I'm a little behind in posts as there just is not enough time to do the work, and post about it.
I took a few days off and managed to string 6 consecutive days together around Memorial Day. This was an excellent opportunity to get some good work done.
The focus on the 6 days was to get the deck prepped for painting the non-skid surfaces with Durabak, a rubberized non-skid used primarily in industrial applications, but not unheard of in marine applications. It has good non-skid properties, and is relatively easy to apply. (sand, wipe down, apply)
In order to get the non-skid areas ready, I first needed to sand, compound, and polish the non-non-skid areas. This allows for a good surface to apply tape for taping off the individual nonskid sections. Also, in order to paint, I first was going to be grinding off the original non-skid texture. Therefore, I did not have to spend anytime cleaning up from the compounding and polishing.
Wet-Sanding
To get things kicked off, I purchased 3M Wetordry sandpaper in 600, 800 and 1000 grit. After looking around town, I bought from Amazon for about half of what I could get it for locally. I bought it in 9x11 sheets, 5 sheets to a pack, and 2 packs of each grit.
The 600 grit took the longest as we were not only removing all the oxidized gelcoat, but also sanding down imperfections, and removing grime and other stuff that would not come off during the cleaning.
Once the 600 was done, the 800 and 1000 went fairly quickly, as I was just looking for consistent scratch patterns after each grit. The 1000 grit leaves the surface slightly shiny all by itself. I've read that a person could just wetsand all the way up to 2000 grit, bypass the compounding process, and move directly to polishing phase. That won't be an option here.
The Memorial Day weekend was very hot, and I was forced off the boat by 3PM most days as it was just too hot. However, I did get all the sanding done in 1 day.
Compounding Phase
For compounding, I went with Presta products based on some online forum suggestions. They are supposed to have abrasive media that will break down into finer and finer particles during compounding. This helps to eliminate swirl marks, and makes it easier to get a good shine.
I bought a Makita buffing machine 9227CX3, with variable speed and a locking trigger. It seems to be the industry standard for buffing machines.
For those of you lucky folks who have not had the absolute pleasure of wielding this kind of machine, I can tell you it builds muscle, as well as character.
As soon as i tried it, I was immediately reminded of the time I rented a floor buffing machine during a flooring project at my house. The guy at the rental place told be to be careful at first until I got the hang of it. "Maybe try starting in the middle of the biggest room so you don't hit the wall with it." "Ok, chief!" I think to myself. After all, the thing had a panic switch on it, and would stop right away if you let go. So I hauled it home, and took it to a bedroom, which was not the biggest room, and fired it up. SLAM! In about 2 seconds, the machine had slammed itself into the nearest wall, and crushed in a nice sized piece of drywall. "Huh..." I thought. "Good thing no one was here to witness that!" This time, lets try again, but with a bit more care. SLAM! Another hole in the wall. "Bastard!" Lots of inertia here. Third time was the charm.
So I did not put any holes in the boat, and it was certainly not as difficult to control as the floor buffer, but occasionally, it would try to take me for ride. Also, it is real easy to get the power cord wrapped up in the spinning wheel. Especially when your body is contorted into strange positions to start with, sweat is running in your eye, which is already full of compound spray from the buffing wheel, and the machine bucks uncontrollably, catching the cord and stopping the machine. If your lucky, the machine is still humming and you swear and move on. If not, you head down and replace the power cord.
So the process is 1.) Load Compound, 2.) At 600RPM, spread compound over a 2'x2' area, and work it in for about 1 minute, 3.) Kick the speed to about 1200 RPM and work it for 30-45 seconds, 4.) Kick it up to about 4000RPM, and carefully buff dry.
Some key points
1.) Keep the pad moist, but not too moist. Keep the working area wet, as to keep the media working, yet try to limit the amount of compound spraying off the wheel, or "sling" as it is known by the pros. I must need more practice at this, as I could not strike the right balance. I think my main problem was the hull surface was just too hot once the sun moved overhead. I tried to keep working in the shade, in the mornings.
2.) Keep the buffer moving at all times.
3.) Let the buffer do the work. Don't bear down on the pad.
4.) Know when to replace the pad. If you start losing thickness of the wool, it gets much harder to control, and the pad tends to "suction" to the surface.
Compounding took a day.
Polishing phase
Same as compounding phase, but with Presta Ultra-Cutting Cream instead, and a polishing grade wool pad.
Polishing took another day.
Next Step
I will eventually wax with Colonite Fleet Wax. Another industry standard product.
Before and After
I don't have very good photos to illustrate this. Its difficult to get a good one with a cameraphone that shows the difference in gloss.
Before:
After:
This photo probably best illustrates the level of gloss. There was absolutely no reflection prior to this.
I did not get to the paint prep phase this weekend, but I did get to it in subsequent weeks. That will be the next post.
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