Gelcoat is boring

[KKYS]

How much can you say about it? Grab your rotory and a wool pad
and you'll get a factory shine.
A circus monkey can do it.

I just don't know what to say to offer quality information.

[A-train]

What's typical rpm to run the rotary at on gel coat ?

[glen e]

1500-2500 rpm...like the man said, rotary and wool do the job...love duragloss 561 to get it beautiful......Clean the pad twice as often as paint....

[ShineTimeDetail]

I have my first RV wed....the one side is nasty oxidized. What kind of compounding and what do you follow it up with?

[A-train]

1500-2500 rpm...like the man said, rotary and wool do the job...love duragloss 561 to get it beautiful......Clean the pad twice as often as paint....

Simple enough. Thanks!

[Mike Phillips]

Clean the pad twice as often as paint....

And if you want to make buffing oxidized gel-coat as easy on you as possible, clean your wool pad after every section. It add a little time to the overall process but abrading each new section will be easier and your pad and compound will work more effectively and from my experience, the residue wipes off easier when it's not all mixed up with the gunk on the pad from the last section.

If you buff out a lot of gel-coat boats, motorhomes or anything that's oxidized a lot, as in you do this for a living, the really do yourself a favor and get a pad washer like the System 2000 unit from Lake Country and for dang sure have a spur.









On Autogeek.net


Autogeek System 2000 Pad Washer for Rotary Polishers

Detailer's Polishing Pad Rejuvenator

Lake Country Wool Pad Spur

[ShineTimeDetail]

1500-2500 rpm...like the man said, rotary and wool do the job...love duragloss 561 to get it beautiful......Clean the pad twice as often as paint....

I used megs boat oxidation remover and it didn't work well at all.

[Mike Phillips]

Oh yeah...

Not all gel-coat is boring to buff out... I was stuck buffing this out for 20 years... the first time took a lot of work because it had years of old wax built-up on the hull that had trapped dirt and oxidation under it. In fact there was what looked like a black cloud in the orange gel-coat. The first time I buffed this out after buffing out just a section you could instantly see the difference as the side that was compounded was a bright orange and the side that wasn't compounded was a blackish orange.

After the first time of doing the real aggressive cutting step I still had to stay on top of of it for the rest of the time I owned it because the pigments in the gel-coat were coming close to the point of no return.






Note the stereo bolted to the passenger's side head on the engine, (just behind the passenger seat) and if
you look you can see a 76 Gas Station Ball on the tip of the stereo antenna behind the Indy Champ air scoop.




This is me racing it on Dexter Reservoir in Oregon...






I kept this one up for my best friend Eric too, he can weld and turn wrenches but didn't really care about maintaining a show boat finish...

This my friends is a Sanger, Bubble Deck, Runner Bottom V-Drive Drag Boat.





Now that's the kind of gel-coat I like buffing and driving!

[ShineTimeDetail]

Jeezus! How tall is that truck!

[BillE]

I used megs boat oxidation remover and it didn't work well at all.

M-49 (Oxidation Remover) is a pretty light cut product. Look at M-67 (One Step) which is more of a 'medium cut' and/or M-91 (Power Cut) which is a truly heavy cut compound.

Bill