Polishing, what to do - what to do?

[Pygmypoacher]

Originally Posted by Pygmypoacher

The wheels vary slightly recommending big to exceed 3000 - 3200 rpm.

Not to exceed

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by bellonaples

I used nuvite and a buffpro buffer on my 1972 22 Safari and had great results considering I am a rookie.? The buffpro is great and doesn't produce swirls. Good luck

Can you tell us more about your Buffpro experience? Maybe some pictures.

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by Pygmypoacher

Not to exceed

NOT to exceed. Now That's, an Important safety tip.  Thanks for catching that.

I really like the picture, the bottles look like mirrors, you on the other hand are looking a bit... Oxidized?

So, I'm looking at a Dewalt 7" variable speed polisher, capable of 600 - 3,500 rpm, which seems more than adequate for this. I've also looked at the Makita 7" variable speed polisher, 600 - 3000 rpm, but the Jestco system prefers rpm between 3000 & 4000.

If you don't mind, what polisher are you using and what do you like about it?

Regards,
Pete

[Pygmypoacher]

Originally Posted by Re-Pete

NOT to exceed. Now That's, an Important safety tip.  Thanks for catching that.

I really like the picture, the bottles look like mirrors, you on the other hand are looking a bit... Oxidized?

So, I'm looking at a Dewalt 7" variable speed polisher, capable of 600 - 3,500 rpm, which seems more than adequate for this. I've also looked at the Makita 7" variable speed polisher, 600 - 3000 rpm, but the Jestco system prefers rpm between 3000 & 4000.

If you don't mind, what polisher are you using and what do you like about it?

Regards,
Pete

Using the Dewalt you listed. Solid tool, no issues at all.

[Re-Pete]

So, I've finally pulled the trigger. Thanks, for all of your feed back, suggestions, and insight, it's been more helpful, interesting and encouraging than you may realize. And, truthfully pretty overwhelming, hahaha, as well.

I've ordered the Dewalt DWP849X[/a] 7-Inch/9-Inch Variable Speed Polisher with Soft Start from Amazon, who incredibly, seemed to have the best price.

And, I've decided to use polishing rouge and buffing wheels from Jestco Products.

Here's a short Airstream polishing video tutorial done by Levon Register of Southern Antique.com demonstrating the Jestco process on a 1985 Airstream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNZepfqL2ow

Checking out all of your information and leads, it became obvious to me that there are lots of great method and I just needed to pick one I felt comfortable with.

I choose Jestco for several reasons: first, a person with several Airstream polishing jobs under their belt liked it enough to make a pretty decent video (and a printed induction on his website) on the Jestco process. I've also communicated with him via email and he's a total fan. Next, it looks like it will save me some time and I value that.*And finally, it seems to be a small personally run business. Claude Jester, the owner was always very prompt in answering my emails and went into plenty of detail. An owner of vintage Airstreams himself, he's been very helpful. Having been a small business owner most of my professional life I find that level of contact very reassuring.

I choose the Dewalt 849 because several of the folks I've heard from use and like it and it seems well suited to this process.

I sure hope that, everyone and anyone with aluminum fever will continue posting what works for them, tips, tricks, and questions if their just getting started like me, and pictures of their process and their pride and joys.

It's my intention to continue to use this thread to document my polishing journey and to seek the excellent advice from all of you who have taken this journey as well.

Regards,
Pete

[Re-Pete]

We removed the side awnings today. I removed the back (rear end cap window) awning a couple of days ago. I was able to do that one alone. Because I'm removing most of the aluminum slats and the tube with the fabric attached I did not even attempt to do the side awnings alone.

Phyllis and I actually removed the 19'6" left side window awning by ourselves. Not really that difficult.

We had a camping neighbor help us with the right side patio awning. That one was heavy and difficult. Holy S*** ! We could not have done it without our friends help. We're taking him to movies tomorrow.

Here are a couple of pictures from the right side showing the caked dirt and corrosion trapped beneath the awning:

[GailMac]

Originally Posted by Re-Pete

That looks great. I can't possibly imagine how they did that for $550. You need to move and not leave a forwarding address in case they come to their senses! You got the deal of a lifetime.

Regards,
Pete

No only that but they told me to bring it back in four (4) weeks and they would go over it again very lightly without charge. I also plan on letting them go over it once a year just to keep it in good shape.

[GailMac]

Also, you can get lots of good free information from "The Swift Museum Foundation, Inc" that polishes Airplanes. You can get a DVD Video from them that's very helpful. E-mail them at swiftlychs@aol.com in Athens, TN or give them a call (423) 745-9547 & Fax (423) 745-9869. I started polishing my AS in 2011 & spent $787.99 on equipment, supplies, etc. & after about 12 hours and still was not quarter way finished gave up. I will be putting all my equipment up for sale at half price since I was able to have the AS polished for less than cost of the equipment. Mac

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by GailMac

Also, you can get lots of good free information from "The Swift Museum Foundation, Inc" that polishes Airplanes. You can get a DVD Video from them that's very helpful. E-mail them at swiftlychs@aol.com in Athens, TN or give them a call (423) 745-9547 & Fax (423) 745-9869. I started polishing my AS in 2011 & spent $787.99 on equipment, supplies, etc. & after about 12 hours and still was not quarter way finished gave up. I will be putting all my equipment up for sale at half price since I was able to have the AS polished for less than cost of the equipment. Mac

I've never heard of such a price, I'm really glad for you. And thanks for the info.

