Buffing a boat gel coat

Learning how to buff your boat is. It is a thick liquid with a very abrasive grit.

Buffing and Compounding Boat Gelcoat - Removing OxidationIn this video I teach you how to remove oxidation from gel coat.

Buffing a boat gel coat. First we need to buff the boat with a wool pad and compound. Getting oxidation of of boat gelcoat and returning it to like new gloss is a three step process. SEA-SHIELD specializes in the restoration and protection of Gelcoat finishes.

Gelcoat is thicker and harder than paint and there are many ways to remove ox. A heavy-grit buffing compound You can use a heavy-grit buffing compound to remove stains and corrosion from the most damaged areas of your gelcoat. A medium-grit buffing compound A medium-grit buffing compound will usually be ideal for most of your boats gel-coat and should also be used on areas where youve used a heavier-grit compound to help remove any scratches that are still.

Buffing and Compounding Boat Gelcoat - Removing OxidationIn this video I teach you how to remove oxidation from gel coat. Learning how to buff your boat is. Prior to final polishing an oxidised gel coat needs a more rigorous amount of cutting also known as rubbing or compounding than you otherwise might with only a slightly dull surface.

In really severe cases you might first need to start by carefully wet sanding the surface followed by the use of a wool buffing pad and a marine grade cutting compound to expose the gel coat underneath the oxidation layer. Using a high-gloss polish also creates a brilliant shine and will nourish a boats gel coat before waxing. So if your boat is showing signs of oxidation and needs more than just a clean it will benefit from a buff polish and wax.

Buffing vs Polishing Equipment. Different types of boat detailing tools are used for buffing a boat and polishing it. The word buffing relates to the specific tool.

The gel is not horrible. But on the same token. Its far from nice.

I figured I would buff the boat to bring back some shine. It has chips scratches and stress cracks so Im not looking to make it look new just looking to make it look better and not so much like a beater. Never done a buff before and watched 2 forcefulls video already.

If compounds dont do the job you can try wet sanding and then buffing again. Try a small area about 1 x 1 sand it with 800 or 1000 grit and buff it to see if it looks better. Leave it for a day or so to see if the shine lasts.

You may need to use coarser or finer grits to get the results you desire because it can be different with each boat. This is probably why some of the automove clanerwaxes come with a foam applicator in the can. For gelcoat and 99 of other compounding and polishing work automotve or marine it is the wool or synthethic wool bonnetspads.

Use terry cloth bonnets for wax application and buffing. It is a thick liquid with a very abrasive grit. When combined with a wool pad it makes for rapid material removal and scratch removal.

Starting with a clean gel coat surface apply a thin film of compound using a damp rag to spread the material. It is common to see boat owners use the more is better method. The gelcoat on your boat is about 10 times as thick as the paint on your car so compound shouldnt cut all the way through it as long as you are careful not to rub in one place too long.

If the gelcoat starts to look transparent stop. After the surface has been compounded polish it then coat it with wax and buff it. Here I discuss some of the products and techniques I use for maintaining and buffing a gelcoat surface.

Below are Amazon links for the compounds and pads used in the video Meguiars Oxidation Remover Meguiars One Step Cleaner Wax. The Aqua-Buff products on Amazon unfortunately are expensive. Much better pricing can be found on Ebay.

If the gel-coat finish on your boat has mild to severe oxidation then the fastest and most effective way to remove the oxidization is with a wool pad and a premium quality marine cutting compound. The good news is that the FLEX PE14-2-150 Circular Polisher is compact and lightweight so it makes buffing out vertical sides easy and a lot less fatiguing than old fashioned rotary buffers. How to wetsand cut and buff a gel-coat boat How to wetsand cut and buff a gel-coat boat Heres the before pictures to document the condition of the boat before we started this project.

Holograms in gel-coat The below picture is a full size section cropped out of the above resized picture. An electric buffer will more than return on its investment in time-saved and will help to keep the boat shining in the future. A disk sander or a sanding pad chucked into a drill is likely to do more damage than good to the gel coat.

Please select a variable speed buffing machine.