I’m using 3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound PN.-05954 but it’s not cutting the 600 scratches. Is Sureluster better or more aggressive?
hi, first you need to sand with 1200 and 1500 wet or dry sandpaper. after, put the compound with kerosene and gloss liquid, after that you polish the board with the sanding machine with a soft pad, then put automotive gloss finish, equivalent to a 2000 sandpaper. now you´ve got an incredible shine gloss.
Its possible that the scratches are from 320 or 400.Six hundred is almost a polish in itself.Are you using a wool pad?They cut better…I like “roundup” brand.Its tough call bro.Someone needs to write a book on the “polishing blues”,there is probably a zillion pages in the archives on this.
I used a 500 and a 600 wet on an orbital so it’s not 320 or 400 scratches. I dunno.
Sorry…Ive never used an orbital sander for polishing.Power Pads on a grinder or polisher a very soft backed sponge,maybe the pad on the orbital is too stiff.Im with ya bro.I dunno.Keep the faith. R.B.
man, you need to do it what i wrote before…
well, i told you that ´cause i made hundreds of finish in boards
I’ve been polishing for over 10 years, for the top shops in san diego and have tried every process! Keep going back to my same old method. Ready- 320 wet or dry to remove brush strokes and re-shape the flats. If you use 400 to start your gonna do alot of looking! Better to just shave the thing flat, then smoothing steps from there. Next is wetsand rails and/or fins with 320 wet or dry and water, then 500 wet or dry and water. Dry off board COMPLETELY. Next(very important) Use 400 wet or dry (dry) to remove 320 scratches(usually takes 2 passes). Jumping to 600 grit is a mistake at this point(think about it-320-400 = 80 grit difference) (400-600=200 grit difference) I would love if someone would explain the logic behind this to me! We use 500 grit wet or dry at this point, THEN 600, but only for dark colors and acid splashes. I can buff 400 if my sandjob is good. 500 buffs fine, as long as you know how to remove your “wheelies” from grit to grit. Stopped using 3m super- gnar-bondo in the early 90’s when I realized it put more scratches in then it took out.“sureluster” (now called fiberglass polish #2) is the only way to go. AS well as a soft “power pad” for all sanding! Good luck!
Thanks “You Know Who”.A guy named “Beef…the king of shine” who is a pro polisher in Melbourne,Fla.helped me out.Same as you 320 to 500 with super soft pad (dry).Razor blade the gloss bead and hand wet sand (he sometimes uses the machine.)Variable speed Milwaukee polisher running pretty slow.When he goes to compound (surluster) its on a wool pad with a high speed grinder,pretty scary for an amateur but its quick.Add a little water as you go.Final clean up with a fresh buff pad and a product we call “Ebony” which is a black machine polish swirl remover.I think that this is pretty much the industry standard but like the guys say there is new stuff kicking around. R.B.
Actually we abandoned “ebony” 5 years ago or more. Smudges too much. Best two things i’ve found are Turtle wax(believe it or not) and mirror glaze #5. They both “buff off” real nice, but for best results must be used with a new wool buff pad. Also gave up on razorblading the seam years ago as well. Razor blade tends to chip away the resin at the gloss overlap line, whereas using like worn out 320 wet or dry on a slow machine tends to “feather” it in much better. Actually quit a job over the glosser, who would’nt stop chunkin’ up the rails with his blade! I was the sun-cure- sand- thru-fixer guy because of it. Cost me tons of money-had to fix almost every board!!
Yep…using the machine is best for the rail bead but I am still a little leary,I picked up weave, but you are obviously a Pro.The ebony I am talking about took just a few props is that the same?How do you hold down the board on the stand when buffing?I used backwards tape but suction cups are better eh.While we are on this subject I found out that sandpapers vary a lot.For example take 320 grit and put a sheet of say Norton,3M,Mirka or others and they are all different.So when we tell someone to use 500 maybe we should state the brand.I think maybe that the standards vary from different countries.By the way I use Sureluster to buff lacquer finishes on furniture,those guys make a great product and they should market it to the furniture market.I still say kill the guy that started all this polishing stuff in the first place.Enough I guess. R.B.
where does one find Sureluster? I’ve looked for it many times with no luck.
Howzit Mr. Clean, Hope you guys don’t mind if I jump into this thread. I also use a razor blade and yes they chip the resin but I’ve found that you can use a razor blade to scrape the rail to a clean surface and not remove as much resin as sandpaper. With the addition of styrene and S.A. my glossjobs have very little brush strokes. If need be I start with 320 on the bottom then 400,600, shurlustre and finally turtle waxes 2001 polish. I start at a low rpm (1700) and for the last passes with every grit I crank the rpms to about 2800. The final passes act like a polish since the sand paper is pretty worn out by this time. For the deck I start with 400 and if the gods are looking over my shoulder I’ll just go with 600. No body mentioned the 8 sided cut sandpaper that was contributed Rob Brown or was it you Mr. Clean( priceless trick ). Another subject to consider is how not to hit the weave on the rails in the tail and nose area while rubbing out. In these areas I don’t use the flat face of the bonnet, I use the strands around the edge of the bonnet.The way I look at it, the better the gloss job, the easier the rub out.These are just the ways I do it,the bottom line is the end product justifies means that got you there. Aloha, Kokua
You got it Kokua.I mentioned the Rob Brown trick earlier this week in another polishing string (ahh it never ends,friggin polishing)Where is Rob anyway,last I heard he was working at a big glass shop in Cali.Maybe they threatened him for sharing so much good info.I wonder what would happen if one shaped a board with the rail outline cut all whacky like the sanding discs. R.B.
3M; SURELUSTER, AND MEGUIRES SHOW ROOM FINISH GLAZE.
I knew a guy once that like to use toothpaste as his final polishing agent! Ive tried it, and it worked out very well... makes sense, because our teeths enamel require an extremely fine grit… cut with a little water as it`s being machined. Leaves your shop with a nice minty smell. Ha ha! http://neumaticsurfcraft.homestead.com/NeumaticSurfcraftwebsite.html
ok, so you all use it but don’t know where to get it? thanks alot.
…You can find it at any large auto paint and repair supplier(IT’S A PRO AUTO POLISH).If not, e-mail me, I’ll dig up the direct address AND PH# in Longbeach Cali for you.Back in the day,we use to walk in and buy it.Herb …Hell,I still have a quart or more in a gallon can somewhere in my pile,I call a shop, you can have!
jr, if you are curious about sureluster, it can be aqcuired through JC GARRETT in vista, ca- san diego county- dont have the number; just remember driving to go get it. 5 gal pale will run you about 50$ i believe- good luck. if you are curious about the meguires brand- lik herb said, any auto parts store would carry it- the brown bottle. and for the paper- what cleanlines says is ON IT- different manufacturers have diff sized grit choices for their line(s) of paper they offer.a ‘soft’ grit will do you fine- meaning, the softer of any two diff papers with the same grit. hope that helps.
and kokua- he know it right too- razor the rails- be careful not to chip the resin…