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Keeping the Toons Looking Great

That's the same one I got.  We'll see how long it runs...  Ha ha ha.
 
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Well I did my tritoon last year and it worked just fine.
 
I hope mine lasts that long.  It's cheap crap from China, and probably has a high failure rate.  Sounds like you got one of the good ones though.  Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
That looks like it should do a good job!
 
Looks like I won't be using that cheap polisher I used last year.  A friend of mine just dropped off his Porter Cable model 7428 7" grinder for me to use.  Pretty sure that was just a wee bit more expensive than mine....lol.
 
BigBlock said:
Keith,

If your tubes look anywhere as good as in the picture of you pontoon, I would suggest the following process;

First, unless you have very serious oxidation (I doubt) or scum build up, I would NOT acid wash the tubes just to get ready for polish. You have already smoothed the metal in the past so it should polish back up with very little effort.

Instead of the full polishing process, you should be able to start with a secondary buff instead of primary. For that you will need the Hall Green Airway buff wheel #AWG 58-8 HA and the Green Chrome Rouge #JRGRN, you can order these from Zephyr.

Start by buffing a small section (6" x 6") at the tail of the pontoon well below the waterline. Basically, your just testing the results instead of committing yourself to a full-on buff job. If you like what you see... continue, if not you have only wasted about $24.00 on a wheel and rouge.

BigBlock - So if I get 3 of those Hall Green Airway buff wheels and 3 bars of that Green Chrome Rouge that's all I need?  Do I also need to buy that AIRWAY BUFF SAFETY FLANGE. MANDATORY FOR USE WITH 8” & 10” AIRWAYS WITH 3” CENTER PLATES - 5/8” ARBOR HOLE. (SFPR 58-4) ?   

My grinder is 7" so will these 8" wheels work ok on it?

I'm getting ready to order everything so I wanted to make sure I get this right.
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Keith, those are the exact questions I've been searching the web for... thanks for asking them.
 
Keith and Kaydano,
 
The answers to a lot of the questions depend on the current condition of your aluminum now and the level of polish that you desire.
 
Assuming in Keith's case that the toons have been polished in the past, they have already been smoothed. In addition, we'll assume that they have only very light oxidation/staining on them.
 
With that said, I believe you could skip the primary cutting step and proceed to secondary cutting. I would start with the Green wheel, and Green Chrome Rouge which is designed for secondary cutting. Buff your tubes complete with this step. Go slowly and work in smaller 12" x 12" sections. The process moves pretty rapidly. During this step, you should set your buffing speed at 3000 to 3400 RPM.
 
Once this step is complete, you must clean the aluminum surface before proceeding to the next step. The product to use is Pro 50 Eliminator from Zephyr. Simple spray on / wipe off process.

The next step is the Semi Finish polish. With a White Untreated Wheel and White Chrome Rouge, repeat the entire buffing process.

Clean with Pro 50 again and proceed to the Final Finish.

This can be your last step of polishing! With the White Flannel Wheel and Moss Green Jewelers Rouge buff again.

These three steps will leave the toons with a brilliant shine and a deep luster.

Just a couple other tips;

Keep your wheel clean by frequently raking the face of the wheel.

Never Ever, mix rouges with a single wheel. Discard it if you do.

Tape up any surfaces you don't wish to buff.

Be careful!, these buffers have a lot of power

Let the wheel and the rouge do all the work.... not you. You should not have to apply any heavy pressure to the wheel.

Shopping List to complete project

Airway Hall Green Mill Treat Wheel  AWG 58-8HA

Airway White Finish Pad
 
Sorry, hit the wrong button!

Shopping List,

QTY2 Airway Hall Green Mill Treat Wheel AWG 58-8HA 

QTY2 Airway White Finish Pad Untreated AWW 58-8HR

QTY2 Airway White Domet Flannel AWW 58-8FL

1 Bar each of

Green Chrome Rouge

White Chrome Rouge

Moss Green Jewelers Rouge

1 32oz spray bottle of Pro 50 Eliminator

1 Wheel rake (foot type)

1 set of Airway safety flanges

That should just about do it for completing one full pontoon.

Hope all this helps
 
VERY helpful!  Thank you very much.  I'll order all of that in the next two weeks so I have it all here once the weather gets warm enough to get my boat out of storage.  Really looking forward to not having a bunch of (Gord's) liquid flinging all over the place this time.  Since I just did that last year I agree with you in that I do expect this to go quicker this time around.  I created some swirl marks last year...I'm assuming that is because of going too fast with the polisher?  Gord's stated to start out slow but then finish at a quicker RPM once it starts drying but again I'm pretty sure that's how I got the swirls.  Re: RPM's....I have 6 speeds on that Porter Cable polisher/grinder....any idea what number = what RPM's?

Again thank you SO much for the help on this!

Keith
 
Not familiar with that buffer but you may be able to Google it for an operators manual.

One thing I forgot to mention, drop the speed on the buffer down to about 2000 RPM when using the Flannel wheel.
 
Thanks for all that info BigBlock. I found a quart of Sharkhide here in town yesterday. Got my buffer. Just need to call Zyphyr now and wait for warmer weather.

By the way, when you have a 7 inch buffer, what does that actually refer to? What does it mean with regard to sizing bugging wheels?
 
Ha ha. Spell checker got me. Meant buffing wheels.
 
I think that you would be fine with an 8" wheel on a 7" polisher. I've used 10" wheels on 8" polishers.
 
BigBlock said:
Not familiar with that buffer but you may be able to Google it for an operators manual.

One thing I forgot to mention, drop the speed on the buffer down to about 2000 RPM when using the Flannel wheel.
Click to expand...

I just found the owner's manual to my grinder online....it says it will run from 1000-3000 rpms so that gives me an idea of what #'s to use on the dial.
 
BigBlock 

What is the cost approximately to have the dealer do SharkHide on the Toons approximately  I have two

They are on winter hours 

Tuesday - Friday 

I will be leaving a message on the machine Monday Morning

Bennington Is The Pontoon To Own 

 
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A Bit Confused 

I spoke with dealer today 

He said they use to use Shark Hide Routinely

BUT 

No longer do 

AND 

Refuse to no matter what anyone is willing to pay

They claim it causes peeling on the toons and should not be used

He regrets using the product to this day !! 

I hope he is wrong for everyone else

SmileyShocked.png
 
In just over a year on this forum ,I don't recall one complaint on Sharkhide .
 
I have used Sharkhide on three different pontoons over the last several years and have never had any peeling. I would assume that the surfaces were not completely clean prior to application, or some other application error. The process is a very simple DIY project that will probably take about an hour (plus the time to properly clean the toons).


Think about it, if Sharkhide was so bad as he states, why then would a Quality builder such as Bennington offer it as a factory option?
 
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