hard wax application

Tuno, you are getting good advice.

Machine "hardwaxing" is a skill and teaching yourself to do this as
PIC the first time would be unwise for most mortals. If you are going
the self-taught method, maybeyou could sell tickets to watch.

The thin fiberglass/carbon skins of modern ships are especially
sensitive to excess heat and pressure and a control surface can be
ripped in half instantly if you get the wrong edge of the buffer in
the wrong place. A friend working in a glider factory observed his 55
kg girlfriend get yanked completely over a wing when she caught the
buffer on the leading edge. If you want to do this, the Makita
variable spped buffer is the "gold standard" tool.

As was mentioned previously, hardwaxing accomplishes a couple of
things. First, it is mildly abrasive and thus removes fine scratches
from the surface. Secondly, the heat of the buffer opens the porous
structure of the gelcoat and the gets the wax down into the coating,
"moisturizing" it. I know of a glider that was almost impossible to
repair as the gelcoat was saturated with wax from repeated hardwaxing
and nothing would stick to it. It is noteworthy that this ship's
finish was nearly perfect even though this make and model is notorious
for finish crazing.

Negative issues associated with hardwaxing: 1) It will NOT protect
the ship from UV. The ship mentioned above was very yellow despite
the hardwaxing 2) It does remove material. 3) If done excessively
and you soak the finish with wax, the gelcoat can be very difficult to
repair.

What protective wax to use is problematic. To my knowledge no
independent research has been conducted and we thus rely on anectotal
evidence and the manufactuer's claims. I currently favor and use the
WX Block / Seal as the "topcoat" after final buffing of the surface.
New Finish apparently does a good job as well. A Grob that was semi-
annually coated (by hand) with this product sat out in the Tehachapi
sun and weather 24/7 for a decade and looked great. [Rat On] Of
course, it started with good gelcoat as opposed to the swill that some
manufacturers pass off as a surface coating on $100K toys [Rant Off].
100% carnuba seals the surface and does not interfere with repairs but
I do not beleive it offers UV protection.

Finally, I believe an optimal system would be: Buffing with
Finessette to get a good surface, hardwax to get wax into the gelcoat,
and WX Block for UV protection.

As a side note, several studies, notably Dick Johnson, show that,
while they are more difficult to keep clean, a 600 or 800 grit finish
yields performance benefits and the mirror-like 1000+ grit finishes
currently in vogue measurably degrade performance. I finish sand my
own gliders to 800 grit and everyone else's to 1200.