I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a

- Is a rotary polisher good for tough job such as restoring and
polishing very aged and dull gelcoat?

- Is a rotary polisher not suitable for polishing/waxing painted
surface such as on a car body? I "guess" the reasoning is that paint
is much thinner than gelcoat and has a higher risk of removing too much
paint if the rotary polisher stays in one place for too long, right?

- Is a random orbital polisher good for small job such as waxing
gelcoat that has already been polished, or polishing/waxing painted
surface (like on a car body)?

- Is a random orbital polisher not suitable for polishing aged and
dull gelocat? I "guess" the reason is that random orbital polisher
runs at a lower speed and will take too long to get the job done,
right?

Having said that, may I still use a random orbital polisher to
polish/wax the dull gelcoat? This is just a matter of taking longer to
get done, right? How much longer are we talking about here? This is
not optimal, but is still OK, right?

Should I simply draw a line between boats and cars and say that we
should use a rotary polisher for polishing/waxing boats, and should use
a random orbital polisher for polishing/waxing cars?

Any idea? Thanks.

Jay Chan

wrote in message
oups.com...
I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a

- Is a rotary polisher good for tough job such as restoring and
polishing very aged and dull gelcoat?

- Is a rotary polisher not suitable for polishing/waxing painted
surface such as on a car body? I "guess" the reasoning is that paint
is much thinner than gelcoat and has a higher risk of removing too much
paint if the rotary polisher stays in one place for too long, right?

- Is a random orbital polisher good for small job such as waxing
gelcoat that has already been polished, or polishing/waxing painted
surface (like on a car body)?

- Is a random orbital polisher not suitable for polishing aged and
dull gelocat? I "guess" the reason is that random orbital polisher
runs at a lower speed and will take too long to get the job done,
right?

Having said that, may I still use a random orbital polisher to
polish/wax the dull gelcoat? This is just a matter of taking longer to
get done, right? How much longer are we talking about here? This is
not optimal, but is still OK, right?

Should I simply draw a line between boats and cars and say that we
should use a rotary polisher for polishing/waxing boats, and should use
a random orbital polisher for polishing/waxing cars?

Any idea? Thanks.

Jay Chan


The PC 7424 works great provided you are using the correct foam pads for the
various compounds. We get ours from pinnaclewax.com. Here is a page
explaining the pads: http://pinnaclewax.com/variablepad.html

Also go to rec.boats.cruising and find the thread "Cleaning the Hull" posted
on 4/19. Rich Hample posted a great step by step process for restoring the
finish.

wrote:
I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a
Confusing.

I would only use a "random orbit polisher" as a light duty tool. You
want to do some real polishing, buy a real polisher. Remember that
light duty, regular polishing, requires different tools than heavy duty
polishing of neglected surfaces.
____________________________


My advice:
Go to your local yard, (or the local fire station) and observe. These
guys do a lot of polishing. See what they use.


Don't listen to advice from people who think polishing their car means
sitting in a plastic chair and drinking an expensive coffee drink while
someone else does the work.

Don't fall for the people trying to sell an easy way. Buy the proper
tools and materials.

I'll second the Porter-Cable 7424. I had a couple of other polishers before it.
There's no comparison.

Be sure to get several polishing pads, I find that the annual boat waxing pretty well
goes through one, and you are going to need several passes.




" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message ...

wrote in message oups.com...
I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a

- Is a rotary polisher good for tough job such as restoring and
polishing very aged and dull gelcoat?

- Is a rotary polisher not suitable for polishing/waxing painted
surface such as on a car body? I "guess" the reasoning is that paint
is much thinner than gelcoat and has a higher risk of removing too much
paint if the rotary polisher stays in one place for too long, right?

- Is a random orbital polisher good for small job such as waxing
gelcoat that has already been polished, or polishing/waxing painted
surface (like on a car body)?

- Is a random orbital polisher not suitable for polishing aged and
dull gelocat? I "guess" the reason is that random orbital polisher
runs at a lower speed and will take too long to get the job done,
right?

Having said that, may I still use a random orbital polisher to
polish/wax the dull gelcoat? This is just a matter of taking longer to
get done, right? How much longer are we talking about here? This is
not optimal, but is still OK, right?

Should I simply draw a line between boats and cars and say that we
should use a rotary polisher for polishing/waxing boats, and should use
a random orbital polisher for polishing/waxing cars?

Any idea? Thanks.

Jay Chan


The PC 7424 works great provided you are using the correct foam pads for the various compounds. We get ours from pinnaclewax.com.
Here is a page explaining the pads: http://pinnaclewax.com/variablepad.html

Also go to rec.boats.cruising and find the thread "Cleaning the Hull" posted on 4/19. Rich Hample posted a great step by step
process for restoring the finish.

