Has anyone ever used this?

[dellsboater]

Looking for something easier than wet sanding. Just have some fading of the gel coat noticed after removing decals. Not real noticeable, but can see it up close. Had a thread under wet sanding, but looking for another way to go. I was thinking if can not blend with compound, but can always wet sand if needed. This is one product I found.


3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound
Aggressive compound. Remains wet on the job with little or no mess. Maintains high rate of cut with constant pressure. Buffs to high gloss with minimum of swirl marks. Can be used by hand or machine.

 

[patpel]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Hi Dellsboater.
I have never used that product.
I just want to say that gelcoat fades with time and exposure to the elements. The gelcoat that was behing your labels never had a chance to fade. Just give it time (like one summer) and I am sure that the color difference will just go away.

cheers
patpel

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Its best to keep all of the questions in the same thread, otherwise it can be very difficult to keep track of what's going on.

 

[swadeab]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

I've been using it, I removed all of the decals from a boat I've been redoing. The problem is that gelcoat is like new, what wasn't covered isn't, there can will also be a height difference.

I can say the gelcoat under my decals was much better than what wasn't =) after 10 years and I don't think the boat really even got waxed in florida. I wet sanded everything, especially where the decals were to try to bring them down more even to the exposed finish. Then used the 3m heavy duty compound followed by polish and wax using a porter cable 7424....still if you look close enough you'll still see where the decals were but you'd have to walk right up to it.

From my experience it would be quite a bit of work or maybe require a pro to get it 100% as you're actually trying to get the uncovered gelcoat to look like the covered (new).

I like it though been using it to compound. Bit expensive, probably would be a waste without a buffer. But just from my experience i doubt it alone would help, however if it's barely noticable compounding the hull, polish, wax will help bring the old up more closely to what was covered.

 

[swadeab]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

forgot to add when i wet sanded the hull i think i eventually went all the way down to 400, then progressed up to 1000, 3m superduty if i recall is good for 1000 or 1200 scratch (can't remember 100%). I didn't wet sand aggresively but i made sure to go over every inch of the hull pretty evenly and there was plenty of white stuff soaking off =) not so with just the compound

 

[Bondo]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Had a thread under wet sanding, but looking for another way to go.

Ayuh,... There ain't no Short Cuts....

That stuff is step 3 or 4...

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Yep, no short cuts, just lots of hard elbow grease, sanding and buffing. Or a new paint job, but even with the new paint the sanding and surface prep is still there.

 

[Hoggar]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Wet sanding and elbow grease are the way to go.
Then when you get it where you want it keep it waxed.
I started off with 400 and worked my way up to 1500
before going to compounds.

Here is a before and after.

1961 14' Elgin.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound
Aggressive compound. Remains wet on the job with little or no mess. Maintains high rate of cut with constant pressure. Buffs to high gloss with minimum of swirl marks. Can be used by hand or machine.

I dont know where you got that quote from..but .. its Totally False.

3m Super duty is a Dry compound ( infact you have to add a spritz of water on your pad with every application ).

Little mess ??? lol..this stuff makes the biggest mess out of all of the other compounds Ive Ever worked with.

Minimal swirl marks with high gloss ? I guess its all in ones interpretation of " minimal " and " high gloss ".

Instead of wetsanding you can use a DA .. or random orbital sander ( not a jitter bug as stated in another thread of yours ).

Peace

YD.

 

[swaycleveland]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

wooooaaa
what did you wet sand with? ( what grit paper)
in 25 years ive only used that maybe 3 times
imperial compond and perfect it compon are fine unless you sanded with 400
after you get rid of the dull ( after sanding) you can move up to finesse it

i keep seeing these what should i use threads popping up
START WITH THE LEAST amount grit and move heavier IF nessesary only
i pains me to see everyone reaching for sandpaper before they even know if it needs it
most DONT

so in closing dont sand!
if you must sand start with the fine and work to rough
may even try a product by 3m called trziact



to answer the OP question dont sand!
try 3m finese it or perfect it.
if those dont work try perfect it compound
there is no reason for sanding in most cases

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

I understand what your saying Cleveland... but..check out the Origional origional Thread ( dont know why were in 2 threads here now..but...).

"We took the old stickers off today, were on white and red gel coat. Now can still see them due to color fade. I machine buffed it with some Wizard Finish cut, but no real difference. The gel coat is shiny, just deeper color red under where the stickers were. Same on the white area.
What can I do to blend it in?"

From OP first thread on this http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=451968

Dells..... I dont think your going to be able to restore the true gel color..not saying anything about the lethography gel without sandpaper.

Just me though..

Let us know how it turns out.

YD.

