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Do you have a Gel coat? I own a Detail shop In Berea, and have written up a few tips for doing cars, but I also do over 50 to 60 boats a year. So I will tell you the basics first. If you need more info, Let me know and we will go deeper.
For those who want to learn to buff, polish, compound or are determined they want to buff there own boat this will be what you need if you already have a rotory buffer!
1.)3M is the products that can be found virtually in ever state and area so we will use this. 3m perfect -it Micro compound {1} pint... Foam polishing glaze 3m perfect -it {1} pint.. these are your compound and polish.Next you need your 3m white waffle foam compounding pad,and a 3m black waffle polishing pad.
2.)Make sure surface is clean and no dust, tape all edges with blue non stick 3m tape, apply the micro compound with a foam applicater and a quarter size drop of compound on the top rail to get a feel of process! work a 2ft by 2 ft area starting out slow then procede to 1600 rpms and move in a back and forth motion slowly until no more compound is visible.Do this a couple of times and go to the next 2ft area, always 2ft by 2 ft on large areas.
3.)if you have moldings on the boat its best to tape off until your happy with control of buffer.Warning these rotory buffers turn speeds up to 3000 rpm's and even at 1000 rpms if you hit a cleat or any edge or corner that buffer can bounce back and cause injury or death,and never turn upside down or side ways when buffing as the cord can catch the head and snag the cord and cause injury!
4.)Next we want to polish to remove swirl marks from compounding. Black waffle pad and a quarter size drop of glaze/polish and at 1700 rpms proceed in same manner as compounding,if you buffed that spot 3 times you will want to glaze/polish 3 times the same area!keep a small bottle of distilled water in a spray bottle and if the glaze/polish starts to stick to the boat spray a little water and buff off.
Now A few of my tips and tricks:
clean your buffing pads with a tooth brush by holding buffer with trigger pulled at slow rpm to clean off build up .Do this every 2nd time your pad hits the boat.
keep boat wiped down after each section is done and wipe next panel down before proceeding! Make sure boat is cool to the touch and never buff in the sun.
Always wax or seal after buffing.
Micro towel and a quick spray detailer instead of water and terrycloth will give better results.
Never use any compounding rags or ect to put on glaze, do not mix in any way as it can cause swirls when Glazing /polishing!
Remember the boat care market is a 2 billion dollar a year business and there are tons of product to choose from but as a beginner this is a great proven way to get started.
If your finish is REALLY, REALLY oxidized we can go into wet sanding the gel coat or color sanding....but that will be another post-- Hope this helps you a little and good luck! It is messy!! ;-)
