Polishing without Cyclo

[rwtalbot]

G'day Group,

I'm experimenting with polishing. No doubt I will eventually give in and paint, but so far I have been flying two years without the paint so I figure now is the time to give it a try.

I have a supply of Nuvite F7, C and S grade polishes. I have been compounding with a rotary polisher.

Over here in Australia it is a bit hard to get hold of a Cyclo polisher as the US units are all 110V and we run 220V. Also, I am not sure if it is worth the expense as a trial run.

My question is has anyone had good results using a random orbital sander/polisher or some other machine that is commonly available? I'd be interested in any tips.

I'm not necessarily looking for a show finish. Anything is better than a plane that has been flying two years without paint or polish!

Cheers
Richard

RV7A - Flying
Sydney, Australia

 

[Bruce]

Richard,
You can get great results just using the buffer.
Use plenty of F7- at least 6 passes then the C and
then to S.
I started machining S and then use the Cyclo for
the S with great results.

You don't need a cyclo for the results you are
looking for and it is still going to look great.

Thanks,
Boomer

 

[RV Wannabe]

I am no expert, but I have brought a polished C-140 back from years of neglect and kept it polished for 4 years. I love polished airplanes, but gotta admit that I have paint envy when the shine dulls a little.

In my opinion I would not want only a cyclo. I use a compound (straight spin) buffer on low rpm. This does the hard work, then switch for the last pass with the cyclo to get the swirls out. I never use anything above the nuvite grade S with the cyclo. I would guess it would take 2-3 times as long to polish with a cyclo only (of course using higher grades before the last S pass.)

If I were purchasing equipment knowing what I do now I would want to try out one of the large single pad orbitals from the auto parts store for the last pass. Kinda currious if it would work well. I can't see why not unless they are low on power, plus they have to be less expensive than a cyclo! I also find the cyclo to be quite awkward to hold while keeping the fleece tight and in place.

Good luck
Mark

 

[Tony Spicer]

Richard,

This was done with no Cyclo:

https://picasaweb.google.com/tonyboytoo/Sonex#5140822613545655346

F7 and C with a rotary. Keep the rpm and movement such that the polish doesn't heat too much and dry.

Use flannel held on a electric DA with a rubber band for the S. Don't know what your source for yellow flannel rags is down under, but in the US most auto supply houses carry them in bundles. Cut into quarters and discard when they start looking nasty.

Experimenting is the ticket.

Tony