Think of taking a buffing wheel off of a bench grinder and putting a
shaft thru it, then chucking it in a drill and you will get the idea.
You buff with what is essentially the outside surface of a cylinder, not
the area of a circle as with an orbital buffer.
Vaughn
I've seen his work and it is beautiful
----- Original Message -----
From: Karl Heindl
To: europa-list@matronics.com
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 11:14
Subject: RE: Europa-List: Re: Bubbling paint
Hi John,
Thank you for the very comprehensive reply. I can't quite picture your
homemade polisher.
I and I am sure others would be very interested in a picture if that
is possible. I have a random orbit variable speed 7" Bosch sanding tool,
but with afoam pad it can also be adapted for polishing.
Karl
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From: TELEDYNMCS@aol.com
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 09:15:21 -0400
Subject: Europa-List: Re: Bubbling paint
To: europa-list@matronics.com
In a message dated 7/9/2009 3:02:51 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
europa-list@matronics.com writes:
>>>>>Cars and store bought airplanes are metal, blistering is a
composites
problem. If there are any fingerprints, unreacted resins, whatever,
on
the surface before painting osmosis will occur. ALL paint systems
are
permeable. As you say, wax is best<<<<<
Hey Graham,
Yes, a lot of them are metal, but blistering can occur on metal
airplanes, too. My father owned a Mooney back when I was a teenager. The
airplane was less than 2 years old and developed blisters on both wings.
He sent it back to the factory in Texas to have it fixed and
unfortunately, it was destroyed in a hail storm. Although that airplane
sat out in the weather constantly the blistering probably had little to
do with rain and everything to do with paint preparation. Gel coat is
bad about blistering on boats that are in the water constantly. I've
owned a couple of sail boats that were docked permanently in water and
both developed blisters on the hull below the waterline after a while in
the water.
>>>>>I always wanted to use a polish for extra protection=2C but I
am afraid tha
t it would be very difficult to do any future touchups. My experience
with
furniture lacquers is=2C that it is very difficult to re-finish a
tabletop
where any polish was used containing wax or silicone=2C even when it
is str
ipped down to the bare wood.<<<<<<
Hey Karl,
The one thing you want to avoid at all costs is any finish enhancer
that contains silicone. That goes for DOT 5 brake fluid, too. Silicone
is extremely hard to get off once it's on the finish. Even sanding
thoroughly won't get it all off. There are silicone removers available.
Most major paint manufacturers make them in one form or another. We've
tried a variety of them with mixed results. Repeated wiping with acetone
in between sanding seems to work best, but we still get paint rejection
---From time to time. It's a real bitch sometimes and requires several
cycles of painting and sanding to get the paint to stick if silicone is
present. We've never had problems with bubbling or paint rejection after
we got the paint or gel coat to stick, though.
>>>>>>Your experience seems to indicate that this is not a problem
with glider an
d Europa finishes. Can you confirm that and let us know what you use
to pre
pare the surface for re-painting ? I never used carnuba wax. Is it
availabl
e in car shops=2C and do I need a powered polisher for application ?
Which
polishes are to be avoided ?<<<<<<
Carnuba wax is a high quality car wax and it seems to produce the best
results. We use it on both urethane and gel coat finishes. Wx Block is
also good, but it's pricey. Some folks prefer wax, others like Wx Block.
Personally, I like wax better because it shines better. You can usually
find a good Carnuba wax at any decent auto parts store. Expect to pay
around $10-$12 a tin for it. We use the paste type Carnuba. Carnuba also
will wipe off with acetone and/or sanding.
We tell folks to avoid anything with silicone, sillica or similar
ingredients, though. Use of such products will be troublesome later on
if you need to do a repair. As I previously mentioned this is why we do
not recommend furniture polishes for canopies, but rather plexiglass
wax. Canopy rails are usually the first place paint or gel coat will
chip because they flex and there are different expansion and contraction
rates for the fiberglass rail and the plexiglass canopy. This usually
causes a crack to form at the edge where the two meet. Chips usually
follow. Silicone products, even though they are slippery, also seem to
tend to hold a slight electric charge which tends to cause dust to stick
to the surface. We saw that one play out a couple of years ago at a
glider meet out in Uvalde, TX. There was one guy in the field of
competitors who wiped his whole glider down every day with furniture
polish. Uvalde is desert conditions and there is a lot of dust. By the
end of the meet his glider was a dust magnet. No one else at the meet
was having the problem.
The wax is applied by hand, but you don't necessarily have to use a
buffer once it's ready to wipe out, but it does help melt the wax and
gain a better application and a much better shine. I would not use an
orbiting type buffer, though. Those type buffers will create swirls in
your paint. We build our own buffers out of a variable speed 7" die
grinder. We use 9" flannel buffing pads stacked up about 5" thick. You
can get "threaded collars" to fit the arbor of the grinder at virtually
any hardware store to lengthen the grinder arbor shaft by about 3".
First, put on a big fender washer, then the collar. Then, we add about
5" thick of 9" flannel buffing pads to the shaft. We really pack the
pads on the shaft and sometimes it involves using a hammer to beat them
onto the shaft so they are good and tight. Then, another big fender
washer and a bolt that mates to the other end of the threaded collar.
Buffing is done end on. This way it does not create swirls, only shine.
You have to pay particular attention when you are buffing control
surfaces and near leading and trailing edges. It's best to buff those
parallel to the wing or control surface for safety. If you buff 90
degrees to the control surface or wing edge and aren't very careful it's
easy to catch on the edge of a wing or control surface like an aileron
or elevator if you don't pay attention to the direction of rotation and
you can damage the surface. I also "bump" the trigger repeatedly so that
the buffer doesn't get going too fast when I'm near the edge. Some
grinders spin too fast for buffing, so we use a router speed control to
provide better control the RPM.
When buffing near the edge make sure the direction of rotation is
outward from the surface's edge. If the rotation is inward toward the
edge you risk the buffer grabbing. I've twice seen ailerons literally
torn off by folks who weren't paying attention. You don't have to put
much pressure on the buffer, either. Usually, it's own weight is enough
to do the job. It will give your forearms a good workout, though. I can
send you some pictures of the buffers we use if you'd like.
Hope it helps!
Regards,
John Lawton
Whitwell, TN (TN89)
N245E - Flying
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