing and wet sanding I did some wet sanding then the Finess it medium in some areas and Finess it light in others The port side was alll I managed to get done just the Green areas I have not even started on the white or starboard side Nor have I applied the wax yet .I have about 7 hours on one side But I am a perfectionist and polishing inbetween another boat and differant sun angles makes it difficult The Starboard side will be much easier.I do have some pads as well as a yellow final final buffing pad for the wax.There is a small gouge that I need to fill It's been worked on by the previous owner but it needs filled Somebody had a bad run in with the dock And an area where the anchor hit the top.part of the bow.What I have sone looks great it will look.even better with the wax .Oh well Labor of Love I have 3 weeks to get it complete Hoping to finish all the green this weekend and the bottom painted.Pending this Ohio weather I will check with spectrum on color I only need a couple ounces

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Here is a pic after a few days of compounding, Polishing and waxing.... and a couple more days of bottom paint. I am getting too old for this !!
 

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Look great

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I use 3m wool pads with finesse it with the dewalt buffer (amazon deal of the day) set at 1800 rpm. It works great. I then follow up with 3m scotchbrite wax using a cheap buffer.
 
That's what I have but they leave a ton of lint

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I use either the Lake County of Makita pads over the years. When they arrive I will run them through the washing machine and dryer to get a bunch of the initial lint off and then the first time they are mounted on the buffer, run it with my spurs which helps get a lot more lint off and then start detailing.
 
do what the guy in the last post said he does. when new mount it on a rotary buffer(not an orbital, for that matter you don't compound with an orbital buffer, they are for polishing and waxing) and spin it with the spur pad cleaner or the flat end of a screwdriver held against it works also. I will dislodge a lot of the loose fluff.
 
I've only ever used a buffer so really can't compare to a random orbit, but if that's what you use then your gel work looks great in the pics you posted on the attached link. I love to see the older boats that are still in mint, if not close to mint condition thanks to owners who choose to love them and take care of them.

northshore said:
With a bit more effort, selection of the right pads and a compound that can go by hand or machine you can certainly compound with a random orbit

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/74893-Rotary-vs-Random-orbit
Click to expand...
 
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