Polishing with Bosch Random orbital sander

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kylemccann

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I'd like to polish up some gelcoat, however, I don't have a polisher (other than some elbow grease!)

Is it possible to use my Bosch PEX 220 A Sander to polish? if so does anyone know where I can get pads or what polish to use etc?

I also have an angle grinder, but surely that would be totally overpowered for the job? :rolleyes:
 
Could you pop some close pics up and I’ll see if I can guide you on polish pad combination? Or how many stages you might need ending up with the finest.
Have you thought about a dedicated polishing machine. There’s no forced rotation on that sander/polisher, with a little pressure the rotation will stop and you’ll be left working with oscillation alone.
 
kylemccann said:
I'd like to polish up some gelcoat, however, I don't have a polisher (other than some elbow grease!)

Is it possible to use my Bosch PEX 220 A Sander to polish? if so does anyone know where I can get pads or what polish to use etc?

I also have an angle grinder, but surely that would be totally overpowered for the job? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Many people have found the Silverline sander/polisher a reasonably decent polishing machine at an acceptable price http://www.silverlinetools.com/en-GB/Products/Power Tools/Sanders and Polishers/264569

I am sure Toolstation used to sell it but not now. (Mine was an impulse buy from Force 4 when they had them on a special offer). Toolstation now sell a very similar Draper machine. https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Po...3309/Draper+53016+1200W+Angle+Polisher/p19277

Take note of what Marine Reflections suggests by way of compounding and polishing for your boat. You should find suitable materials in your local chandlers .
 
Marine Reflections said:
Have you thought about a dedicated polishing machine. There’s no forced rotation on that sander/polisher, with a little pressure the rotation will stop and you’ll be left working with oscillation alone.
Click to expand...

That was exactly the problem when I tried this with both my cheap ROS and a very fancy variable speed one I borrowed. When I applied the necessary pressure for the job, the rotation stopped. The oscillation is useless for polishing and annoying to boot. With less pressure it rotated, but that made for extremely slow progress and poor results, so we eventually gave up. A ROS is the wrong tool for the job, despite polishing pads being available for them.
 
If it's not a huge area, there is a lot to be said for really fine w&d paper followed by manual t-cut or farecla.
You can get up to 7000 grade these days.
If you buy one of those machines, practise on an old dinghy or something!
 
lw395 said:
If it's not a huge area, there is a lot to be said for really fine w&d paper followed by manual t-cut or farecla.
You can get up to 7000 grade these days.
If you buy one of those machines, practise on an old dinghy or something!
Click to expand...

Agree.

Old school. New school.
With the advances made in polishing discs, more correctional work is being completed with ultra fine discs and the grades lw is referring to rather than compounding stages. By hand and by machine.
The old school wet n dry in a bucket of lube water with a rubber block is hard to beat and is the cornerstone skill of any correctional detailer, but the advances made to the medium have been the grain / grit / texture being much more uniformed in size and non-loss. If you are at the 1200 stage and there is a rogue 600 floating about you can kiss goodbye to the next few hours.
Also the method is cleaner, much less product (none bar a friction reducer), foam backed to cushion and a more visible result as you progress /check / continue.

You are uniformly shaving microns down to a perfect base for further polishing.

It's not difficult to learn, but it is hard to master. I guess it depends on the task at hand - Rolls Royce black door panel or just a sheet of GRP. It's something that should be practiced a little, you could just get any so called wet 1200 and do some serious damage on a thin surface. Or get you into trouble on your wife's car!
Further advances regarding 'forced' rotation and osscillation take the results of even the lower grits to an outstanding uniformed level, but on the higher (6000) the finish is mirror and allows you to take the polishing stages to an incredible level.

I'd like to see , 8, 10, 15 and 20 thousand in the Trizact range from 3M in the future.

There are better machines for the individual stage in a job, but the hands can do a lot of them and anyone can try.
 
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