Regards,
Pete

[Re-Pete]

I'm nearly finished with all of the detail stripping I still needed to do.
This involved removing the awnings and working on tough areas that the awnings typically lay against except when they are rolled out.


This ran the length of the patio awning. No idea easy it was. It was a bear to remove. Because of the straight edge I believe it was some kind of tape. I'm not sure what the purpose of it was.

Kind of a before and after. Left side has been cleaned, required a lot of elbow grease, plastic scraper, a couple of barrel brushes, denatured alcohol, and mineral spirits. I still had to strip the plasticoat off with stripper after that (not shown). I did it over two days I believe I spent about 10 hours on it. It was too dark by the time I finished to take a good picture. The areas below the left side and rear window awnings were not as bad. If estimate they took about 6 hours total.

Cleaning up these areas was much harder than I would have thought. Also, removing the awnings was a task. The patio awning took me. Phyllis, and a helpful neighbor and we still struggled. That sucker was heavy. I have not removed the awning tracks including the first aluminum slat attached to each of them. I'd really like to hear from any others who have removed awnings for polishing and what they did.

Now that we have them off we're actually considering ordering new fabric.

[Re-Pete]

I have number and medallion decal ghosting on the front end cap. I'm considering wet sanding to get rid of them, as I'm not sure If polishing alone will do it. I also have the belt decal ghosting around the middle, back and sides, under my top rub rail. I'd love to hear from anyone who has dealt with these issues and what you found worked best.

[Re-Pete]

Forgot to add the pictures.

[Re-Pete]

So I've been polishing for about 10 or 11 days now. Having started about mid August. Had some rain days and was also visiting kids and G-kids in Virginia Beach causing me to lose 5 days. I was able to buy a nice Bakers scaffold while there for only $125. Attachment 293762
My wife found it on Craig's list. A Big improvement over my first set up. Attachment 293763
Honestly, my back gets so tight, especially in the beginning, that I was only able to polish a few hours a day in the beginning. Lately, I'm pretty much able to handle closer to 6 hours with breaks, but so far I'm only about 2/3s done with the rear section. Attachment 293764
Attachment 293765
As I mentioned earlier I'm using Jestco buffing wheels and rouge bars. Claude, at Jestco (great small company, with excellent customer service), sent me a 10" hard buff to try (I've been using the 8" extra thick soft buffs). Yesterday evening I tried it for the first time, and continued with it today. I feel it improved my speed. I still need to do several initial passes, but that's a few less than I've needed to do with the soft buffs. Since at this point I only have one 10" hard buff I'm still doing my second cut with the 8" soft buff. This is a two cut followed by a Cyclo or random orbital buffer process.
It's suppose to be quicker than the wool bonnet / Nuvite process. I can not testify to that. [emoji15]

While I like the results I'm getting, I feel that I'm having to make a lot of repeat passes with my initial cut. And frequently, I'm backtracking to redo areas, after I think I'm done, because I spot hazy-ness (looks like clusters of tiny water spots) sometimes they show up doing the second cut. Can anyone tell me what these are and why they seem so difficult to remove.

I'm currently taking a hard look at Zephyr products, because they are very similar to what I'm using only more advanced, and the Zephyr system seems to be the preferred method used by a number of the professional big rig and tanker truck polishers. I've also seen some pretty great results using it on Airstreams.

We're heading west at the end of September and frankly, unless I get faster, I don't like my chances of finishing before then based on what I've accomplished so far.

Sorry it's taken so long for an update. I knew I'd have some questions and thought it best to wait until I was sure about what they were.

Regards,
Pete

[Re-Pete]

Photos that failed to attach properly.

[lonewolf1977]

It's looking great!

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by lonewolf1977

It's looking great!

Thanks, I appreciate that

Pete

[madpiper]

WOW, what an improvement, you inspired me and I'm working with nuvite and very pleased with the results so far. Really have a long way to go but the results make the work worthwhile. I'm not hitting the very top roof because it's so hard to reach and I don't want to damage it by stepping in the wrong area. It appears there is some old white paint there anyway that you can't see from standing on the ground that the Po installed years ago.

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by madpiper

...I'm working with nuvite and very pleased with the results so far... I'm not hitting the very top roof because it's so hard to reach and I don't want to damage it by stepping in the wrong area...

Me also. I'm doing up to the last row of rivets on either side. I don't see a point with doing the roof. I've also found having a good solid platform to stand on makes the higher polishing easier.
Good luck.

Pete

[GailMac]

Ref Re-Pete comment: Individuals that did my AS also does big rig tanker trucks & does an outstanding job for about 1/4 of the price and only takes 2 or 3 days. Please let us know your cost and total man hours when you finish. If you are headed West on IH-10 you may want to let "1SHINE+" finished your job. They are just East of San Antonio, TX on IH-10.

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by GailMac

Ref Re-Pete comment: Individuals that did my AS also does big rig tanker trucks & does an outstanding job for about 1/4 of the price and only takes 2 or 3 days. Please let us know your cost and total man hours when you finish. If you are headed West on IH-10 you may want to let "1SHINE+" finished your job. They are just East of San Antonio, TX on IH-10.

Never say never. It's kind of love hate, but I'm getting real satisfaction from doing it myself.

Thanks,
Pete