Late winter projects

[Nancy]

We're getting the itch to start working on the boat. It's still about seven weeks until we uncover. Last week, John tackled the aluminum supports for the helm chairs. The boat had been in saltwater until we bought it last spring, and the aluminum was pitted. Here's a before and after shot....we're pretty happy with how these turned out.

helm chair supports-1-021913-800.JPG

[thomaslong]

Can you share with us how you did that?

[Nancy]

Happy to share!

John started with 100-grit sandpaper on a disk sander to remove the imperfections. Then he progressed through 150, 180, 220, 320, 800, 1200, 1500, and 2000. The 2000 was by hand. Then he used 3M rubbing compound followed by Meguiar's Swirl Remover. We finished with Mother's Mag & Aluminum Wheel Polish.

After the 100-grit, he says to use whatever sander will fit the curves. A lot of it will be by hand. As for technique, the trick is to change the direction you're sanding with each successive paper. That way, you can see your progress.

The materials he used weren't necessarily optimal - he just used what he had on hand. If he'd had solid compound, he would have tried that with some polishing wheels.