Experiment in tin boat polishing, using Harbor Freight junk

[PATRIOT]

Any of you metal finishing professionals can chime in . . . thought I'd experiment in this metal polishing game with a minimal investment.
This is the video I watched which got me motivated to try it on my tin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyOodLNI4BQ

Tried several different brands of off the shelf "wax-on wax-off" products like Mothers, Meguiars etc. and was not satisfied with the results after all the effort and I was going for that "chrome bumper" look.

After trying to use my Black & Decker 9531, which turns at 2100-2500 rpms, I picked up the Harbor Freight 6000 rpm grinder and it does a far better job although it makes more of a mess. This could also be due to the lower quality HF buffing wheels (made in Pakistan) which throw a lot of lint.
I didn't do any sanding on the hull beforehand, just went right to the "brown tripoly" compound.
Anyway, this is where I'm at after about 4-hours and 4-oz of compound.
Any suggestions would be appreciated before I dive into better quality materials from a "real supply house".

. . . will probably keep the HF grinder since it's 1/3 the price of the Dewalt and I won't be doing this professionally.

 

[fool4fish1226]

That looks good :beer:

 

[typed by ben]

the attraction to the expensive model polishers is IMO the durability of the product. i got a harbor freight polisher (not an angle grinder like you used) and it did the job fine, but its not something id want to use every day. after it heats up, the grinding in the gearcase becomes unbearable, and at that point you have to shut down in order to preserve the gears. that means maybe 45 mins of seat time before you have to let it cool down.

finished product looks great. she is going to be BLINDING at the right angle!

 

[PATRIOT]

typed by ben » Today, 09:06[/url]"]the attraction to the expensive model polishers is IMO the durability of the product. i got a harbor freight polisher (not an angle grinder like you used) and it did the job fine, but its not something id want to use every day. after it heats up, the grinding in the gearcase becomes unbearable, and at that point you have to shut down in order to preserve the gears. that means maybe 45 mins of seat time before you have to let it cool down.

finished product looks great. she is going to be BLINDING at the right angle!

What compounds and wheels did you use and did you do any pre-polish sanding?
thx

(thought it was funny that an ad for polishing supplies came up at the bottom of this page, Amazon must be a sponsor?)

 

[typed by ben]

thats google adsense at work for you

ive never polished aluminum, only paint. but the process is the same-

wet sand
cutting pad with polishing compound
polishing pad with polishing compound
wool pad with wax

 

[bobberboy]

Thanks for posting this. I am a point in my project where I will be beginning to do some polishing. I'm wondering what you plan to do to protect the finish once its been polished. After all that work I don't want the finish to oxidize or become dull. Would paste wax of some kind be the final step? Would appreciate if you have a plan to let us know. Thx.

 

[PATRIOT]

As far as keeping the polished look afterwards, yes I have considered wax or some kind of sealer but will have to experiment. The better quality tripoly cutting compound (not from Harbor Freight) does leave some residue so I'll be finding out if the white final polishing compound I'll be using last will leave the same sort of residue which seems to be a waxy substance.

BTW . . . the buffing wheels from HF are one step above not having one at all . . . I got some better quality treated wheels that work better and last far longer.

 

[PATRIOT]

Progress report . . . finished off the first stage, which is the cutting with brown tripoly, using a yellow 8" treated buffing wheel running at 6000rpms. Took approx 3/4 pounds of compound to do this 16' deep-V hull.
The wheel is 50ply spiral stitched treated cotton (for hardness) but it loads up quickly with aluminum oxide. I'm wondering if it's the style of wheel or the 6000rpms speed or a combination of the two. The "professional" in the video did a much larger area before having to "rake" the wheel.
I'm anxious to see if the final polishing stage using fine white compound will remove the lines and swirl marks.

 

[typed by ben]

geeeeeeeeeeeeeze

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

Looking good

 

[lovedr79]

Looks great

 

[PATRIOT]

WARNING . . . Don't try this at home . . . . . . .

because once you get started, it's hard to stop . . .

Thought I'd see what kind of polish job my 27 year old Lowe would take . . . using better buffing wheels and compound

 

[typed by ben]

good god

 

[PATRIOT]

LOL . . .
Just say no . . . to Camo?

 

[typed by ben]

thats like the bond film cloaking device type camo. just reflects whatevers around it

 

[He Reigns]

I see all the pretty painted and polished boats here on tin boats and love them. Around here we go all camo, ducks don't seen to like pretty colors that are shiny.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Boat name: SPF 1000

 

[bobberboy]

typed by ben » Today, 13:10[/url]"]good god

like he said

 

[great white]

All aluminum will polish up nicely.

The problem is polishing removes the aluminum oxide that protects it from further corrosion.

Waxes and what not help, but it will have to be re-polished again. Fairly soon in a water born environment.

Here's a related story for ya:

We used to polish the CT114 Tutor training jet when I was working on them way back when. The flight line was a dazzling line of shiny mirrors all summer long. You could tan just standing next to one!

But, we ended up having to stop polishing them when it was discovered that the constant buffing resulted in the aluminum becoming thinner and thinner (remember that we measure with micrometers, not rulers). They let them oxidize to the dull aluminum color (AL oxide) and then it stops.

Eventually, they were all painted silver with what we called "Mach 1 paint" since it would hold on at 400 KIAS.

 

[turbotodd]

That is a LOT of work. Congratulations on having enough will power to go through with it. Always wanted to see what a tin boat would look like polished. Now I know. Aluminum is absolutely beautiful when polished up.