Which buffer & polish

C

Captain Quest

New Member
Jul 25, 2011
55
Ontario
Boat Info
1989 Sea Ray
Engines
Twin
Trying to prepare for the buff & polish job before launch day. Need to buy a buffer, pads & polish

Looking at the shurhold dual action polisher....they say its foolproof as far as swirls & not burning edges & corners. Other people suggest a traditional style with speed adjustment like the Makita

Interested to hear what some of you have attained the best results with including pads & polish
 
I have used a Makita for over a decade and love it. My ONLY gripe about it is it gets heavy after using it for 6-7 hours in a day. I'm not a "Wax Snob" so I use a Meguairs product that I buy by the gallon at WestMarine called a Cleaner and Wax.

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I have the Shurhold buffer and it works great for me but my gelcoat is in good condition. I tried the buff magic and pro polish last year (for the first time) with mixed results. The buff magic worked well but I was not impressed with the pro polish. It went on easy but I had black streaks within days on using it. I just detailed my enitre boat and I used the McQuires #50 (cleaner wax) that I've always used. I think this is the best all around wax there is.
 
Makita 9227C, and Meguiar's Flagship wax is all you need to keep an already shiny boat shiny for years to come.
The dual action polisher is for poser's. :smt001
 
I have been buffing cars and boats for over 20 years and I have used Black & Decker or Makita only and both will do the job nicely, just make sure it is a variable speed buffer and use it at the lower speeds. As for the wax I would also use Meguairs, it is easy to find at Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shop. The cleaner & wax works well if you do you're boat every year. If it is really oxidized you will have to step up to something alittle more coarse and then use the cleaner/wax to remove the swirls and wax it.
 
KayKook said:
Makita 9227C, and Meguiar's Flagship wax is all you need to keep an already shiny boat shiny for years to come.
The dual action polisher is for poser's. :smt001
Click to expand...

I guess I'm a "poser" then?
 
Captain Quest said:
Trying to prepare for the buff & polish job before launch day. Need to buy a buffer, pads & polish

Looking at the shurhold dual action polisher....they say its foolproof as far as swirls & not burning edges & corners. Other people suggest a traditional style with speed adjustment like the Makita

Interested to hear what some of you have attained the best results with including pads & polish
Click to expand...

Makita 9227C rotary. Foam pads work great with Finesse it from 3M on any oxidation (if extremely oxidized, a wool pad) Use a slow 1500 RPM or less speed. I use Collinite paste wax above rub rail and Collinite liquid below the rub rail. Shine is great and it lasts all season.
 
I have two random orbitals ( Porter Cable & Flex 3401 ) that I use all the time on cars and they work great.
For the boat I only use my Makita 9227 rotary. The random orbitals don't do nearly as good a job on the boat as the Makita does.
If you have a fairly new boat that still has a great finish on the Gel-Coat then you might be able to get away with a quality random orbital, but if it's an older hull and needs some correction then the rotary is the way to go.
 
I to use the Harbor Freight 7" variable. I am going to use the Buff Magic with the variable wool applicator pads in my case yellow , using less is better with this product, I start out slow on the Rpms and work it in as I increase the speed. I follow up with a 10 inch random orbital using wool applicators and microfiber polishing pads. My preference is Macguires #56 for the best shine I can get. My last boat had blue and it really turned around after the above application. My current is ten feet longer and white. Having said that and being excited to do the buff and Macguires might be saying something........lol. Good luck in whatever you choose and let us old guys know. btw you might want check out the buff magic post on the site, I posted some pictures of my last boat but can't do it of of the I pad.
 
I bought one of those on sale ($29.99) at HF and it actually worked great. I do buy Presta products for compounding and they have some great buffer wheels too. The polish is still Starbrite with PTEF but I ordered some Presta polish to try as well. Package should arrive any day!
 
A random will do a good job for rubbing out a boat and waxing due to the reasoning that it builds up heat that helps to melt in the product. Especially at higher speeds. Problem is they tend to leave swirl marks so a follow up with a random buffer will take out the swirl marks, On white hulled boats the swirlmarks are not as prevalent as darker hauled boats.
A mistake that is often done during the process is not letting the buffer do the job no matter what one used. Allow the buffer to work until the entire rubbing compound or wax is gone. There should be a shine where the buffer has been before being wiped off.
On a 40 foot boat all that should be needed to wipe off the wax after buffing is one bath towel.
Foam pads do a real good job and are less messy.


 
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Ok here is where I get to tell my horror story with using a buffer to clean the boat. I borrowed my son's rotary buffer July 13th 2010. On the morning of the 14th I'm buffing away and near the end of the job I feel the string hitting my little pinky finger. The string that cinches the sheep wool pad to the round rubber disk. I paid no attention to it for I was almost done.

All of a sudden a loop of that string wrapped around my little finger, tightened up so quickly and wrapped around the shaft of the motor below the rubber disc. I could not shut the buffer off quick enough or the momentum of the buffer was enough to actually pull my finger around the shaft. All of the meat on my little finger was pulled off the bone!!!! My finger nail was sticking out without any meat tissue under it. I immediately went into the house and told the wife to get me to the emergency room. I've never been so appreciative of that woman being home. For the next 8 weeks I nursed this stupid finger. Had to cancel my boating trip.

Today this finger looks like hell, has no feeling in the tip and has grown crooked on the tip. They let it heal without a skin graft but I dressed it 3 times a day for 8 weeks.

Be careful with rotary buffers!!! I will only use an orbital buffer now. A friend of mine who runs a body shop said one of his men was buffing a car with a very large rotary buffer and his shirt sleeve got caught up in the wheel and it wrapped around so quickly that it broke his wrist.
 
That's too bad about your finger. I use superbuff pads that have no string. Then all you'd have to worry about is something on YOU catching around the wheel.
 
The solution to the above would be to have the velcro pads. That is all I will ever use. However, the buffers are not for the inexperienced. I have had a cord accidentally wrap around my arm when I got lazy one day and got caught in the pad, it pulls TIGHT until either the cord gives way or your arm does.

I have buffed over 200 boats easily, only 2 incidents and one was just the cord getting pulled out. Luckily, my Milwaukee buffer at the time has a quick disconnect cord end that you can buy new at any distrubutor!
 
I've sacrificed a few Milwaukee cords too!!!!!! I bought one in the morning once and let my partner use it that afternoon, and he caught it on the arbor and ruined it It's good thinking on Milwaukee's part to make them quick release!
 
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I have had the same Milwaukee for over 15 years. Its been in New Buffalo, Michigan City, And Chicago harbors.... literally in the harbors. The only way I got it up was the extension cord which I luckily always tie in a knot so it cannot come undone. Pulled it out, dried it off in the sun for an hour and went back to work! Still works to this day but is a lot heavier and harder to get in small spaced than the Dewalt I normally use now.
 
I had a guy once that watched us buff his neighbors boat. He then went out and bought all the same stuff we were using (Milwaukee polisher). He then came to use two days later and asked if we wanted to buy all of his stuff from him as he thought "using that damned heavy buffer" would kill him. I then gave him 100 bucks for a brand new polisher!
 
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