wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Can someone direct me to information on how to wet sand and polish fiberglass. I am looking for the process, products and tools. Thanks John

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Double Action palm sander.
wet/dry compatible stick-on sanding pads.
Compressor.
At leat 5 feet of very flexible (flimsy) air line - stiff stuff can run from the compressor to the last five feet.

Start with 600 or 800, depending on what kind of trouble you are sanding thru.
Wet the surface, wet the sanding pad. Sand with medium speed, very light pressure. Frequently dip in water to keep chunks of dust from "bonding together".

1000 then 1500 paper. Now polish with a speedbuffer and light polishing compound.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

experiment on an unnoticable area. Sanding scratches are hard to remove if you don't know what you are doing.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Wanting to go a little faster I’m trying to clean up a poorly done anti fouling paint job on the bottom of my 34 Scarab. It’s been there since before I bought the boat and am wondering what type of speed increase I can expect. Any ideas?

To your question - I had to scrape the bottom paint off mine, then sanded with 600, then 1500, and then I am polishing it with Flitz and then Meguiars color restore and then Meguiars wax. It’s working very well so far and looks great. It’s not hard to do but once you get started you’ll realize how big a job you’ve tackled.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

First find a reputable marina that can do that type of work. Reach into your back pocket. Pull out your check book. Start excercising your wrist in the pattern of the name of the marina. Go home. Spend a week complaining about all the money that just cost you. Go boating. :D
As bad as that sounds, it's not as bad as you'll feel after doing the job yourself!!!
Actually, I did a 35 ft cruiser several years ago. It turned out great but OMG!. As mcollinstn said, work with alot of water, and in several steps until finished.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

I got 8 mph when I removed it from mine

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

I would just have used 3M Perfect-it (white cap/the most powerful), then use the one with black cap, and then polish and was. You will be impressed of how effective this is. Sanding make an enormous job, and I bet that you will regret.... A true hell of a job and difficult to do all the surfaces shining the same. But sanding will make the best result if you do the rubbing well.

Good Luck!

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

I am only working with a small area. I want to remove the "fountain" logo that was painted above the rub rail. I was thinking that I could sand it off so that I can mount the chrome plaques.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Once you polish/ sand the small area it will look substantially different than the rest of the boat. Then you will feel you must do the rest of the boat. Been there, done that.....

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Ain't that the friggin truth.......:drink:

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Yeah! I wet sanded and polished my whole boat last winter do to the previous owner having something a little abrasive on the sponge during one of the washings. I noticed different degrees of fading at the back from side to side and above the rubrail to directly below it.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Just a note, while a DA sander may speed the process of wet-sanding the boat, it will also leave multi-directional sand scratches from the orbital motion of the sander. These are very hard to buff out. If you are only restoring a small are as you said, stick to hand sanding with a sponge pad and stay in a straight line with back-and-forth strokes. Use plenty of water to keep any abrasive particles washed away. When you begin the buffing process, work perpendicular to the sand scratches and you will get a much cleaner/deeper finish.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

To ashive the best finish my recomendation is to use Abralon dry sanding papers, Use 1000, 2000 and 4000 grit, do not skip one of them. Then just polish, you will be surprised of the result :evilb: Lots of instruction how to use on internet (search on Abralon).

Old gelcoat will be better than new, I promisse :D

/Torbjorn

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

John. I would use a paint remover that would not affect the gel. In Canada we use a product by evercoat that is made for striping vettes. Than you would not have to deal with sanding. I ve seen damage done that is difficult to fix. After striping you could just polish with a medium grit than fine. Don' t do anything if there is a color difference due to paint that has bled into the gel. Just allow the gel to fade in the sun. usually will take a year.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

The best compound by far is aqua buff You should be able to buy it at a fiberglass supply store

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Is Evercoat the brand and the model of the product?

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Let me know what you decide to use, as I am also from Austin and am trying to remove Imron graphics from my 32 Fountain. I'd love to b able to see how yours comes out.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Who did what process and what are results???

I removed bottom paint last year and have primer and bits and pieces of anti-fouling left to remove.

Tanx

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

We used Toulene, then compound, polish and wax - never new it was there.

Re: wet sanding / polishing ??
 

Any idea where I could buy it and is it dangerous to gel coat?