JimH wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a

- Is a rotary polisher good for tough job such as restoring and
polishing very aged and dull gelcoat?

- Is a rotary polisher not suitable for polishing/waxing painted
surface such as on a car body? I "guess" the reasoning is that paint
is much thinner than gelcoat and has a higher risk of removing too much
paint if the rotary polisher stays in one place for too long, right?

- Is a random orbital polisher good for small job such as waxing
gelcoat that has already been polished, or polishing/waxing painted
surface (like on a car body)?

- Is a random orbital polisher not suitable for polishing aged and
dull gelocat? I "guess" the reason is that random orbital polisher
runs at a lower speed and will take too long to get the job done,
right?

Having said that, may I still use a random orbital polisher to
polish/wax the dull gelcoat? This is just a matter of taking longer to
get done, right? How much longer are we talking about here? This is
not optimal, but is still OK, right?

Should I simply draw a line between boats and cars and say that we
should use a rotary polisher for polishing/waxing boats, and should use
a random orbital polisher for polishing/waxing cars?

Any idea? Thanks.

Jay Chan


The PC 7424 works great provided you are using the correct foam pads for the
various compounds. We get ours from pinnaclewax.com. Here is a page
explaining the pads: http://pinnaclewax.com/variablepad.html

Also go to rec.boats.cruising and find the thread "Cleaning the Hull" posted
on 4/19. Rich Hample posted a great step by step process for restoring the
finish.

Thanks for all the great links.

I am also thinking along the line of Porter-Cable 7424 random orbital
polisher. Actually, I am interested in their 97366 random orbital 6"
sander that is basically the same as 7424 but has dust collection and
that can accept a polishing pad (as what their tech support has
suggested). Then I can use it as a sander and as a polisher (the dust
collection is very important for sanding around fiberglass that I just
had an unpleasure experience with in the last weekend).

What does "Dual-Action" mean as mentioned in
http://pinnaclewax.com/variablepad.html?

Thanks.

Jay Chan

Thanks for the recommendation. I will surely get many polishing pads
for polishing the boat and the cars.

Jay Chan

Chuck Tribolet wrote:
I'll second the Porter-Cable 7424. I had a couple of other polishers before it.
There's no comparison.

Be sure to get several polishing pads, I find that the annual boat waxing pretty well
goes through one, and you are going to need several passes.




" JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT comREMOVETHIS wrote in message ...

wrote in message oups.com...
I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a

- Is a rotary polisher good for tough job such as restoring and
polishing very aged and dull gelcoat?

- Is a rotary polisher not suitable for polishing/waxing painted
surface such as on a car body? I "guess" the reasoning is that paint
is much thinner than gelcoat and has a higher risk of removing too much
paint if the rotary polisher stays in one place for too long, right?

- Is a random orbital polisher good for small job such as waxing
gelcoat that has already been polished, or polishing/waxing painted
surface (like on a car body)?

- Is a random orbital polisher not suitable for polishing aged and
dull gelocat? I "guess" the reason is that random orbital polisher
runs at a lower speed and will take too long to get the job done,
right?

Having said that, may I still use a random orbital polisher to
polish/wax the dull gelcoat? This is just a matter of taking longer to
get done, right? How much longer are we talking about here? This is
not optimal, but is still OK, right?

Should I simply draw a line between boats and cars and say that we
should use a rotary polisher for polishing/waxing boats, and should use
a random orbital polisher for polishing/waxing cars?

Any idea? Thanks.

Jay Chan


The PC 7424 works great provided you are using the correct foam pads for the various compounds. We get ours from pinnaclewax.com.
Here is a page explaining the pads: http://pinnaclewax.com/variablepad.html

Also go to rec.boats.cruising and find the thread "Cleaning the Hull" posted on 4/19. Rich Hample posted a great step by step
process for restoring the finish.

Jim wrote:
wrote:
I am thinking of getting a power tool to help me to polish/wax the
gelcoat of my 18-ft boat (it is quite dull). I really don't want to do
this by hands based on my experience of polishing/waxing my car that is
smaller than the boat. I would like to know the right power tool to do
this.

Based on past posts in newsgroup, people seems to use a rotary polisher
to polish/wax their boats. It is like the Makita sander/polisher. But
we must use it very carefully. If we stay in one place for too long,
it may remove too much gelcoat.

I am also thinking of using a random orbital polisher such as
Porter-Cable 7424. It is supposed to be safer to use around gelcoat or
painted surface (like on a car body). But past posts seemed to say
that it is not effective for restoring dull gelcoat. All these get me
confused.

My questions a
Confusing.

