Compounding and Polishing Advice

[wgkenney]

Hi all,

I read Maine Sail's great post on compounding, polishing, and waxing. I have taken the advice in that thread and started working on my Beneteau 473. It is a 2006 and was well maintained so the hull looks pretty good to start with.

This is the first time I have done this so I wanted to ensure I was getting this right. I started by doing just 1/3 of the starboard side all the way through waxing to get the process down.

No need for the on/off and the compounding phase went fine (the hull is in good shape so I likely could have skipped this). Hull looked really good after just compounding. My issue came in the polishing phase. Using the buffer, polishing grade wool pad and finess It the polish went on fine. Used slow speed initially (the 1 setting) and got the polish spread well them moved up to the 2 and 3 setting. If I buffed until I got the shine there was not really any polish left to wipe off. So I am concerned that I actually "dry buffed" the polish. But if I stopped sooner and hand wiped, I really could not buff hard enough to get the shine. Was not an issue in the compounding phase. Hand wiping was fine and still got to a shine with no haze.

With wax on the top it really looks like new. But, again, the warning was clear not to dry buff or there was a potential to damage the gel coat.

Since I'm a newbie at this any advice would be helpful before I get back at it to finish the rest of the boat.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by wgkenney

With wax on the top it really looks like new. But, again, the warning was clear not to dry buff or there was a potential to damage the gel coat.

Since I'm a newbie at this any advice would be helpful before I get back at it to finish the rest of the boat.

The warning was there for the "masses" as I have seen folks literally burn and discolor gelcoat from dry buffing. Some folks take stuff so literally that they would sit in one spot till it was dry then move on but the temp of the glass got so hot the discolored the gelcoat and burned it. So long as your monitoring the hull temp and you keep the pad moving you should be fine. Also don't be afraid to experiment more with the speed once you get the hang of it.

[wgkenney]

Thanks! I'm at low speeds and working my way up so hull temp is good. And the results look great. Great thread you did on the sticky.

[PalmettoSailor]

I have to say I followed Maine's tips two years ago using Finesse-It and again using the Presta products this year.

I'm far happier with the results this time round.