aluminum polishing video

[walter]

this guy makes it look pretty easy, wish I had a garage & time to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyOodLNI4BQ

any body know about how thick those fuel tanks on an 18 wheeler are?

[Bamaman]

I've seen that gentleman on UTube. He's using rouge with the big polisher like they use in body shops and some detailing shops. Obviously, he's a professional. I cannot help to think that a machine like that could produce gouges and swirls--to be saved for someone that polishes all the time. They are not at all forgiving.

I know it's not possible for me to produce and maintain a mirror image without much more effort than I'm willing to put into the job.

I would think that these tanks are from substantially thicker aluminum than pontoon boats.

[HandymanHerb]

He left out the first step, acid washing, fuel tanks have to be 1/8 inch minimum most are thicker, also you have to remember that tank was polished before, that's why it shines up so quick and in two steps.

Pontoons are going to take a little more time, but all it takes is time, we had the biggest part done for 800 and saved us a bunch of time, we did the insides because we were nuts, but all that shine made the rest look so bad we had to do it.

It's not that hard to do, but it is dirty and no your not going to gouge, it's not cutting that fast and the swirls scratches's are what your buffing out

Here your can see where they quit polishing



Here's ours after about four passes

[chill'nthemost]

Herb

The job onyour toon look fantastic. The very first time i did mine they looked almost that good. I can't remember the brand of polish but I bought a package on the web. It came with a 5 gal acid wash and a wax that was applied with a piece of supplied outdoor carpet.

I did it a second time using an Eagle aluminum wheel cleaner to acid wash the toon and then polished with Flitz. They looked not quit as good as the first time, but good. This time I used Shark Hid to protect the polish job. Shark Hid is no doubt a quality product but when you wipe down the polished toons with lacquer thinner (needed to prep for Shark Hide) you also remove much of the polish which also fills the swirl marks. After wiping down the toons, the mirror finish looks like crap when the swirl marks are no longer filled.

This 3rd time I used Shark Hide polish (great product) but once again when you wipe down with lacquer thinner to use the protector the filled swirls look like crap. It's a mirror finish with swirls that I can't live with.

Getting Shark Hide off is a bitch too. I used spray bottle filled with lacquer thinner in small section, but its still a bitch. I'm going back to a full on polish without Shark Hid and staying diligent about keeping the toons polished.