I would only use a "random orbit polisher" as a light duty tool. You
want to do some real polishing, buy a real polisher. Remember that
light duty, regular polishing, requires different tools than heavy duty
polishing of neglected surfaces.
____________________________


My advice:
Go to your local yard, (or the local fire station) and observe. These
guys do a lot of polishing. See what they use.


Don't listen to advice from people who think polishing their car means
sitting in a plastic chair and drinking an expensive coffee drink while
someone else does the work.

Don't fall for the people trying to sell an easy way. Buy the proper
tools and materials.

Yes, the direct-drive rotary polisher must be very powerful and is
probably the right tool for restoring dull gelcoat to shiny. But I
will not be restoring dull getcoat all the time. I am hoping that I
will only need to do this once and don't need to do this for many many
years, and then I will polish the boat regularly to keep it in good
shape. Therefore, I am hoping that the random orbital polisher is
"good enough" for restoring the dull gelcoat even though at a slow
pace. I believe I can live with this -- not expecting to do this often
anyway. And then I can use the random orbital polisher for regular
polishing to maintain the boat in a good shape. I am just trying to
buy one polisher to do dual duties (restoring dull gelcoat, and regular
polishing) instead of buying two polishers.

If I were supposed to polish boats for a living, I would surely get the
best tool for the task. But I am not doing this for a living, I will
have to compromise.

Jay Chan

"jds" wrote in message
news:enk7g.2393$AB3.285@fed1read02...
sorry, but an orbital polisher will not restore the dull gelcoat. they are
just what they say they are, polishers, not buffers. get a good variable
speed buffer, makita, dewalt, or equivalant.

a job like this requires several steps and you can do them all with a
buffer, you just change the pads. depending on just how oxidized it is ,
you may get by with a polishing pad, usually yellow in color, and some
fine compound. if not yo need some coarser compound and a cutting pad.
once the oxidation is gone, just switch to a foam polishing pad and a good
wax. apply the wax by hand and hit it with the foam pad. if you really
want to get sexy, put a good glaze on top of the wax and put your
sunglasses on, you'll need em.

i just did a friends 20 foot boat last weekend, and as jim so rightly
says, there aint no easy way to do it unless you pay someone else. took us
both all day and 2 12 pax of pepsi, but it is purdy. best regards, j.d.


A word of caution. An aggressive buffer combined with compound - even fine -
can easily burn right through the gelcoat if you are not careful. The
gelcoat is thin on most boats, like the thickness of a dime or less. Any
thicker and it would be prone to excessive cracking.

RCE

sorry, but an orbital polisher will not restore the dull gelcoat. they are
just what they say they are, polishers, not buffers. get a good variable
speed buffer, makita, dewalt, or equivalant.

a job like this requires several steps and you can do them all with a
buffer, you just change the pads. depending on just how oxidized it is , you
may get by with a polishing pad, usually yellow in color, and some fine
compound. if not yo need some coarser compound and a cutting pad. once the
oxidation is gone, just switch to a foam polishing pad and a good wax. apply
the wax by hand and hit it with the foam pad. if you really want to get
sexy, put a good glaze on top of the wax and put your sunglasses on, you'll
need em.

i just did a friends 20 foot boat last weekend, and as jim so rightly says,
there aint no easy way to do it unless you pay someone else. took us both
all day and 2 12 pax of pepsi, but it is purdy. best regards, j.d.

RCE wrote:
"jds" wrote in message
news:enk7g.2393$AB3.285@fed1read02...
sorry, but an orbital polisher will not restore the dull gelcoat. they are
just what they say they are, polishers, not buffers. get a good variable
speed buffer, makita, dewalt, or equivalant.

a job like this requires several steps and you can do them all with a
buffer, you just change the pads. depending on just how oxidized it is ,
you may get by with a polishing pad, usually yellow in color, and some
fine compound. if not yo need some coarser compound and a cutting pad.
once the oxidation is gone, just switch to a foam polishing pad and a good
wax. apply the wax by hand and hit it with the foam pad. if you really
want to get sexy, put a good glaze on top of the wax and put your
sunglasses on, you'll need em.

i just did a friends 20 foot boat last weekend, and as jim so rightly
says, there aint no easy way to do it unless you pay someone else. took us
both all day and 2 12 pax of pepsi, but it is purdy. best regards, j.d.


A word of caution. An aggressive buffer combined with compound - even fine -
can easily burn right through the gelcoat if you are not careful. The
gelcoat is thin on most boats, like the thickness of a dime or less. Any
thicker and it would be prone to excessive cracking.

RCE


Buffing a car/boat is not for the average person. It is best left to
the experts.

--
Reggie

That's my story and I am sticking to it.