Safety First - Always plug-in to a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter

[Mike Phillips]

Safety First - Always plug-in to a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter



I do a lot of damp sanding and teach damp sanding using dual action polishers as well as dry sanding and wet sanding by hand . The entire idea behind damp sanding is unlike WET sanding you're only using a little water. So as long as you're using common sense there shouldn't be any safety issues.

That said, if you're going to use any type of electrical tool around water you should always be plugged into a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter equipped electrical outlet.

If you don't have access to electrical outlets with GFI built-in then you can purchase a dedicated GFI like you see in the pictures below.

I also use a GFI when I machine scrub tires or clean vinyl or non-skid surfaces in boats using electrical tool. (SEE BELOW).


For anyone reading this, use common sense and keep water away from any electrical tool and always use a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter when using electrical tools. If your electrical outlets do not offer GFI then you can get a dedicated GFI at any hardware store.

Looks and works like this...













For the last few years I've been showing a lot of people how to take their electric dual action polishers and turn them into machine wet sanders as well as how to take their Porter Cable, Griot's Garage and Meguiar's G110v2 dual action polishers and turn them into machine scrubbers for rubber, vinyl, non-skid decks on boats, etc.
(See the follow-up post below)


Wet Test
There are no electric tools that will pass the wet test. That's where an electrical tool is tested by blasting it with water.


Common Sense
I've never been electrocuted when machine sanding or machine scrubbing tires but I also use common sense when using any tools anywhere.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's an article on how to turn your dual action polisher into the best darn tire scrubber you'll ever use. Works better and does a better job than you and your arm.


Best darn tire cleaning brush I've ever used!

Yep, the Porter Cable with a Cyclo brush mounted to it instead of the backing plate! Takes ALL the elbow grease out of getting old, slimy tire dressings off, blooming, (the brown residue that builds-up when antiozonants meet ozone in the air), and deteriorated dead rubber.




Here's the tires I need to clean. They have some type of slimy tire dressing on them and the white letters look kind of brownish...




I'm going to apply Tuf Shine and the directions for Tuf Shine state that all previously applied dressings need to be removed in order for the Tuf Shine Clearcoat. I started out using the Tuf Shine Brush and it as well as any good tire brush will get the job done but ding dang scrubbing tires surgically clean is a LOT of work and it's awkward because the tires are low to the ground and vertical faced.


First I sprayed on the Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner...





Then I let the machine do the work... now I'll let the pictures do the talking...










After scrubbing the tires clean I moved the Monte Carlo back into the studio to get the paint polished but here's how the tires look now, perfectly clean and ready for application of the Tuf Shine Clearcoat.





Let the machine do the work...
So if you already own a Porter Cable, Meguiar's G110v2 or Griot's Garage DA Polisher, then add a Cyclo brush or to and anytime you have any brush cleaning to do, let the machine do the work for you.





This is the Grey Ultra Soft Upholstery Brush...






Action shot!




There are 4 different brushes available so you can choose the aggressiveness of the brush bristles for your scrubbing job...





On Autogeek.net

Cyclo Polisher Brushes

[Mike Phillips]

Here's an article on how to machine clean vinyl, whether it's a vinyl tonneau cover or a viny convertible top or ANY other type of vinyl, you always getter better results with less work by machine.


How to Machine Clean a Vinyl Tonneau Cover

Machine Scrubbing Vinyl

Photographing Dirty White Vinyl
It was a little tricky getting pictures that would show just how dirty the vinyl on this 1932 Ford Phaeton was but if you look closely I think you can see the dirt I loosened being rinsed off in these shots...















In these two shots, you can see the last 1/4 I have to clean.







After shooting the video I could see the sections I scrubbed by hand were not as bright and white as the sections I did by machine so I actually went back and re-scrubbed them for a uniform appearance.



Cyclo Polisher = Cyclo Vinyl Scrubber

Cleaning dirty vinyl tops and tonneau covers is hard, dirty work. The Cyclo polisher takes all the elbow grease out of the job and does a much better job than working by hand.

Here's a list of the products I used to restore a brilliant bright white to the dirty vinyl tonneau cover on this 1932 Ford Phaeton. You can use these same products on any vinyl detailing project, automotive or marine.


Cyclo Polisher Mark 5 Pro

Marine 31 Fabric & Vinyl Cleaner

Marine 31 Vinyl Protectant with SunBlock

Carrand Deluxe Interior Brush


For more tips on car detailing in general, for example how to get a show car finish like I created on this 1932 Ford Phaeton, get a copy of my how-to book.

The Complete Guide to a Show Car Finish

[Mike Phillips]

If you own a boat with any type of NON-SKID surfaces, here's an article on how to machine clean non-skid which takes all the work out of the project and does the job better and faster.


This is the third segment John and I shot for an upcoming episode of Ship Shape TV. In this segment we're going to show people the faster, easier and more effective way to clean non-skid surfaces and that' by machine using Marine 31 Port to Starboard All Purpose Cleaner.

Here's John and I reading the directions for Marine 31 Port to Starboard All Purpose Cleaner. This product is RTU or Ready to Use right out of the bottle or you can dilute it up to 10:1 for lighter cleaning of more delicate surfaces.




John explaining the difference between molded-in non-skid and non-skid materials like SeaDek, which is in John's 13" Boston Whaler.




Here I'm giving John two options,

1. Clean the non-skid surface the old-fashioned way using a brush and lots of elbow grease

2. Use a tool like either the Cyclo Polisher or the Porter Cable Polisher with a brush attached where a buffing pad is normally used.