 

[dellsboater]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Found a thread on Miguires website, emailed the moderator he sent me the following:

Oddly enough, we have a pretty detailed thread on our forum that addressed this exact same issue on a very old red boat with ghost images from the decals that had been removed.

Have a look at
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43076
for the full rundown on what we used to correct it. The abbreviated version though is to use M67 One Step Compound to bring up the surrounding color.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Oh .. Dell Dell Dell..

I read through the whole Miguires link you posted..all I can say..is..
Can YOU say Marketing ?? LOL

They are using a Porter Cable DA ( I own 3 of them and they rock for sanding your hull..not for polishing it ).

Miguires "special tape" for masking .. another LOL..

Foam pad on a DA will not get you crappola m8..no matter how heavy cut compound you use.

Read through the whole post of the miguires guy..he actually said he didnt expect the finish to last a year ! Breaking open pores in the gel when you sand ? Making it more prone to damage from oxidation ???

These guys have NO clue about GEL man..they are just pushing product period !

Im dumbfounded on there proceedure and results..

You can get the same pics from using trans fluid .. or penetrol..or Vaseline.. but your gel Will Get hurt.

Look at how some of the others on Iboats did there gel resto..its Hard work and doesnt cost you alot of money..just time.

18 hours to resto the boat from that link ?? LOL.. were talking pros at miguires ? LOL again..Ive done Many gel restos like this with that same DA with 600 grit and polish it in 8 hours Total .. myself

Your going to have to sand and buff to get it clean and Last .. period..

YD.

 

[dellsboater]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Yeah, it sounded to good to be true. Ok going to get a sander. A DA is an air powered small sander right? It spins in circles? This is ok to use as everyone else here uses one....do you just let the sander do the work...I mean do not push hard, right?

 

[imported_rick]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

I dont know where you got that quote from..but .. its Totally False.

3m Super duty is a Dry compound ( infact you have to add a spritz of water on your pad with every application ).

Little mess ??? lol..this stuff makes the biggest mess out of all of the other compounds Ive Ever worked with.

Minimal swirl marks with high gloss ? I guess its all in ones interpretation of " minimal " and " high gloss ".

Instead of wetsanding you can use a DA .. or random orbital sander ( not a jitter bug as stated in another thread of yours ).

Peace

YD.

The quote came from 3m. And the picture that the OP posted of the "Squirt" bottle of 3m's Super Duty Rubbing Compound IS liquid not dry. I've used it for many years and when used correctly is does produce a high gloss and minimal swirl marks. The use of a DA is overkill on gel coat IMHO.

 

[dellsboater]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Thanks, I never responded to that person, it is liquid....what did you use to apply it? Foam pad or wool? Is it gritty?

 

[imported_rick]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

I used a wool pad on an electric variable speed buffer. Yes, it is gritty. Think of it as liquid sandpaper, really fine sandpaper. The swirl marks people speak of are basically the scratches the compound leaves on the surface. Just like using sandpaper you would move to finer and finer grits. The first sanding leaves big scratches, the next grit removes the previous scratches but leaves smaller ones then the next grit removes........and so on until there are no more scratches. With compound you pretty much move from rubbing compound to polishing compound, polishing compound being less gritty than rubbing compound. All of this effort is to gradually remove oxidized/weathered gel coat until you reach a point that looks best.

 

[DanielR]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

DA stands for dual action, most of the time its good for detailing/buff job.
As previously mentioned DA and foam pad will barely dig into the surface of faded gelcoat. You would need variable speed polisher aggressive pad and compound to cut paint to to get good finish.

But, before getting to finishing the surface you will still need to wet sand the area. Can't really cut corners on that.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

The quote came from 3m. And the picture that the OP posted of the "Squirt" bottle of 3m's Super Duty Rubbing Compound IS liquid not dry. I've used it for many years and when used correctly is does produce a high gloss and minimal swirl marks. The use of a DA is overkill on gel coat IMHO.

Ermm..I didnt mean that super duty was like a powder dry compound..I ment that its a Dry compound ( Dries out Quick while buffing .. and Im pretty sure it says right on lable to add water ).

I used this stuff ( good stuff for sure for some applications ) for 20 some years..

The DA buffin is actually Underkill for gel

DA ( Dual Action ) .. similar to RO ( random orbital ) is not just air driven.

Like I said in my above post .. those PORTER Cable ( we will call them DA's ) is electric.

I only use a 5" air DA ( Dynabraid ) for tight spots. .. I use the 6" electric Porter Cable for large areas.

YD.

PS. The newer compounds out there are light years ahead of Super Duty ...

 

[imported_rick]

Re: Has anyone ever used this?

Instead of wetsanding you can use a DA .. or random orbital sander ( not a jitter bug as stated in another thread of yours ).

I was thinking you were referring to the DA as a sander not a buffer, sorry 'bout that.