Rotary vs Random orbit

As others stated, rotary is the tool to help you get her back in shape and fix the oxidized areas. Use differnt pads for different application (compounding vs. polishing). I use buffer for wax application only. I like to invest ones in goot quality tools that will last for a while. So, I have Makita rotery and porter cable 7424 buffer. Great tools. I've had them for many years now.
 
I am a believer in quality tools, however I purchased a HF rotary unit (6") 4 yrs. ago, and use it twice a year on the boat. Once in the spring, and once during the season to wax the boat. It has been fine for the time I've had it, and still runs great. I paid $23.00 for it on sale, and if it burns up, I will most likely buy another. As others said I only use it for this application, and if it lasts 4 yrs. per unit I will have 20+ yrs. into it before I end up paying the same for a Makita or Dewalt. If I used it full time as I do my woodworking equipment, it would be a different story.
 
1990-270-da-lover said:
I am a believer in quality tools, however I purchased a HF rotary unit (6") 4 yrs. ago, and use it twice a year on the boat. Once in the spring, and once during the season to wax the boat. It has been fine for the time I've had it, and still runs great. I paid $23.00 for it on sale, and if it burns up, I will most likely buy another. As others said I only use it for this application, and if it lasts 4 yrs. per unit I will have 20+ yrs. into it before I end up paying the same for a Makita or Dewalt. If I used it full time as I do my woodworking equipment, it would be a different story.
Click to expand...
I purchased 2 of the 6 inch HF buffers (not orbital) and theu do fine. My boat is very heavily oxidized. Ibe completely buffed my 24'er 3 times amd never had a problem. Theyre cheap enough to be throw aways though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 
My normal thought for winter when I really have nothing to do and want some entertainment is to get a new login, sign in, and fire up the old

"Whats the best way to mount a generator on my swim platform" thread. - Get some popcorn and beer and just kick back.

But its been done.
So this year I'm going to start an

"I love my Harbor Freight (fill in the blank) and you guys that dont like HF, just dont know what you are talking about" - Get some popcorn and beer and just kick back.

Gotta find something to do over winter! :grin: (other than buff and polish a boat)



In all seriousness, thanks to all for the input!

-Mike
 
Dock Box and Transom Experimentation. Just a follow up...
Top is the back side of a dock box that faced south for the last 20 years and was in really bad shape
The Boat is rolling up on 27 years old needs help from the rub rail up
Expirements.jpg

Blew the whole $35 on the harbor freight rotary and did the dock box using Lake Country pads with progressively less cutting power.
Presta Super Cut followed by 3M finesse it II, Meguiars 45 then Meguiars Flagship.
Never quite felt comfortable with the rotary (but will certainly give it another try some day) but the results were very good.

On to the Transom. Abandoned the rotary and got the Porter Cable 7424 XP and again, Lake Country pads with progressively less cutting ability
Wet sand (by hand with block) 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then Meguiars 49, Meguiars 45, Meguiars Flagship.

The wet sanding is a BI-ATCH - nothing pleasant about it but I felt it to be much safer than the rotary given my current skill level.
I'm willing to f'up a dock box, not my boat.

Anyways, the pictures do not do it justice - The transom (above rub rail) came out really nice.
It was considerably darker in the storage facility when the after pic was taken

For the dock box, the bulk of the shine came back after the Presta Super cut.
For the transom, the bulk of the shine was back after the 3rd and final wet sand pass with 2000 3M wet dry.
Initially, both the boat above the rub rail, and dock box were to the point that if you rubbed your hand on them it would be covered in white powder.

As I would really prefer not to have to wet sand, so the next phase of the experiment will be with the Porter Cable DA and Meguiars 91 Power Cut
I may very well try the Presta Super Cut with the DA just to see what happens, but the the distructions for it specifically say, use a rotary where as the Meguiars 91
states hand or machine application.

More to come.....
 
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northshore said:
Dock Box and Transom Experimentation. Just a follow up...
Top is the back side of a dock box that faced south for the last 20 years and was in really bad shape
The Boat is rolling up on 27 years old needs help from the rub rail up
View attachment 43928

Blew the whole $35 on the harbor freight rotary and did the dock box using Lake Country pads with progressively less cutting power.
Presta Super Cut followed by 3M finesse it II, Meguiars 45 then Meguiars Flagship.
Never quite felt comfortable with the rotary (but will certainly give it another try some day) but the results were very good.

On to the Transom. Abandoned the rotary and got the Porter Cable 7424 XP and again, Lake Country pads with progressively less cutting ability
Wet sand (by hand with block) 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then Meguiars 49, Meguiars 45, Meguiars Flagship.

The wet sanding is a BI-ATCH - nothing pleasant about it but I felt it to be much safer than the rotary given my current skill level.
I'm willing to f'up a dock box, not my boat.

