Waxing and polishing

It is easiest to apply wax to underside of the wings when they are stored in the trailer with the fuselage removed.
ROY

No, it is easiest to apply wax to the underside of the wings when they are upside down on sawhorses in a heated hangar. Same for the bottom of the fuselage. Try it!

Not to derail the discussion, had there been any examples of using the new ceramic finishes on gel coat?

Dredging up an older thread on polishing.

My question is *NOT* about the polish to use but what *POLISHER* to use. There seems to be three-ish choices;

1) Using sweat and hands (of you or others) - $0
2) Using an electric single head polisher - $50 (no name) up to $200 (name brand Dewalt, Wen, etc)
3) Using an electric dual head (random orbital) polisher - $100 (no name brand) up to $400 (Cyclo brand variable speed)

Your thoughts? Speed to use?

Thanks, John "Thinking Spring" OHM Ω

lol, Im sure people will chime in but I use the cheapest variable speed single head polisher I can find: IE a harbor frieght pos! The key is to make sure when getting close to anything you may "catch" with the pad is to go slow and always away from the edge. That includes seals flap/ aileron junctions, mylar ect. It definetly takes alittle practice and vigilance, heavy on the vigilance Good luck

I forget to mention, go to a good auto paint/body place and buy the best wool pads for your size polisher. Treated and cleaned regularly they will outlast your sailplane

Porter-Cable is the standard. Here is a good list.

https://www.garagetooladvisor.com/auto/best-car-buffer/

A couple suggestions.
First, place painters tape over all control seal edges. Consider doing the same where your gap sealing tape will be placed because with some waxes the gap tape will not stick.

A lot of the people on this forum are not very contemporary with modern equipment. Use google to look at car detailing videos. Especially regarding polishers. Virtually the whole world is using dual action machines, or as they are called, DA machines. Dual action machines almost eliminate the risk of hot spots or burning of the surface from using too much pressure for too long in one spot.

Also, virtually everyone is using foam pads, not wool. Wool is great but one grain of sand in that pad and you ruin your surface. Foams pads come in a selection of hardnesses that are matched to the grit of the polishing compound. You should also look at what a "clay bar" is.

Rupes is one of the gold standards for DA polishers. They have a whole system of pads and polishes that produce AMAZING RESULTS.

A good single site is THE CHEMICAL GUYS.