Sanding and buffing gel cote ??

[steveinak]

OK i'm done with the gelcote on the panels and have sanded down to 320 grit, so now do i sand again with 600 and then get the buffer out?? I have some compound that says its for moderate oxadation so can i use that to start buffing the panels?? after that then what would i use ?? and wax after that ??

 

[SHORT STEP]

at least 1500 , if u keep sanding with the coarser grits u wont have any gelcoat left .
go to a body suppply shop and ask about compounds , compound / glaze / wax = shine
bob

 

[Sailorgp]

800 grit...then 3M heavy duty rubbing compound from the body supply shop. Try spraying the new gelcoat with some black paint (as I previously mentioned in another thread on this project) and then block sand just until the paint disappears so you don't go through all of the gelcoat.

 

[El Mar]

If you went to 320. I would go 600, 800, 1200 then buff or there abouts.

Then buff with the corsest stuff you got. I like the 3m brown but the stuff you have sounds good.

As long as you don't go through, just keep buffing and finish with wax or polish.

 

[traditions]

Steve,you should have just bought a quart of interlux perfection and painted it on and you would have a super gloss finish without any sanding.I have used it over gel coat and it works good and leaves a super finish that is easy to clean.Just a thought.

 

[benenglish76]

What process are you using to sand these parts? By hand or machining with electric sander or d/a? The two processes make a world of difference when it comes down to noticing scratch marks. Any area that may of been block sanded should get gone over lightly with an orbital sander with the same grit before proceding to higher grits. I personally don't touch any gelcoated surface with any grit lower than 400, and keep dykem blue dye on hand, and work my way up Remember, blue dye is your friend

 

[steveinak]

OK just got back into town from a trip to Seattle and thanks for all the replies. I've hand/block wet sanded down to 600 and it looks pretty smooth to me. So i should still wet sand down to 800 or 1000 grit ? then go with the compound. My boat was built in 2006 and i'm 99% sure the previous owner never waxed anything so i'm not trying to match a perfect shiny house. If i buff with the compound now and it doesn't come out good enough can i just sand again with the 800 or 1000 to make it come out better? I'm not looking forward to going down to the shop and getting this done, its way cold here like 5-7 degrees with a nice steady 20-30mph wind blowing and it takes awhile for me to heat up the shop with the woodstove.

 

[F/V First Team]

You can always strip down and sand if you dont like it