Nuvite polishing

[JimP]

Thanks for all the info and tips!

[Bryan Cotton]

Generally when you are polishing, it is hard to tell where you just polished as the changes are small. Except for the first pass, that is. So when I smear out my rectangle to buff out, I use my finger to draw a couple of lines and mark the corner of the current pass. In the picture the lines are going left and right. Generally for each application I do a 50% overlap - so half of what I'm polishing was just done on the last pass, and half wasn't. In the picture below, below the polish and to the right is grade C. The rest is F9.

So as you guys are my peer and support group, I fully expect each of you to climb under the airplane on your back and admire the polish job on the bottom.

[Mikegaydos]

Greetings.

New builder here. Waiex-b #44.

Once the polishing is done, is there a good way to cover the part until ready to attach or flight test?

I am thinking of something like that blue film that you see on new printers or other things that you buy. I want to be able to handle the part wo messing up the shine and help protect from scratches and scuffs.

Thanks in advance.

M

[pfhoeycfi]

I have had pretty good success so far polishing until I got to the forward side panels. it seems no amount of polishing gets me even close to where the wings and aft fuselage are. Could it be my pads (the recommended pad)? They still "look" pretty good? I have two for F9 that I clean every 10 or 12 passes...2 for the C.

peter h
SNB0021

[Bryan Cotton]

Mike,
I've got nothing for you there. My take was polishing never ends anyway, so my recommendation would be to skip anything unnecessary between now and flight.

Peter,
You could always try some new HF pads. I treat mine as disposable. They come in a 5 pack.

[DCASonex]

Might consider the lazy man's polish. Paint the hard to polish parts, undersides of wings and tail, and all moving surfaces, then polish the rest. After a couple of re-polish jobs, it holds up very well. Mine is now 2 years overdue for a re-polish and still gets complements. That saves more than half the weight of paint and most all the real difficult polishing work.

To store polished parts, mostly, just keep the dust off, dust collects and holds condensation and that promotes the corrosion that dulls the surface.

David A.

[WesRagle]

I have had pretty good success so far polishing until I got to the forward side panels. it seems no amount of polishing gets me even close to where the wings and aft fuselage are. Could it be my pads (the recommended pad)? They still "look" pretty good? I have two for F9 that I clean every 10 or 12 passes...2 for the C.

peter h
SNB0021

Hi Peter,

I don't know why, but there is considerable variation in surface hardness of 6061 from sheet to sheet. When I polished #664 I had the same problem you described except in my case it was the entire airplane that wouldn't take a shine. I was at the end of my rope when I saw a guy at the airport polishing his C140. He had a bright finish, but nothing like what we consider polished. I asked him what he was polishing with and he showed me a can of this:



I got some and gave it a try. After three passes with #7 the Nuvite process worked as advertised. If you run out of options you might give it a try. It is messy though. It is nothing like polishing with Nuvite. Just smear it on, lay the pad flat on the surface and let it pull. I haven't needed it at all with the Onex.

#664 with friend and test pilot after first flight:



Wes

[jowens]

Per a recommendation from Kerry, I switched to Zephyr pro 40 after a rough nuvite F9 finish. Apply by hand and easy to hand buff off. I don't look like a chimney sweep after polishing, no swirls, and I can do the whole airplane in about three hours. Caution, amazon reviews indicating some distributors are watering down the bottles may correct. I've had good luck with my supply even though it may not be as thick as factory direct.

[dbdevkc]

I hadn't heard that recommendation before. So what exactly is the process? A couple of Nuvite F9 passes, then a pass (by hand) with Zephyr Pro 40, then back to the Nuvite C, then S?

[sonex892.]

I just watched a video of restoring a truck wheel, the Pro 40 was the last step in their process so I guess it replaces the S grade. Hopefully Kerry will chime in.

I've been trying to fix up 9 years of neglecting the underside of polished wings. Painting is looking good at the moment.