Cutting / buffing / polishing pad recommendations

[statikuz]

I recently picked up two skis (my first) that are in sound mechanical condition but look a little rough on the outside:

Anyway, I bought some stuff:

http://www.harborfreight.com/sanderpolisher-7-variable-speed-69474.html (was only $30)

This had pretty good reviews too:

http://amzn.com/B0000AY4YT

The rotary came with a 7" backing plate and a big foam pad, and I bought a 5" backing plate which came with a wool pad. Tried the wool pad but it didn't seem to work that well - it just got all matted up. Don't know if I wasn't using enough product or not running it fast enough or what...

I was thinking about getting some foam pads and trying those.

I know there's about a zillion different ones and I'm not sure which would work best here. The red ski isn't too bad, just faded, but the silver one is pretty bad, rough to the touch.

I think I can get these locally so I thought I'd start with those: http://www.meguiars.com/en/professional/products/w7006-softbuff-foam-cutting-pad-65in/

Those might be a little big - would using like a 4" one or something be much easier? Recommendations on those?

Anyway I know this is a pretty broad topic and there's no one-size-fits-all solution but I thought I'd try and gather some more info and maybe it would prove useful for someone else searching for this stuff later on.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I used that same 7" w/the wool pad over the foam pad.
I used Mcguiers (however you spell it) medium cutting.. something for the first pass over the whole ski (tape off your decals!) #3 I think?

THen I used the #7 stuff on the whole ski again

I posted the pics link on your other thread

of the before + after. Night and day, when I got it, it looked like trash, now it looks like a ski!

 

[racerxxx]

The wool pad from harbor is garbage, I shredded mine in two seconds, I think its made from cat. Go to an autobody supply shop and get one there. Wool is what you want to use for the heavy cut, foams are for the polish and wax.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

[statikuz]

I shredded mine in two seconds, I think its made from cat.

I think I would agree, it started to disintegrate into fluff pretty quick.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

The wool pad from harbor is garbage, I shredded mine in two seconds, I think its made from cat. Go to an autobody supply shop and get one there. Wool is what you want to use for the heavy cut, foams are for the polish and wax.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

lmao ! that has me cracking up

 

[suke]

I'm a fan of foam pads.....for many reasons. 4" pads are going to be awesome to get into the small places. Pretty much everything I use is from Adams polishes. They make a 4" pad and pad kit that can be used on a drill or PC.....could prolly be used on that HF buffer as well.

The only thing I use that's non-adams is a heavy cut compound. For cars I use a brand called Malco which is a professional brand line meant to get out 800 grit sanding scratches.....not cheap by any means. For this ski I'm using 3m's heaviest cut. Then I'll follow it up with Adam's next round of compound followed by their polish. I've used just about everything out there from Meguiars to professional line detailing compounds/polishes/pads. Out of all of those I still prefer Adams.

I get my Adam's stuff from www.gpcperformance.com they offer flat rate shipping and all orders over $100 are free. I have NO affiliation with Adam's and/or GPC. Just been detailing for a long time.

 

[Dr Honda]

As above... I use a 7" foam pad without a bonnet.

For a hull like yours.... as before... use 1000 grit wet/dry paper... and then attack it will 3m "Super Duty" compound. It will look like new when you are done.

Look at the reflection in the blue. There isn't any wax on that yet... just a polish with 3m.

 

[suke]

attack it will 3m "Super Duty" compound. It will look like new when you are done.

Look at the reflection in the blue. There isn't any wax on that yet... just a polish with 3m.

Just bought some of that stuff since it's quite a bit cheaper than my Malco stuff I use on cars for my XP project. Good to see it works on gel coat. The best shine you get is from perfectly corrected paint like you've shown......the wax is just for protection. Nice shot!

 

[racerxxx]

I used a wool pad it's velcro backed to stick right to the backer pad and used Meguires #49 Oxidization remover and the wool pad then to Meguires Ultimate polish with a foam pad then to Meguires NXT Wax with a foam pad. Don't be afraid to start with wool, guys shy away from it when doing automotive finishes because you can burn thru the paint. I've watch my buddy buff a 15K+ paint job on a show car with a wool pad to start, he's been doing it long enough to know what to watch for and then he'll finish up with multiple foam pads with different cuts, you could shave your face in the reflection. The gel coat is not like paint, when I did my 96 I was afraid to start with wool but kept reading that the gel coat is durable. Man is it, you can really lean into it and not burn it. Here's my 96 before and after. I think it looks good but I probably should have wet sanded first. You can't really fudge up with foam that's why it's great for auto finishes.

That blue does POP Doc!

 

[statikuz]

Alrighty, so I pulled the skis out of the garage, washed them up good and started in with the HF rotary, a 6.5" Meguiar's foam cutting pad (above, picked up today), and some of the Meguiar's 49 oxidation remover.