Anyways, the pictures do not do it justice - The transom (above rub rail) came out really nice.
It was considerably darker in the storage facility when the after pic was taken

For the dock box, the bulk of the shine came back after the Presta Super cut.
For the transom, the bulk of the shine was back after the 3rd and final wet sand pass with 2000 3M wet dry.
Initially, both the boat above the rub rail, and dock box were to the point that if you rubbed your hand on them it would be covered in white powder.

As I would really prefer not to have to wet sand, so the next phase of the experiment will be with the Porter Cable DA and Meguiars 91 Power Cut
I may very well try the Presta Super Cut with the DA just to see what happens, but the the distructions for it specifically say, use a rotary where as the Meguiars 91
states hand or machine application.

More to come.....
Click to expand...

Looks great. I've got to do my whole boat before launch and have been reading up. It's not too oxidized but still somewhat. Was going to use the presto super cut, then finesse-it. Now can I go right to wax after that? Like flagship or some other carnival wax?
Also curious in the pads you used when using the rotary? Any insight is great info for a newb as myself
 
Almightys said:
Looks great. I've got to do my whole boat before launch and have been reading up. It's not too oxidized but still somewhat. Was going to use the presto super cut, then finesse-it. Now can I go right to wax after that? Like flagship or some other carnival wax?
Also curious in the pads you used when using the rotary? Any insight is great info for a newb as myself
Click to expand...

Hunt around in this forum, there have been some great write ups on compounding and polishing like this:

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/12535-Polishing-Before-and-After

Another external resource is here:

http://www.fiberglassics.com/RESTORATION/RESTORING-GEL-COAT

The pads were Lake Country and I picked them up off of autogeek.net
There is a description of the 'cut' that each of these pads have here:

www.autogeek.net/lc-ccs-7inch-pads.html

If you do decide to get stuff from autogeek, go through premiumboatcare.com first. They were bought out by autogeek and they give you a code for 15% off.

If you are going to use a rotary, read up on how to. Never stop moving and make sure that there are no dry spots on the pads especially with the heavy cut pads.
Damage can be done with a rotary. As I mentioned, I moved over to the DA as I was worried about trashing the gelcoat on the boat.

What I did to the dock box sounds quite a bit like your plan. Check to see if you really need the Presta by starting with the 3M Finesse-it II first. The goal is to not take any more gel coat away than you need to. Finesse-it II has some 'cut' to it so in between that and the Meguiars Flagship, I did a couple passes of Meguiars 49. It has a very light cut and is a good bridge to the Flagship Wax.

Best of luck!

-Mike
 
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i will also be buffing soon. i have a craftsman rotary buffer i bought about 10-15 years ago that still works like new and the local paint supply house has presta products on the shelf so i will likely go with that. my boat isn't heavily oxidized but doesn't have that shine. just kind of dull. last year when we first got it we ran the buffer over it in a small spot using meguiars medium something or other...lol. it cleaned up pretty good but still needs more
 
The 'rub rail up' work continues....

Regretfully, I forgot to take a before picture.
This is just the Meguiars 91 followed by the 49, no wax as of yet.
Busting my hump with the DA but I'm liking what I'm seeing
(please ignore bird crap on canvas)

Starboard Rub Rail Up Meguiars 91 and 49.jpg
 
Looking good mike ,hey whats that crap on your canvas?
 
looks good! spent the weekend working on mine. using my craftsman rotary with wool pad and bought presta gelcoat as per the recommendation from the shop that sells the presta products. worked pretty good but should have went with the super cut. ended up wet sanding the entire boat with 1000 very lightly (only took about 30 minutes to wet sand a 25'er from the rubrail down). then went over the starboard side with the presta gel coat then with meguiars polish (can't remember which one right now). probably could have spent a little more time with the gelcoat compound but it looks pretty good so far. hope to have it all done next weekend but i haven't even touched anything above the rubrail yet
 
Well it's looking damn good so far with just compound and polish. Still needs wax
b7fff865f8396615062b5781a0a8acb2.jpg
 
I just love the way you guys take such care of these classic's...As I said to Mike, it makes a factory guy so proud to see such beauty after so many years.

Now if could just maintain ourselves in this shape.

Nice work men, very nice work!

Capt. Rusty
 
One last one before the splash tomorrow
This was the Meguiars 91 followed by the 49 and then the Flagship wax.
Very impressed by the Meguiars stuff.
IMAG0559.jpg
It was rather dark in the storage facility so the pictures don't tell the whole story......
 
i just ordered some flagship. still have to finish buffing though. hopefully done by the end of the weekend
 
here is a quick pic. i haven't touched anything above the rub rail yet

steps:
1) wet sand 1000 grit
2) wet sand 1200 grit
3) buff with Presta Gelcoat
4) wax with Meguiars Flagship

should have added a lighter polish before the waxing but it looked pretty good and i'm running out of time. hopefully it still looks this good next spring and i can finish it completely

 
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