cyclo or not

[Jalina]

Tim, 53, and Garry, good job guys, y'all got us wore out just from reading about all the polishing!!! My question is will an automotive type random orbit polisher work as well as the cyclo? Also our AS is not in that bad of shape and would like to know if we still have to compound or if we can get away with maybe just polishing with the SS, never polished any aluminnuminum before. Y'all keep up the good work!!When we get ready to start we will poost picsThanks


Mac

[Creampuff]

My question is will an automotive type random orbit polisher work as well as the cyclo?
Mac

Automotive r.o. polishers will not generate the rpms that a Cyclo does in my experience and thus does not allow the polish to 'cut'. Any combination of polisher and polish will give you a 'shine'. The REAL work comes when you want to move from a 'shiny' trailer to one where you can see yourself (clearly) reflected in it! You do have to strip the remaining clearcoat off before you will get any real results.

[Jalina]

Automotive r.o. polishers will not generate the rpms that a Cyclo does in my experience and thus does not allow the polish to 'cut'. Any combination of polisher and polish will give you a 'shine'. The REAL work comes when you want to move from a 'shiny' trailer to one where you can see yourself (clearly) reflected in it! You do have to strip the remaining clearcoat off before you will get any real results.

Thanks Murry, still don't know which way we will go on this project yet. On the clearcoat stripper, will this stuff also strip the sikaflex and the parabond,'cause we just got finnished sealing all the windows and stuff.
Thanks,

Mac

[Safari Tim]

I do not have any experience with a auto polisher like you mentioned.

But I can tell trying to polish without first compounding will lead to disapointment.

I could not reach, and still have not, the very top of my trailer with a compounder. So I just used the cyclo there. After setting for six months it look almost as bad as before I started. The compounded areas did not loose their luster.

The compounding removes the oxidation, and corrision, as well as reforming the surface that will bring out the mirror shine. This is acomplished through shear horsepower to a small area of the buffing wheel. The cyclo is not made for this.

The real work is the compunder. The cyclo is ONLY to be used in the end to bring out the mirror finish.

Any imperfections, scratches, pits, milky patterns, corrosion left after compounding will still be there after the cyclo. I had to go over most of my trailer 10 times or more with the compounder to get rid of the corrosion. I have about 100 hours in compounding alone.

The cyclo does not have enough horse power, concentration to remove any of these type of imperfections.

That is really the point of the cyclo. To remove the light scratches left from compounding in an orbital fashion to make the surface appear to be scratch free.

It's a finishing tool.

Has anyone given any thought to getting a group of members together to purchase a Cyclo and then just passing it around. Except for the time you use it , it'll just be gathering dust. Then any ones personal investment is minimal.

[Jalina]

Originally Posted by Craftsman

Has anyone given any thought to getting a group of members together to purchase a Cyclo and then just passing it around. Except for the time you use it , it'll just be gathering dust. Then any ones personal investment is minimal.

Jalina and I have talked about getting a cyclo if the SS doesn't work and then selling it for a little less than we paid for it, but we are not that far along yet.

Mac

[JohnG]

Originally Posted by Craftsman

Has anyone given any thought to getting a group of members together to purchase a Cyclo and then just passing it around. Except for the time you use it , it'll just be gathering dust. Then any ones personal investment is minimal.

Well you can always use the cyclo to do a good paste wax to your car. Removal of the glazed wax will be much easier if you have a machine to help you out. It does have more uses than just to put the mirror finish on you AS. Plus your going to need it again when you have to repolish your AS.

[InsideOut]

...I can tell trying to polish without first compounding will lead to disapointment.

<snip>

The compounding removes the oxidation, and corrision, as well as reforming the surface that will bring out the mirror shine. This is acomplished through shear horsepower to a small area of the buffing wheel. The cyclo is not made for this.

The real work is the compunder. The cyclo is ONLY to be used in the end to bring out the mirror finish.

Any imperfections, scratches, pits, milky patterns, corrosion left after compounding will still be there after the cyclo. I had to go over most of my trailer 10 times or more with the compounder to get rid of the corrosion. I have about 100 hours in compounding alone.

The cyclo does not have enough horse power, concentration to remove any of these type of imperfections.

That is really the point of the cyclo. To remove the light scratches left from compounding in an orbital fashion to make the surface appear to be scratch free.

It's a finishing tool.

Couldn't have expressed our experience any better myself! Thanks Tim ~

Shari

[Jalina]

Originally Posted by JohnG

Well you can always use the cyclo to do a good paste wax to your car. Removal of the glazed wax will be much easier if you have a machine to help you out. It does have more uses than just to put the mirror finish on you AS. Plus your going to need it again when you have to repolish your AS.

John, what ya meen, repolish? We were going to seal ours with the plasticoat from Airstream after the pollishing was complete.Repolish, huh, I am not even looking forward to the first time. UNLESS..... polish 1, drink2, polish1, drink2.
Thanks,
Mac