DaySailer.org Forum

Is there anything wrong with using a rubbing compound made primarily for cars (made by turtle wax), which, after testing it out on the topsides got the desired results of 1. smoothness to the touch, 2. restored sheen and 3. deeper color. I applied it by hand and it did not completely remove all the tiny hairlines -- is it supposed to? Would a machine do it better or a different compound specifically for boats...?

Thanks.

Yes, car compound is fine.

Depending on your damage, you will attack it in different ways. For the spider cracks, they will probably have to be filled with gel coat and wet sanded.

I am currently sanding the hull of this DS. I wet sanded 400 grit, 600, 1000, then heavy duty 3M compound with a buffing machine. Lastly, with Collonite Insulator Wax. The finished area looks like it just came out of the mold and the boat is almost 30 years old.

John

The only problem I've ever run into is the orange color of turtle wax's rubbing compound getting into scratches or cracks in the gel-coat and being a bear to get out and if you don't get it out it will high light that flaw. There polishing compound is white and does not discolor things in that fashion, but it doesn't have as aggressive of a cut to it ether. The orange thing shows up more on lighter colors like white. I first ran into this on the hood of a pick up that had two layers of white paint on it and the top one was starting to go away so I put some compound on it. In the end I think I use a solvent or wet sanded to get the compound's color back out. If your surface is free from flaws I don't think you'll run into this problem.

PS low speed buffers are great for this work. I wouldn't get into the pro style buffers until you had built up some skill in there use, as you can cut through a finnish with one of those in no time flat if you're not caerful.

Thanks, guys!