What pads to use with Porter Cable to remove oxidation on a 2004 Trophy Pro

[Mike Phillips]

also with the rupes wool pads on the rotary do i need the rupes rotary compound?

No. What you want is a GREAT compound. RUPES makes a great compound but there are also other great compounds out there.

or will i be fine with the rupes zephir gloss coarse gel compound for both on rotary and DA?

I've used the RUPES Zephir Gloss Course Gel Compound mostly with DAs but I've also used it with rotary and it works good. I think the new compound formulated specifically for rotary buffers is a wetter product so it has a longer buffing cycle and easier wipe-off but you can get away with the Zephir compound. I would have to re-visit to know for sure the buffing characteristics with rotary.

[blambert]

what compound would you recommend to use with the rotary besides the captains compound due to me not being able to get it? i dont mind buying another compound for the rotary if its gonna produce good results.

[Mike Phillips]

what compound would you recommend to use with the rotary besides the captains compound due to me not being able to get it? i dont mind buying another compound for the rotary if its gonna produce good results.

The only other compound I've used lately that I know for sure works great on gel-coat is the Menzerna FG400

I have he new GYEON Marine Compound and also 3D One, both which use great abrasive technology but I have not tested them on gel-coat.

I'm sure other great compounds will product show car results on gel-coat, problem is I don't detail a lot of boats - by choice. I kind of like buffing out cool cars.


I leave big jobs, which are great bragging rights but mostly plain, simple grunt work to my peers in this industry.

[blambert]

okay ill stick with the zepher compound for now on the rotary. finally found some captains compound but it wont be in stock from the place i found it for another 4 weeks, but will be ordering some for sure.

[Whitewater25]

I wet sanded my old gel coat with the Trizact 3000 discs on my Porter Cable before I polished it. Big difference and a lot less work than compounding before polishing. The Marine 31 captains one step compound/polish is good stuff.

[blambert]

been doing lots of reading and just wondering is the porter cable going to be able to do the job of removing the (scratches) from the rotary buffer and wool pad? or should i be looking into the flex 3401? thanks

[Mike Phillips]

I wet sanded my old gel coat with the Trizact 3000 discs on my Porter Cable before I polished it. Big difference and a lot less work than compounding before polishing.

I call this, working smarter instead of working harder.

Both compounding with a wool pad on a rotary and sanding first, followed with compounding with a wool pad on a rotary will accomplish the same goal - remove heavy or deep oxidation. Only when machine sanding you hold the polisher lightly against the side of a boat - if compounding with a rotary polisher ONLY - then you press the rotary against the side of the boat HARD and for HOURS.

One approach is simply easier on you and actually does a better job. The key is, after restoring the gel-coat - don't let it get bad again. You don't want to machine sand the side of your boat over and over again when regular maintenance can maintain the gel-coat.

My observation here in South Florida is most boat owners do nothing until their boat looks so bad that then they take action.

The Marine 31 captains one step compound/polish is good stuff.

With a cutting pad, (foam or fiber), it will cut like a compound and also finish out like a polish. I've never seen a boat that it did NOT work on 100% to my expectations for gloss and clarity in the final results.


Other compounds? I'd have to test them to know for sure. One thing that I already know for sure - I don't want to buff out a huge boat only to get mediocre results. Of course, I would never do this as I would dial-in my process via the Test Spot, like I show in all my write-ups for my boat detailing classes and then buff out the boat.

It's the Test Spot that is supposed to prevent a person from having to buff out a boat, or a car a SECOND time because you're product or process is faulty.

[Mike Phillips]

been doing lots of reading and just wondering is the porter cable going to be able to do the job of removing the (scratches) from the rotary buffer and wool pad?

The scratches you mention, just so everyone that will read this thread into the future will understand, are the HOLOGRAMS or as I call them more specifically, the HOLOGRAM SCRATCHES - because this is what they are. And it's NORMAL that anytime you buff out a boat or a car and use a wool pad and a rotary buffer - you're going to leave behind holograms scratches in the surface.

The follow-up step to remove these holograms scratches is to re-polish the surface only get away from using a FIBER pads with all its millions of individual fibers putting their own scratch or scratches into the surface and switch over to a foam buffing pad, which is different than a fiber pad in that it has a FLAT UNIFORM SURFACE TEXTURE for to which to sandwich the abrasives against the surface.

It is the flat surface against the gel-coat, (or in the case of car paint), plus the abrasives that are then able to remove the holograms scratches. And of course, when I write stuff like this I'm writing in the context of using GREAT abrasive technology.

If you use crap for abrasive technology it doesn't matter what pad, tool or how great you and your technique are - you're going to get crap for results. This is because it is the abrasives that are first touching the surface and EVERYTHING or EVERY RESULT starts first with what is touching the surface.


This is why anytime and every time someone joins this forum and asks for help buffing out their boat or car, I start my "help" by finding out what they are using.

or should i be looking into the flex 3401? thanks

The Porter Cable with the right pads and product as well as technique will get the job done. If you're using the Captain's Compound, RUPES Blue Foam pads and holding the Porter Cable polisher in a way that you are able to maintain PAD ROTATION - you're going to level the gel-coat surface and remove the holograms scratches.

At least on any flat section of gel-coat large enough to enable a 6" RUPES foam pad to rest flat against the surface.

Where you're going to run into problems is when you buff any THIN sections of gel-coat out with the wool pad on edge on the rotary - you will not be able to come back and put the foam pad on the Porter Cable on EDGE to remove the holograms. The pad simply will not rotate.

You can do this with a gear-driven orbital but you will be punishing the sides of your buffing pads and of course, you're going to need THICK buffing pads so you have a THICK side to press against the thin section of gel-coat.


IF it were me, I wouldn't be too concerned out having a hologram-free finish on the thin sections, I would simply buff them out and then seal them and then take care of the boat. I would however want the sides of the hull to be hologram-free and you can accomplish this with the Porter Cable. You will need plenty of pads as already discussed because as your pads become WET with product, (normal), they will stop cutting and polishing.

[blambert]

Hey Mike,
been reading around on the forum again and looking for a good polish for removing scratches from plastic.
also wondering what is a good product for cleaning and protecting isinglass. the isinglass was all replaced last year so not much damage on it but would like to keep it that way.
Also found a place in Canada that has your Marine 31 book. looking forward to reading through it.

[Mike Phillips]

Hey Mike,

been reading around on the forum again and looking for a good polish for removing scratches from plastic.

Normally Meguiar's PlastX is a safe bet. I have had some micro-marring issues using it on really soft plastic so always do a Test Spot, but all-in-all, a very good product.

also wondering what is a good product for cleaning and protecting isinglass. the isinglass was all replaced last year so not much damage on it but would like to keep it that way.

I think GYEON introduced a new coating for PPF and I have to wonder? This might be good for Isenglass.

Also found a place in Canada that has your Marine 31 book. looking forward to reading through it.

Our website shows this book to be discontinued?

How many copies did they have?

This was the most difficult book I ever wrote. I wrote it to be the Course Manual for my boat detailing classes. Read it from cover-to-cover. It's packed with info.


Heading out to the garage, always busy. Doing a review for the new 303 compounds and polishes on this old 2-door Chevy.




I've been sharing lots of "technique" videos from this project on my Facebook page


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