A promised, here although somewhat later than at first planned and promised are my thoughts on the Shurhold polisher. I have also included a set of pictures of the process that I went through following the Shurhold instructions and using products that they supplied along with the machine. As these pictures show how dirty the boat was before I started and how clean and shiny it was after the uploads are large files so that you can click on them if you wish to see a bigger picture with more detail and clarity. Note by the way that although I promised a video the camera was not working at the time so you will have to make do with these still images.
Buff Magic is the abrasive buffing compound which removes surface oxidization and small scratches. This is followed by the Pro Polish which as the name suggests gives the surface a shine and which for most purposes is as far as you need to go but for the Rolls Royce finish and a but of extra shine you can follow this up with Serious Shine which does seem to make the surface more slick and even a little bit more shiny.
This is the back end of a 30 year old fiberglass kayak which I used as the test subject. It was very tired, scratched and dirty looking.
First I rubbed on a little buff magic here. You can add the buffing compound direct to the buffing pad or you can do as I am and apply it to the boat with a rag, an old towel works great.
The compound is rubbed into the gel coat with the foam pad that comes with the machine. It's larger than the backing pad by a fair bit to which it attaches with velcro. You have to get it centered on the backing pad or it vibrates badly. The best way is to place the pad down and lower the machine onto it lining everything up by eye. The machine speed is adjustable and for the compounding you need the slowest speed which is about 2500 rpm, any faster and the compound is flicked everywhere. An apron or overalls, eye protection and gloves are a good idea.
After the buffing things looked much better but polish brings back the shine. I followed the instructions on the bottle and spread a little onto the boat with a damp rag; you don't need much. I then swapped the foam pad for a lambswool bonnet increased the speed a little and polished the boat until the shine came through. I could have stopped at this point as the boat looked a thousand times better. But..............
as Shurhold also supplied some of the spray polish called Serious Shine I applied with a micro fiber cloth when I had finished with the electric buffer. This made a boat even a little more shinier and it felt much more slick to the touch. When I poured some water onto the surface it ran right off. In contrast a boat that is not polished will hold water on the surface.
All in all the test was complete success. Buffing out a seriously tired gel coat on a 40 footer would be slow work with this tool but for smaller boats and projects or for regular yearly maintenance I think that many boat owners could do a lot worse than own one of these Shurhold polishers which is fraction of the price of the almost universally accepted Makita model used by pros.
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