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Old 02-11-2016, 06:44 PM   #6
briggss3
 
Status: Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 3
Default Re: Porter Cable Kit Question

Wow that was an incredible response Mike. I am deeply appreciative of the time you put into it and I apologize for the long-winded questions. Hope this also helps others out there too as these "kits" imply they contain all you need. Autogeeks tech service strongly recommended the PC kit for the situation I described above oxidation-wise (and yes its the PC kit that you attached), but I assume it goes with common sense to realize that there is no "one size fits all" approach out there, especially with boats and gel coats.

Specifically a few follow-on questions with assumptions:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Marine31 View Post

Then we used a rotary buffer to remove the sanding marks.

Then we used a dual action polisher to remove the holograms left by the rotary buffer.

Then we used the Porter Cable to machine apply the wax to re-seal the gel-coat.

Isn't the Porter Cable a DA Polisher? I assume you were using different DA Polisher like the Flex since the PC isn't strong enough.

Rotary buffer (I assume is synonymous with rotary polisher when I am rreading various forums) - is this any old 7" grinder found at Harbor Freight or Home Depot equipped with a buffing backing pad?

Should I just return my PC and replace with a Flex kit (3401 vs 3403)? I don't want to break the bank here and don't think I can afford both.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Marine31 View Post
if you do try to use a wool pad on a PC or any other FREE SPINNING dual action polisher the pad will more or less just jiggle and vibrate against the gel-coat surface and thus do nothing.
Are Flex units free spinning and not good with wool pads?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Marine31 View Post
Used with a foam pad on a dual action polisher, a much less powerful tool and pad a light cleaning wax will remove light oxidation but it will require more time for heavy oxidation or a stronger product, pad and tool.
So assuming again that both the PC and Flex are DA Polishers, will the Flex Polisher not be a good enough choice for removing heavy oxidation and should I just get a cheap rotary buffer with 1 wool pad to do that work?

Kind of wondering if I need to trade out the PC for a Flex and then add a cheap rotary to the mix (or just add a rotary to my PC kit I just bought).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Marine31 View Post
It's really hard to wash waxes out of foam pads. That's because wax is not water soluble. If a wax or more specifically, the cleaner/wax you bought was water soluble then it would wash off when it rains, you wash the boat you used the boat on water.
So I guess its normal to do nothing to the wax application foam pad and just store it cleanly between uses?

Looks like at a minimum addition of a few cleaning tools and a bunch of pads is in order.
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