First Buff - Couple of Questions before Polish

[Ward H]

The gel coat on my O'day 25 was dull but not horrible and there were some scratches on the port side. Trying to follow Main Sail's tutorial on refinishing gelcoat, yesterday I started with 400 grit, then 220 and back to 400 on the scratches. Moved up to 600, 800, 1000 then 1500.
Then buffed with 3M Super Duty Buffing Compound. Looked pretty good.
Today I did the other side but skipped the sanding and just buffed. Had read in Main's article how buffing knocked the sharp edge off a scratch, making them harder to see. Of course he was right.
I will do the polishing next, using 3M Finess-It II.
Got some photos which show the improvement so far. Came out pretty good.
Couple of questions:
1. The buffer jumped around a lot. Seemed to grab the gelcoat. Anyway solution?
2. I buffed the white first, then the blue stripes. The blue seemed to migrate onto the white and was hard to wipe off. Should I start polishing the blue first, the do the white so I can polish off the blue stains on the white?
3. I am using the buffing machine Main recommended. Is there something easier to handle for doing the small areas of the deck?

Looking forward to seeing how it works after polishing with Finess-It.
1st 2 photos are in process. 2nd 2 are after I finished the buffing.

 

[Don Crowther]

Ward
I think you should tape off the white when you do the blue and visa-versa or you will make more work for yourself.
Great job on the polish it will look like new when your finished

 

[Tim R.]

Your buffer will jump less if you angle it a very slight bit instead of keeping it perfectly flat on the surface. Adding a little angle and a little more pressure will get you better results quicker. This is the natural progression from a beginner to a more advanced buffing technique. When I first started buffing about 6 years ago it was difficult to control the buffer. Now after many boats buffed and polished it is much easier.

Tape off the white and do the blue first. Then tape off the blue.

You would be surprised at home mush detail work you can do with the Makita. I use the Presta pads and compounds. They are double sided so they allow me to get under things like handrails without damaging the surface.