Nuvite polishing

[pfhoeycfi]

I'm in the process of finishing up the tail kit and not impressed with my first couple of passes with the Nuvite. I've watched the vid and read the previous posts and will do so again and give it another shot.

I did have a question about prepping the small scratches in the skins. Most were on the skins when I received them, likely from moving, packing, shipping. I probably added a few. I tried in a few spots to scotch brite the scratches (grey) but that creates small dull patches that don't seem to polish at all.

These are not deep scratches, ie you cant grab a fingernail on them but you can certainly see them.

Whats the best way to deal with scratches prior to polishing?

Should have the remainder of the SNXB kit early June.

Thanks,

peter

[Rynoth]

Peter, what kind of pad are you using, also which grade of nuvite?

[pfhoeycfi]

Peter, what kind of pad are you using, also which grade of nuvite?

I did 2 passes with the F9 using the recommended 3M 05711 pad...

thanks,

peter

[sonex1374]

Polishing is a game of attrition. You keep going over the surface again and again, each time the surface imperfections get smoother and smoother. You'll bring a shine to the metal fairly quickly (2-3 passes), but the clarity of the reflection only comes with repetition.

This sounds insane, but it's what it took for me to get my plane shinny. I do three passes with F9 compound on the tufted wool pads attached to a harbor freight rotary buffer, generally following Kerry's video for amount of polish and buffer technique. After 3 passes I clean the surface well using a microfiber towel and a spray bottle of mineral spirits. I repeat this basic procedure of 3 passes and clean 4 or 5 times to get the clarity I'm looking for. It gets to a point of diminishing returns. Each pass still takes just as long, but the improvement starts to become VERY small. At some point you'll cry uncle, and that's the point to switch to Nuvite C. Three passes with C is plenty, and clean as needed with fresh microfiber towels and mineral spirits. At this point the surface looks nice, but has small swirl marks still from the rotary buffer.

The final step is to use a cotton terrycloth bonnet and a large 10" dia random orbital polisher with very small dabs of C. This will take 1-2 applications to get the swirl marks out. You can repeat this as many times as necessary, but other than taking out swirl marks, it won't lead to any other noticeable improvement.

Switch the pads or bonnets to fresh ones whenever they look like they're getting really dirty or clogged (about 10 passes or so). Dirty pads just soak up the fresh polish, and the rate of productivity goes way down. Clean them by scrubbing them with your fingers using Dawn liquid dish washing soap and lots of warm water to get the majority of gunk out, then run them though the washer using only a small amount of Tide or similar detergent. Let air dry overnight. They won't look new, but it's a lot quicker process than soaking and washing numerous times, so it works out better in the end.

If you figure an hour of effort per sq ft, that might be in the ball park as a planning factor. If you polish prior to assembly while the sheets are laid flat this will undoubtedly shorten this. My plane was already assembled by the time I started polishing, so that's what I had to work with. This is also why half my plane is half painted - I couldn't stand to do more polishing!

The parts I use are below.

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-10-a ... 60626.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-1-2-hal ... 90451.html
https://www.perfectpolish.com/product/nuvite-f9/

https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-ran ... 61898.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-1 ... 43431.html
https://www.perfectpolish.com/product/nuvite-c/

One last note about other polishing equipment. The Nuvite Cyclo dual-head polisher is really great at putting a shine on the plane. Due to it's small heads though, it's a bit slower at first. The unit is well made and will last forever. I started using this polisher, but later stopped because my kids wanted to help. They simply couldn't manipulate the larger, heavier tool, so I switched to the lighter Harbor Freight tools. They're not as good, but they're inexpensive (I have 2 of each), and good enough to deliver acceptable results.

https://www.perfectpolish.com/cyclo-pol ... -aluminum/

Jeff

[chris]

Amazon Links to some Polishing supplies:

- Cyclo Polisher

- 7" Variable Speed Polisher

- 7.5" Wool Compounding Buffing Pad

- Ryobi 10" Orbital Buffer / Polisher

- 10" Polisher Bonnet

[sonex1374]

For anyone looking to purchase polishing supplies, the links Chris posted are all good items and comparable to the Harbor Freight items, and purchasing them thru those particular amazon links gives a small percentage back to support this forum. I have no stake in this either way, but it’s nice to be able to help so easily.

Jeff

[pfhoeycfi]

Great information. I did another few hours with better results. I think I was being both timid and impatient. Working on the vert stab. The plan right now is to paint control surfaces and a few stripes on the wings, polish the rest.

Polishing around the rivets will be a challenge. Live and learn.

Thanks for the replies!

peter

[mike.smith]

One important thing to remember: Nuvite is not a subtractive material. In other words, Nuvite says there is NO aluminum material that is removed. The polishing supposedly lays the vertical fibers of aluminum on their sides. That means that you can NOT polish out imperfections with it. You can not polish out scratches, and if you use a Scotch Brite pad or similar, you are damaging the aluminum and the Nuvite isn't going to bring it back. That's how the product was described to me by a Nuvite company employee.

[wlarson861]

For removing scratches I would contact Nuvite, they have a method to remove even deep scratches. They use several grades of Micro Mesh abrasives, the same stuff used to repair Plexiglas.
When polishing I do the final finish with grade S. I use a 7" Wen car wax polisher and Micro fiber towel I get at Sam's Club. The smaller polisher is easier to control and will fit on the towel in 4 places on each side yielding 8, 18 inch square polish areas. The towels can be soaked in TSP and run through the washing machine and re-used.

[DCASonex]

Best results with Nuvite is to polish flat sheets clamped to a table. That way you can apply more pressure which greatly speeds up the process. If you try to apply pressure on a finished part like a wing, you will end up with the ribs nicely outlined pressed into the skins.

David A. Lazy man's polished Sonex TD. Undersides and all moving airfoils painted.