In the segment we talk about the differences in the types of brushes such as how aggressive or non-aggressive the bristles are...




Mike and Bert the cameramen running the cameras...









Here's Johnathan, John's son giving the Cyclo a try to the molded-in non skid floor...




Mike filming John...





Here's both Johnathon and John machine scrubbing the non-skid floor. John is using the Porter Cable 7424XP










We didn't capture the before shots with our still camera but you'll see how dirty the floor is on the TV show.



After scrubbing the floors with the Port to Starboard APC we moved the boat outside and then sprayed it down with a Foam Gun and then rinsed out the inside of the boat.

The Marine 31 Port to Starboard APC worked flawlessly by machine to thoroughly clean the the molded-in non-skid surfaces for the floor and the softer non-skid SeaDek surfaces.









The inside of this boat probably hasn't been this clean since it was brand new...


On Marine31.com

Marine 31 Port to Starboard All Purpose Cleaner

Porter Cable 7424XP

Cyclo Polisher Model 5 Pro

Cyclo Polisher Brushes

[Mike Phillips]

The only time I hand sand is when I HAVE to hand sand.... for everything else I always machine sand and I'll choose and use a Porter Cable 7424XP or a Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher to do the machine sanding before an air powered sanded in most cases.



1956 Chevy Bel-Air - Damp Sanding, Cut & Polish


This is a 1956 Chevy that Matt and I dampsanded and then buffed out.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...you can see this baby was in need of some real TLC! This repaint of 20-25 years old according to the owner, but my Defelsko gauge told me that it had anywhere from 12 to 18 mils of paint...







Here I'm using a small piece of detailing clay stuck to the hood to give my camera something to focus on and the using the flash to expose the swirls. Without the clay, a quarter or nickle, or my finger the shot would come out all fuzzy because the camera wouldn't be able to focus directly on the surface.







This is a very nice 1956 Chevrolet Belair but the paint was thrashed...




All taped-off




Damp-Sanding with Meguiar's Unigrit #3000 Unigrit Finishing Discs



Matt and I used 2 discs to sand down the entire car...



Here's Matt damp-sanding the roof...




We started at 9:16AM, and finished around 9:42AM. Under 40 minutes to damp-sand an entire car this big, and we only used (2) sanding discs (1 each)!







Just how much work it is to completely wet sand an entire car, not to mention a streetrod doesn't really sink in till start sanding....












Normally you would want to wipe off the sanding sludge as you work around the car but it makes for a more cool photo to leave all the sludge on the car. Here we've wiped the car clean and we're ready to start compounding.



#3000 Grit leaves a flat sheen that's easily buffed out...




Finishing touches....
After compounding, polishing, and applying the first coat of a paint protection product, we "edged" the car, in this example edging means to open all the doors, trunk lid and hood and wipe out any compounding or polishing residue in the cracks and crevises...

Edging....



When you open the car all up for any reason and take a picture, this is called stretching, kind of like you when your spread out your arms and stretch out...

Stretching...





All finished in around 8 hours with two guys working in the garage... you know, 2 Guys Garage... in Autogeek's Show Car Garage...






















This is Matt putting the frosting on the cake, for frosting he's using Wolfgang Fusion and applying by machine...







If you look at the front most overhead florescent lights you can see a clear circle where he's broken the wax open... we show this technique here and here...



Wearing Microfiber Gloves and using a Cobra Deluxe Jr. 600 Microfiber Towel to remove the Fusion...



Thin coating...






Fold your microfiber towels 4-ways to give you 8 wiping sides and plenty of cushion to spread the pressure of your hand out...





Finish shots...















Here's Yancy having way too much fun...

[Mike Phillips]

For any of the above projects, if you don't have an outlet with built-in GFI then definitley use a portable GFI like this one....

[Tato]

This whole thread is a gift for who cares to take a look on a safety issue.

Thanks for information. It's good to see how many things it's possible to do working safe.

Beautiful demonstration on the cyclo and brushes;

The BelAir pictures are what I would call SHARP reflexes, WOW!

As always, perfect documentation, it's close to being there, wonderful pictures!

I could stay here the whole day writing good things about this thread,...

Kind Regards.

[Mike Phillips]

This whole thread is a gift for who cares to take a look on a safety issue.

Thanks...

I don't want anyone to think I don't care about safety as I do. In fact, the running joke in my family is my middle name is safety.

Big pictures is this.... I've never been shocked using electrical tools around water or moisture in the detailing world. Doesn't mean it can't happen or won't happen but I try to use a little common sense and that goes a long ways.

So if you're reading this and you plan on machine scrubbing your tires like I do. Or you're planning on machine wet sanding something like I do, or you're going to machine scrub some vinyl or some non-skid surfaces on a boat.... then please take the necessary precautions to keep yourself and/or other safe and please use some common sense.

There are not any cars or boats out their worth getting hurt over....

[riles32807]

Just my 2 cents... I work in landscaping, not detailing, but we use power tools fairly often. I would highly suggest that all garage/shop outlets be protected with a GFI (you only need 1 GFI outlet per circuit/circuit breaker). Even if you never plan to have water anywhere near your tools, it's that unexpected one in a million leak, spill, or puddle that is going to get you. The minimal cost and time of putting in a GFI is more than worth the piece of mind.

[cmanningjr]

Great write up!! Being an electrician for the last 25 years GFCI's have really came to the forefront. They are required in many more places than they used to be..

Great to bring them up from time to time to keep everybody safe!!


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