Hi everyone! I'm still a while away from getting into my deep projects, but I really need to finish this one... I glossed this wall-hanger more than two years ago, then patched a small (quarter-sized) ding on the rail with hotcoat resin. I still haven't rubbed it out. Is there anything in particular I need to do to get a good polish on a glosscoat this old? I've never actually polished out a gloss coat at all, but I've looked into the basics in the old posts here. Any input is most welcome.
After you’re done, make sure you let it cure for a week before you surf it.
Carefully scrape the seam along the rail edge with a single edge blade. Focus directly on the edge.
Blend/knock down any zits or booboos with 280-320 wet/dry. Proceed to 400, 600 (higher if you're OCD) and finally buffing compound on a polishing bonnet. Be careful along that rail seam... it's where you're most likely to get sand throughs at the nose and tail.
Different guys have different preferences on buffing compound. I've had decent results using 3M red compound followed by white. Most any polishing compound will work including Ultra-Bright toothpaste.
If any deeper scratches still show after you bring up the shine, hit them with more 400-600 and rebuff.
align all wetsand scratches
basa stops at 400
if you use a corser paper you will have scratches that show through
start out fine and stay fine ,it’s slower but you wont have to go back when you are finished.
nothing better than a good gloss to make a fine polish.
I have boards I have neglected to rub out for ten years
boy will they shine up great…
…ambrose…
I know its too late for this but…
strained resin and a still dust free gloss room saves plenny work.
Ok, sweet, so I don’t need to treat it any differently than “fresh” gloss coat.
Just a couple more questions, forgive my ignorance but I’ve never done the fuuuuuulll gloss rubout on anything…
What pad do I use for the fine grits, and is that a dry sand or wet?
What kind of pad for polishing?
Thanks again!
if you do wet take it down to 800 ,,, paper will last longer but will cut good
if you do dry ,,600,,, change paper a lot, paper will get finer as it wears out
if you got a realy good gloss ie: smooth with no brush marks 400 then 600 maybe 800,, soft pad will work good
I do rails and over pinline by hand
320 first if the gloss is imperfect
thick wool polishing pad for the polish step
you will see where you missed a step when you polish it
Disclaimer,,,,,methods and results may vary
Sweet, thanks for the help everyone! I’m still not 100% with the polishing, but it’s coming out so good I just had to share. Of course, the photos are pretty much completely failing to show the gloss, but whatever…
Next step, nice wall rack. 
NICE!