Polisher , please read,polishing with dewalt

[Whopper]

A heavy cut foam pad with menzerna compound is the way I go. For sealing, my own view is that paste wax is way too laborious given the surface area on a boat and the fact that you’ll probably be polishing annually. Run with a spray sealant such as Getechniq C2V3 - very easy to apply and reapply mid season.

Another thing overlooked it proper decontamination. A decent iron fallout remover lifts a lot of contaminants, it’s amazing to see the results but not surprising given people are cutting steel etc in boat yards.

 

[Falcoron]

A heavy cut foam pad with menzerna compound is the way I go. For sealing, my own view is that paste wax is way too laborious given the surface area on a boat and the fact that you’ll probably be polishing annually. Run with a spray sealant such as Getechniq C2V3 - very easy to apply and reapply mid season.

Another thing overlooked it proper decontamination. A decent iron fallout remover lifts a lot of contaminants, it’s amazing to see the results but not surprising given people are cutting steel etc in boat yards.

Iron fall out is great stuff to see the crap on the surface, pity it stinks like rotten eggs though. I use it on my classic Audi from time to time and even after a few days i can still smell it inside the car, even after power washing it away and full wash dry and wax.

 

[Whopper]

Iron fall out is great stuff to see the crap on the surface, pity it stinks like rotten eggs though. I use it on my classic Audi from time to time and even after a few days i can still smell it inside the car, even after power washing it away and full wash dry and wax.

Agree. Thankfully on the boat it’s an infrequent job for me. The photo above was removing some hot filings mess that hit the boat over the winter 2yrs ago with someone cutting steel nearby. It removed everything with minimal effort. Pretty sure it helps with rust stains too on the base of railings etc.

Another useful product from the automotive side is a decent snow foam applied with a power hose lance. There is one I use with with high PH. It works very well on limescale too.

 

[Chris H]

Another Menzerna 400 user here……. been at it most of the day !

 

[Marine Reflections]

So with it i have 5 sponge attachments and a big tub of farcela. After wasing the boat what is the best procedures and what sponges or should i go for lambs wool

You have all you need to improve the surface, however I don't know what the large tub of Farecla is, coarse, medium or fine? So you could be polishing forever with a fine if you need coarse, equally you could ruin a finish by using coarse when it just needed fine.

I'm afraid it's a confusing area with many, many variables, what works on one may not work on another, due to the different hardness levels of gelcoat between manufacturers, age or curing time, it gets more resistant or harder as it continues to cure after curing over the decades.

I'll try to simplify but my lack of ability to explain things well may add to the cunfusion.

All excellent advice above, I would highlight Chromedomes advice in that you should start with a test patch first and work your magic here to formulate an overall gameplan, also start with the least aggresive first to see what results are obtained which he also mentions.

When it comes to pad choice, firm is for coarse products, soft is for fine products and there are lots in the middle, again many variables within those options.

Reducing the 'product / polish / compound' choice down to coarse, medium and fine to simplify things, and restricting the pad choice as foam for the moment as that is what you have, a coarse product (with say a feel between the fingers that could be likened to toothpaste) a firm foam pad should be used.
*Again however this may not be the choice for you as we dont know what depth you need to arrive at in order to correct your current surface demands.

It would be easier to explain the medium choice by explaining the soft / fine choice, as medium is just... well medium and inbetween the two.
A fine product (one that may have the feel of salad cream between the fingers with no grit) would be for the soft foam pad, regardless of brand or style.

So in short:
Coarse product = hard pad
Fine product = soft pad.


My coarse, medium and fine (if we limit it to three and assume that the surface demands the aggresion to use all three, you can of course use just the fine if that is the demand) are as follows:

Coarse - 3m Perfect it (36102E) cutting compound, used / applied on a white lambswool double sided quick connect pad (3m 33279)

Medium - (to recover from previous stage) 3m Finesse it 2 Glaze, (3m 09048), used / applied on a yellow lambswool double sided quick connect pad (3m 05754)

Fine - (to further enhance / recover from the previous stage) 3m Ultrafina (3m 50383) used / applied on a soft blue foam (3m 50388)

There are even more variables that will either add or take away the cut level, such as using a rotary polisher versus a dual action polisher / versus a forced rotation polisher, I use the above 99 times out of 100 on a rotary polisher for precision.

There are many much coarser products and pad combinations out there that will get you through the gelcoat and into the glassfibre in a flash and there are many finer than fine products that are akin to scaring the surface with Ken Dodds duster, but the above are a solid base.

Tony

 

[Seastoke]

Thank you and not seen you post for a long time , nice to see you back.