Before & After ..??

[Steve W (NY)]

Thanks Mainesail

I really appreciate your advice maine sail. I have a 21 foot Sea Pearl that had a really sun faded finish to it. I tried buffing it with other compounds, to no avail. The big problem I think was I was using a buffer more suited to waxing a car than really compounding a boat. I forgot I had a cheap Harbour freight buffer, so on your advice I looked for a place to get the buffing compound you reccomended, but I could only find the 3M stuff at west marine. But what results. I sanded the hull with 220 wet, followed by 320 and then 400, 600, 800 and 1000. Each coat was easier than the previous one, and the whole boat took me about 4 hours to really do nicely. I hit it with the buffing compound, and I'm beting the gel coat didn't look this good when it was new. Thank You,Steve

 

[Rich (P303)]

Steve...

Post a photo for us to admire! I have a Hobie that needs attention too.

 

[Steve W]

I took a few pictures, but I left camera at home

but look at mainsails dinghy picture, and it's like that. And I will wax it when I'm done as well. Take Care,Steve

 

[Jim Seamans]

SteveW try auto paint store

They will have what you need..

 

[David J.11350]

Coastal Tool

Coastal Tool has the Makita for $169. I have had good experience with them.

 

[Maine Sail]

Now that's a good price..

Now that's a good price but you need to calculate the shipping, unless you're local, and I sometimes find that the shipping is the clincher..UPS Ground to my zip code is $11.50 for a total of $180.05 which is still a great price..

 

[Bob S]

Tylortool.com

Maine Sail, Your photo gallery is incredible. I am new to boating, bought my first last October. 1995 Catalina 30 MK III. I love your step by step instructions. I just bought the Makita 9227 from TylorTool.com for 188.00 and 8.95 shipping. It came with a compound and polishing bonnet with a bag. I have my work cut out for me. Any suggestions on interior wood clean up? The step leading into the galley are beat up.

 

[Maine Sail]

Generally speaking

Generally speaking Catalina's of that vintage were done with a water based polyurethane and some parts, such as the companionway steps, may have been done with an oil. I'd try Weiman's Lemon Oil first http://www.weiman.com/products/wood/lemon.php then if that doesn't seem to absorb you'll know you have a finish such as polyurethane. If it's absorbs and brigs some life back to the wood it was perhaps just oiled. I like lemon oil on an interior finish as it naturally retards mold and has a natural cleaning mechanism built into it in the form of citric acid. to it. You'd also be amazed at what a Magic Eraser will do to clean the teak with just some water added. If you use an oil, like a lemmon oil, NEVER use an oil that contains ANY silicone!!!! Weiman's specifically states there is no silicone in it. Many other furniture oils contain silicone because it's cheap and gives a nice, all be it false, shine. If an oil does not say "contains NO silicone" DO NOT BUY IT because it most likely does!! Just like with polishes and compounds the manufacturers that put the extra effort into a formulation that contains NO SILICONE usually state it very clearly right on the label.If you use cleaning wipes, furniture wipes, Pledge etc., and it contains silicone, you will most likely never be able to refinish the interior wood without a full sanding and stripping of the current finish and sometimes even that doesn't work. If it has been oiled, and you want to top it with a poly or varnish, it will fish eye from the silicone.Silicone and boats are NOT friends just as silicone and body shops are not friends!! Stay away from silicone based products!!!Tim R. another forum member just stripped his interior wood and I can't recall his method (perhaps some bleach or TSP) but I do know it looks really good... You might ask Tim R. how he did it..