Polisher and pads

ABC · **Posted:** Mon Mar 23, 2015 8:18 am

Good morning, after reading this buffing pad article below I have 1 question.

Q: I have the Dewalt 849X polisher and what would be my best bet for a polisher pad to make our boat shine like new, the 3M foam polishing grade pads like the #05725 seems to be #1 but is it the best polishing pad you are using guys on your boat or you guys prefer going all the way with the 3M yellow wool Hookit polishing grade pad #05713?

Artilcle:
Buffing Pads- You will need two or three grades of buffing pads or discs. I only recommend 3M pads because they are easy to find and most Napa Auto Parts stores stock them. The 3M heavy wool Hookit Superbuff pads are great for the compounding phase the part number is - 05711. For polishing the yellow wool Hookit polishing grade pad #05713 is another favorite. You can also use the 3M foam polishing grade pads like the #05725. They are wonderful for adding the finishing touch.

Use a heavy wool compounding grade pad for the compounding, and a polishing grade wool #05713 or the #05725 for the polishing stage and the same #05725 foam pad for the finishing or glazing stage.

I’ll use 3M professional grade foam pads #05725 for the polish & glaze stage but I also use some Lake Country CCS pads. When buffing a gelcoat hull it’s important to match the aggressiveness of the pad to the phase of the buffing though you can experiment too and have great results. You will just not get a good final shine using a heavy compounding grade pad even if you’re using Finesse It or Chroma 1500 with it as the wool itself is too course.

ric · **Posted:** Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:55 pm

I use wool with compound, and foam with polish/wax. I use whatever harbor freight has on their shelf as far as pads go.

Makes for a nice glossy shine.

crossram · **Posted:** Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:14 pm

i use the 3m wool pads and 3m micro finishing compounds

ABC · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:16 am

Thanks for your replies guy, I appreciate.

I just have another question, our boat is LOA 35.5 feet, how many buffer pad (approx) do you think I will need to buff it? I was planning 4 polisher pads total am I calculate it right? I will just do the step #3 (bright polisher) the boat is still pretty clean (not chalked at all) and I will wax it manually 1 or 2 times in the water also during the summer.

alex8q4 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:18 am

I also use wool for compound, a foam polish pad, and a foam for wax.

I tried going with foam for compounding but found I was getting swirls in my white areas.

The pads I use are 3m and seem to be good. I don't know the numbers on them, but they are labeled as polish, wax, compound.... I don't think you can mess up what you buy.

Last summer I finally bought a tool to clean the wool pad. It is a wheel that cleans the build up off the pad, and I should have bought one a lot sooner. It looks like a spir from a cowboy boot... If you go wool, get one.

ric · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:21 am

Wool pad at harbor freight is $10... I'm okay with that.

Vintage Beauty · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:26 pm

I've been using foam pads from Chemical Guys - multiple choices on Amazon. - Held up really well last year, and not bad price-wise.
Used pads from Harbor Freight in the past and they wore fairly quickly. They also did not have velcro across the entire back of the pad, and the hook fasteners on my buffer (also bought at HF) would wear out the pads from the back side.

ABC · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:15 pm

I am just curious on how many buffer pads per steps do you need to buff your boat guys?

alex8q4 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:54 pm

You mention you will wax by hand, but if you decide to use your machine you could likely do your entire boat with one pad. Same goes for polishing.

Having said that, it is unlikely you will do the entire boat in a single day, polish and wax. If you are going to try to use the same pad two days in a row you will want to wrap it up in a bag to keep it from getting dry. Also, after doing a boat of that size you will end up with a lot of buildup on the pad and you will want to wash with soap and water. Keep in mind that when you use the pad after washing you will have to work at getting the water out of it.

A polishing pad will likely not wear out on the big areas. It might get damaged by going over snaps.

Your plan to buy 4 pads should be good, you might even get to return some after the job.

ric · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:59 pm

You do not do gelcoat by hand. No freaking way. I use a cheap harbour freight rotary buffer it's 3 years old and works like brand new. I also use the cheap harbour freight pads.

I just did my boat 2 weeks ago it was horribly faded and chalky from the FL sun. One wool pad with 3m super duty compound and one foam pad with meguiars marine wax and it looks better than brand new. Maybe used half a bottle of each. Took 3 days working 6 hours a day inside and out. The key is take your time and don't miss areas. It's not hard work the machine does it all. Probably could have done it in 2 days if I had better compound. 3M super duty is clay based and requires keeping it moist with water in our 90 degree Florida March heat. There's new compounds out there that don't dry out and work twice as fast.

My father just compounded the O'day daysailer yesterday and still have enough 3M and wax left to do another boat. The wool pad is fine but the foam pad is done.

ABC · **Posted:** Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:13 am

thanks for your reply guys, as mentionned in my 1st post I have bought a buffer (Dewalt 849X). Last year I did the job by hand and it took me a lot of time and effort. This year I will try with a machine. I will buy 4 pads and will have spare ones for next year! Please note that where I am lolcated (Canada/Québec) we can't buff our boat until may (presently we still have a lot of snow here) and when we buff the temperature here is around +15C (59F), different than FL for sure!

Thanks again for your comments I appreciate.

Jsyphil · **Posted:** Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:18 am

ric wrote:

You do not do gelcoat by hand. No freaking way. I use a cheap harbour freight rotary buffer it's 3 years old and works like brand new. I also use the cheap harbour freight pads.

I just did my boat 2 weeks ago it was horribly faded and chalky from the FL sun. One wool pad with 3m super duty compound and one foam pad with meguiars marine wax and it looks better than brand new. Maybe used half a bottle of each. Took 3 days working 6 hours a day inside and out. The key is take your time and don't miss areas. It's not hard work the machine does it all. Probably could have done it in 2 days if I had better compound. 3M super duty is clay based and requires keeping it moist with water in our 90 degree Florida March heat. There's new compounds out there that don't dry out and work twice as fast.

My father just compounded the O'day daysailer yesterday and still have enough 3M and wax left to do another boat. The wool pad is fine but the foam pad is done.

Ric's right.
Takes a while but it isn't difficult work. I find headphones and decent music and a beer afterwards makes the job easier.
Time consuming, but not difficult. No way would i do anything like that by hand. Wax by hand after, but to compound and polish, no way! Took me two solid 12hr days to do the outside hull and topsides on my 238, but it was really badly faded.

I use 3m compound, the Perfect-it stuff, but i am the other side of the pond so not sure if you have it over there. 3m is usually good stuff albeit pricey. The Pads i use are the Faecla foam ones, cheaper than 3m.

Good luck!

ric · **Posted:** Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:20 am

Perfect-it compound is the only way to go, we have it here in the USA. The automotive refinishing shop I stopped at on the way to the marina was sold out in smaller sizes and had to get the Super Duty. Wasn't too hard to work with, I would just apply with a damp rag but definitely did slow down the job.

ric · **Posted:** Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:20 am

Perfect-it compound is the only way to go, we have it here in the USA. The automotive refinishing shop I stopped at on the way to the marina was sold out in smaller sizes and had to get the Super Duty. Wasn't too hard to work with, I would just apply with a damp rag but definitely did slow down the job.

ric · **Posted:** Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:20 am

Perfect-it compound is the only way to go, we have it here in the USA. The automotive refinishing shop I stopped at on the way to the marina was sold out in smaller sizes and had to get the Super Duty. Wasn't too hard to work with, I would just apply with a damp rag but definitely did slow down the job.

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