Finish polish alternatives

[jowens]

Hi,
I spent many hours using nuvite to polish my sonex. For me, it was a dirty job personally and to my shop. It's highly likely I was using poor technique or something even after watching Kerry's excellent instructional nuvite video. I called it good enough and moved on. I then backtracked to a recommendation to try Zephyr PRO40. It is a product that is popular with semi-truck drivers. My first application to the sonex was all by hand. Goes on and off like car wax. This resulted in a better finish than what I could do with nuvite. I passed the recommendation on to my sonex friend Russ. He purchased a 6" orbital buffer from Home depot and sent me some pictures that inspired me to I purchase a 10" rhobi orbital buffer to apply the zephyr product. Wow, what a difference and easy!!

A few amazon ads indicate conterfeit or watered down product. Russ tested this out and found that the factory direct versus amazon did have a different consistancy but the effectiveness was the same.

I don't believe pictures will capture the end result well but for me, the key is eliminating the backbreaking work and the mess- all probably due to my inabilities with nuvite. AND the end of fighting with polish build-up around each and every rivet- this doesn't happen with Zephyr.

I have no stock in zephyr, amazon, or any gains that may be implied by this post. I just wanted to share my great luck with the product. I do wish I would have purchased a cordless orbital buffer to avoid wrangling the electrical cord.

Thanks,

[sonex1374]

Jim,

This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing! If would be really helpful to see a picture or two of the exact product(s) you're using, along with the buffer and pads you're using (Amazon, Youtube and the Zephyr website show a dizzying assortment of items). Anything that avoids the mess of nuvite ranks pretty high on my list to try!

Thanks,

Jeff

[Rynoth]

A quick search for Zephyr PRO-40 actually brought me to this kitplanes article, where Kerry mentions it's what he now uses. Published just this March.

https://www.kitplanes.com/the-decision-to-polish/

[Rynoth]

I will add a tip here regarding polishing off the cadmium plating on the heads on AN hardware. As Kerry mentions, subsequent regular polishing will clean up any corrosion, however what I did is use ACF-50 on a towel and wiped the bolt heads with it after a polish and again once a year. ACF-50 is a long lasting corrosion inhibitor and seems to help keep the bolt heads rust free. It’s available at ACS for ~$18 and 1 can will last a very long time. I also use it on pushrods, etc where any powder coat is missing.

[WesRagle]

Hi Jim,

This is very interesting! I've polished to the Nuvite F9 stage on my plane but would really like an easier/cleaner way to remove swirl marks.

I've read Kerry's article. There's one benefit of polishing that Kerry didn't mention. Polished airplanes are much cooler. You can park them in the sun and the polished surface remains cool to the touch. A big deal where I live.

Thanks,

Wes

[Matt541]

Thanks Jim, I just ordered a bottle of the Pro 40 direct from Zephyr. Not taking a chance on another Chinese Amazon knock off. I've been putting off polishing until I get some other tasks done, but that day is coming soon.

Here's a video I found on YT of a trucker who uses it. He's... uhh.. entertaining to watch, but looks like he gets good results with just a microfiber towel.



There's another YouTuber who uses Mother's Aluminum polish and All Chrome cleaner instead.

[MichaelFarley56]

Good Info!

Has anyone found any viable alternative for Nuvite F9? Meaning, a coarse grade of polish that can be used as an initial cut for 6061-T6?

[Rynoth]

Good Info!

Has anyone found any viable alternative for Nuvite F9? Meaning, a coarse grade of polish that can be used as an initial cut for 6061-T6?

I was wondering the same... in the video posted above, the results on the side of the trailer were very impressive, but also showed how the machining marks were not being removed. I get the impression that the Zephyr product could be a great maintenance polish on an already-polished surface but not necessarily an initial polish of a fresh sheet of 6061-T6. Maybe using it with a buffer is different.

[jowens]

Hi Mike and Ryan,
Thank you for the question. I did not attempt a rotary polisher with the Zephyr, my impression with the techniques that I did use is that it is a finish polish product- it does not have, for a lack better term, abrasives that Nuvite has to smooth the grain in the aluminum. The buffer comes with two bonnets, I used the microfiber, I did not try the wool.

[sonex892.]

After 10 years of polishing out fingerprints I recently gave up on the polishing and painted.
This is not an alternative to Nuvite. When I did polish I found this video the most helpful to cut down on time and effort.