Naturally I slung it all over the place since the pad is definitely too big for the area I was working on (I think) and here's the results I got so far:

It's not really any shinier, just somewhat smoother and a lot darker. I'm not sure if I was running the pad fast enough, or hard enough, or for long enough (first time doing any of this). It was hard to keep the rotary running at the same speed since it fluctuated a lot with pressure (that's what $30 buys you!)

Any suggestions or thoughts so far?

 

[racerxxx]

The Harbor freight I have has a dial with numbers from like 1-5. I'm telling you, your just wasting material with a foam pad, you need the coarseness of the wool and the heat to help cut that haze. My XP was flat yellow I can see myself in it now. Foam is great for auto paint I'm sure but it ain't gonna cut the chalk. If you have to work an edge of the buffer preferably the 3 o'clock position and you can tip it on its edge. Squirt a line and then just run the buffer over it and blip the throttle to keep the fling down then creep up on the RPM's, pick your worst clothes to wear and wear them only to buff in, the shizz will get everywhere no matter what.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

The mcquiers stuff said slow, I used the slowest setting on mine
I even did the hood and mirrors. Pics of that soon.


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4094673318041.2163806.1019051350&type=3

 

[Jetskigoodies]

I would order the heavy cut. You cant buy it in a store because people use it on there cars and destroy the paint, i get mine from murrays or now oreillys. Its $10 and will cut right through that oxidation with just a few passes, then use medium cut then fine cut. After that it will look new. You can even keep going and use swirl remover then the yellow wax. I am a big fan of meguiars. Make sure you change the cloth cover with every step. Even label them. The grit will stay on the pad and pretty much negate the later steps purpose of smoothing out the gel coat. That stuff works so good you dont have to wet sand. If you want to save your decals make sure you tape them off well. If you look at my profile pics all of those were done using those steps

 

[Jetskigoodies]

I used a buffer and a drill with a cloth pad, used on the highest setting. You are working with tuff gel coat, i havent burnt it yet and i use high settings and really lean into it. The directions on the bottle is for paint.

 

[Dr Honda]

Gel is tough. That's why I use super duty compound. The Meguiar's stuff was meant for the general public, and it's "Safe". If you took super duty compound to your car... you would burn though the paint in about 5 seconds.

Remember... Gel is not paint. It's hard and VERY thick. That's why we said to take sand paper to those numbers first. You need to "Blend" that all together first... and then polish it.

 

[suke]

Gel is tough. That's why I use super duty compound. The Meguiar's stuff was meant for the general public, and it's "Safe". If you took super duty compound to your car... you would burn though the paint in about 5 seconds.

Remember... Gel is not paint. It's hard and VERY thick. That's why we said to take sand paper to those numbers first. You need to "Blend" that all together first... and then polish it.

This gel coat is insane. I took 1500 grit wet sandpaper to my numbers like the OP and went at it for a minute or so......didn't even look marginally different.

I grew up using wool bonnets and HATE them......sadly I think I'll have to go to them if I want to finish my project in a decent amount of time. I'll head to the local auto parts store in the next few days and see what I can find. Sadly I have a detail I'm working on now so my project will have to take a back seat for the next couple days.

 

[motox25]

Lots of good info here! Do you guys recommend using a sander with the 1000 grit sandpaper or doing it by hand? I'll probably end up buying a sander/polisher like the OP listed. When wet sanding just spray the area before sanding with water in a spray bottle?

 

[racerxxx]

Lots of good info here! Do you guys recommend using a sander with the 1000 grit sandpaper or doing it by hand? I'll probably end up buying a sander/polisher like the OP listed. When wet sanding just spray the area before sanding with water in a spray bottle?

I'd go by hand or a flexi-block, some guys use a spray bottle, some like to hold a sponge with one hand and squeeze every once in a while. When wet sanding primer on fenders and such I always used a sports bottle and drilled a small hole instead of using the big fat daddy pull top if you know what I mean, then just tip it up to let air back in. I've seen other guys (old schoolers) use a pump sprayer with a long hose to keep the bottle on the ground.

Don't use a bonnet use a real wool pad. Look in the actual yellow pages and find your local autobody supply shop. The guys around the corner from me love talking and giving advice on these special projects--mixing paint and pulling supplies all day gets boring. Go visit one!

http://www.eastwood.com/liquid-ice-super-cut-wool-pad.html

 

[suke]

Got my heavy cut stuff in today and gave it a whirl using my foam pads. I won't need to get a wool pad. It cuts more than enough at max speed with medium pressure. Got some pics on my phone but haven't uploaded them yet. Should buff out amazingly well.

 

[racerxxx]

Cool deal Suke. Get those pics up like me some glossy yellow!

 

[suke]

Haven't had a chance to follow it up with subsequent polishes.....but even still looks perfectly glossy. Other round should finish it out real nice. Have a soccer game to get to, so I'll have to try and get the pics up later.