Comment

Comment by Bob McDonald on December 28, 2010 at 5:53pm

Really looking "Buff" and great.

Comment by Jerry Latimer on November 18, 2010 at 8:25pm

I don't know about maintenance yet. I don't have a hangar, so I think my maintenance will be high whether it is painted or polished. Luckily I live in Arizona so we only have a few months where it rains and it is not humid enough for much morning dews.

I plan on doing a touch up polish using either the Nuvite S or Magic Mix once a year prior to Copperstate.

Jerry

Comment by Andre Levesque on November 18, 2010 at 4:45pm

Thanks Jerry... you have no idea the time savings you are sharing with us!!!
much appreciated.

Comment by Jonathan Porter on November 18, 2010 at 1:54pm

thanks for sharing... fantastic finish... is it easy to maintain?

Comment by Jerry Latimer on November 18, 2010 at 9:51am

Thanks for the comments.
I've spent around 400 hours polishing the aircraft. Probably 100 of the hours have been experimenting with different techniques or materials. What I believe is the best way now is:
1. Use Nuvite F9 with a wool bonnet and a variable speed polisher to remove the heavy oxidation. This is the most difficult and dirtiest part of the procedure. Depending on the condition of the bare aluminum you will use 4 to 9 passes with F9.
2. Next use Nuvite C grade with a wool bonnet and variable speed polisher. This step goes much faster. This step removes the scratches/swirl marks caused by the F9.
3. Next use Nuvite C grade but this time with a random orbital polisher and either a really soft flannel or cut up an old sweatshirt and use it for polishing. I went through all the flannel at a local fabric store and selected the softest that I could find. I think that the sweatshirt material works best, but it is close.
4. Next use Nuvite S grade with the random orbital polisher and either flannel or sweatshirt material. This step goes really fast.
5. Now what I learned at Copperstate. Use Magic MIx Metal Polish. I purchased it from http://www.topoftheline.com/magmixalpol.html . Use a random orbital polisher and flannel/sweatshirt material. Unlike Nuvite you allow the Magic Mix to dry on the surface of the aluminum. If you allow the Nuvite dry it is really difficult to remove. The drier the Magic Mix becomes the easier it is to remove.

Hope that helps anyone who is interested.
Jerry

Comment by Jonathan Porter on November 18, 2010 at 12:57am

wonderful finish - well done!!!

What did you do?

Comment by Mack P. Kreizenbeck on November 17, 2010 at 9:17pm

Would you be willing to share the techniques you learned at Copperstate?
Mack

Comment by Mack P. Kreizenbeck on November 17, 2010 at 9:15pm

This is beautiful! Do you hire out?
Any ideas of hours spent?
Mack

Comment by Andre Levesque on November 17, 2010 at 4:34pm

Just BEAUTIFUL !!!!!