Back to the main site

To shine or Not to shine

Ecoman

Ecoman

Well-Known Member
Messages
205
Reaction score
25
I have shark hide on my toons and it looks good. I have only had it on for one season , but I am amazed at the toons that are polished to mirror finish. If you polish them like that how long does it last? Will the next polishing take as long or longer or should I just stay with the shark hide. I'm not looking for extra work but it looks so cool.
 
Interested in the answer to this also. I don't pick my Tri-toon up till Wednesday but would like to do one or the other out the gate.
 
I polished mine to a mirror finish. There's a small spot that I missed and it tarnished pretty quickly. The rest is as shiny as the day I did it about a year ago. Doesn't answer your question but thought it might help.
 
If you don't want any more work you definitely answered your own question right there as it is a ton of labor intensive work. I polished the outside of the tubes on my 07 and last week on my 2011 and I had about the same amount of time into both. Took me roughly 7 hours per tube on each and both are / were 22 footers.

If yours already has sharkhide it will add even more work as I just found out, Mine had 3 coats on it before I started the polish process and It would have taken a big load of rags and a bit of Acetone to get all the sharkhide off before the polish, I tried but realized I was just moving it around and not removing a lot as I didn't have that many rags to properly remove it so I decided to buff it off during the polish process, it did add a bit more elbow grease but it turned out ok.

I did my 07 toon before it ever hit the water and then put sharkhide over the polished tubes and traded it in 4 years later and it still looked good but there were a few spots that had been rubbed where the sharkhide was missing or like Kaydano said a couple little small areas that got missed and they show up within a few days of being exposed. I would say under normal conditions from my experience if they look ok yet just reapply sharkhide every 2-3 years or so and one should be fine.

Would be great if this was a factory option to buy them with pre-polished tubes, One thing that would be worth the money after having done two of them now. :wacko:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wild and Free said:
Mine had 3 coats on it before I started the polish process and It would have taken a big load of rags and a bit of Acetone to get all the sharkhide off before the polish, I tried but realized I was just moving it around and not removing a lot as I didn't have that many rags to properly remove it so I decided to buff it off during the polish process.
Click to expand...
Acetone dries too quickly to allow for any working time. Sharkhide recommends lacquer thinner for removal.
 
Maynard G. Krebs said:
Acetone dries too quickly to allow for any working time. Sharkhide recommends lacquer thinner for removal.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Acetone is what I had on hand, I live in the country 25 miles from town so I just used what I had on hand. Does make sense as that is what I found out, seemed like the acetone didn't last long, kept having to re-dampen the rags constantly.

Live and learn.....
 
Boarider said:
Sounds like I have some work ahead of me. Maybe after the first or second trip out.
Click to expand...
If you plan to polish and or Sharkhide, I would put Sharkhide on the areas you will not be polishing before it ever hits the water to ensure the tubes are cleaner and do not tarnish or dull to a point less than they are new. It is truly amazing how fast they change color even if only in the water one time on new aluminum depending on water quality too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wild and Free said:
If you plan to polish and or Sharkhide, I would put Sharkhide on the areas you will not be polishing before it ever hits the water to ensure the tubes are cleaner and do not tarnish or dull to a popint less than they are new. It is truly amazing how fast they change color even if only in the water one time on rw new aluminum depending on water quality too.
Click to expand...
Yes, they start to tarnish the moment they roll it off the factory floor!
 
When people have used lacquer thinner or acetone to remove Sharkhide, do you protect the trailer or any areas of paint to ensure they are not damaged from a drip, etc?
 
A stray drip here and there won't damage cured paint, besides, many of todays trailers are powdercoated which is far more durable. Of the two, I would have more concerns with acetone than lacquer thinner but it's a non issue since it has no place in the application or removal of Sharkhide.
 
So clean the parts that I'm not polishing with the cleaner from Sharkhides and treat them or just treat?

Just got home from a 8 hour round trip to pick her up. I'm ready to dip her once or twice. 80 degrees down here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I didn't protect anything but I soaked rags with it so there wasn't any dripping or waste that could have gotten on anything other than where I wanted it and like stated before I used acetone which actually dried out too fast to be as effective and lacquer thinner would have been but I think acetone makes the final wipe down better as it dries right away and doesn't leave a film.
 
If I could do it all over again, I would shark hide immediately upon delivery to preserve the factory look (easiest thing to do) and then polish a few years down the road once it started looking rough. You can never get back to the factory finish. Keep and enjoy it while you got it and leave the heavy labor of polishing for a future day.

But polish it if you want to right away. It does look pretty stunning.
 
I am not lazy, I clean my seats most every day after I go out but polishing the toons seems like too much work. I power wash my toons when it comes out of the water then again before it goes in and I apply sharkhide every year. I know it says it lasts 2 or 3 years but so far this has worked for me as my toons look decent
 
We know what happens on those seats. I'd be cleaning them too every day. I also don't have the time to spend doing this. I keep the boat on a lift to keep the crud off. Not having them to a mirror finish does not phase me.
 
I'm going to start polishing my toons this weekend, I hope I'm not in over my head with this project. I got a dual action polisher from harbor freight and a few wool bonnets from Amazon. I'm not going for the mirrow finish I just want to get the dark waterlines off, wish I would have applied sharkhide when the boat was new.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top