Polishing the fabric

[Zac Weidner]

I know this has been discussed before, but I didn't see too much detailed information on buffing Poly Tone. We decided to go with Poly Tone over Aerothane due to its superior durability and ease of application, but now I am wanting to polish it as shiny as I can get it. I spoke briefly to a tech at Consolidated about it, and he recommended McGwire, 3M, and Mothers products, but no specifics and said to use an automotive detailer to buff, with no specific brand or model, but I am afraid to use a power buffer and go through the paint on a very nice covering job.
The metal surfaces are painted in Aerothane so another reason to buff is so that they match more closely. I got some Rejex for a wax, because I read that it works very well, but I want to get it polished nice and shiny first.
We are certainly taking her to Oshkosh and hope to get an award.
Thanks
By the way, it is not flying yet; we are waiting on engine parts, but hopefully a couple months time and to the sky she goes. Probably longer...wishful thinking though. :smile:

[redbarron55]

My experience is that Polytone is a satin finish and a high gloss finish is not in the cards. You can build a wax coating that may shine pretty well, but if you want a high gloss then a clear coat is in the cards.
Others may get different mileage.

[Steve Pierce]

I saw a Stinson at OSH once that looked like polyurethane. The owner said he polished it and the final polish was with tooth paste. Never heard of that one. I shoot Polytone cold with retarder and it glosses out good. I don't like the Polyfiber clear. It turns yellow and you might as well paint with Aerothane or Ranthane.

[Zac Weidner]

I did paint when it was quite cold and refrigerated the paint overnight (refrigeration helped a lot), but no retarder. The fuselage is not quite as shiny, so I want to polish it to match the wings and tail. Someone said on the other forum that Poly Tone can be polished to beat the shine on Polyurethanes. Would have to see it though. Very interested in how though. Certainly don't want to screw it up so I want to hear from someone who has done it first.

[Steve Pierce]

I use one of the products Polyfiber suggested and polish the tail feathers. I have polished aluminum airplanes but wouldn't do it the same. Use the applicator that comes with most paste waxes and a soft terry cloth.

[ryan]

Hello. I am currently restoring a Taylorcraft, and I just buffed the polytone. I used a 3M product called finesse-it glaze (it is the final step in a 3 step process) and an ultra-fine dimpled foam pad that i kept wet on a very slow setting (setting 2 on my Makita buffer). I went very slow and did not apply a lot of pressure. Took me all night to do, wasn't hard just time. At that setting and with that pad I did not have any trouble burning through the paint or raised areas under the fabric. I followed with a coat of 100% carnuba paste wax, can't recall the brand but it is in a gold tin and is called yellow wax. The glaze was not super aggressive and I actually had to work at it a bit to get the shine rather than keeping it from burning through. Was very easy and I had no worries of ruining the paint. Slow speeds and damp pad are what were emphasized to me. This combination and products were recommended from the reps at polyfiber. I am very pleased with the results. I did not apply any extra paint layers. The finish very closley matches the now aerothaned metal parts. I did the coats of paint using the 8500 reducer to slow the drying. I painted in moderate temps. I believe that polyfiber does not recommend clear coats as it promotes organic growth between the layers through a green house effect (although our Pacer was clear coated 20 years ago and has had no problems!). Those more knowledgeable about paints maybe able to speak to that. (Note: the boot cowel was NOT painted in aerothane at the time of the pics. It has been repainted in aerothane and the fabric matches very well). I feel the buffing gave the fabric a much deeper looking shine IMHO. Hope this helps.

Ryan
Taylorcraft BC-12D NC43754
Piper Pa22/20 N2305P

[Zac Weidner]

That is great information. All I can find on the internet is Finesse it II glaze. The marine Finesse it II glaze says it has no wax or silicone and this seems like the stuff I should use, unless the regular kind has no silicone either. What were the other two products in the line?
One pricing was around $100 for a gallon, how much will I need for a complete airplane? That adds up fast, especially if you have to do it 3 times. Thank you very much for the time and photos, your airplane looks awesome! I did not use 8500, but I did chill the paint and paint in 40 degree weather so we probably started out about the same.

[ryan]

That is the correct stuff. My bottle does not say marine, but states that it does not contain silicone. The steps are actually a system(you use three different compounds). The finesse -it is the third compound of that system. As the polyfiber reps told it to me, the first two steps are not important. They are not called finesse, they are called Perfect -it. On a car to get a proper shine you would have to use all three compounds in the system, but the guys at polyfiber told me that the whole process was much to aggressive. Polytone only needed the third compound which is the Finesse it II. Only buffed everything once. My distributor here uses Perfect-it which gets the polish out much quicker, but runs the risk of paint damage since it is more aggressive. They do a wing in 30 minutes or less. Took me 6 hours to do the fuselage. After buffing I took new rags and wiped all dust and residue away left by the buffing compound. I followed with the Carnuba Wax right after buffing. I only bought one quart of Finess-it and used half of that for the entire fuselage, tail, and gear. Still have the ailerons and wings to go so I will probably end up getting 1 more quart and barely using it. Paid $35 for it at my local automotive paint shop. You may get through a short wing with one since the wings are just that! Those Taylorcraft wings seem to go on forever. One other thing, use a foam pad, and keep it wet! I kept a spray bottle with me. I started with the bottoms of the elevators first to get the hang of it. Did all the loose tail feathers and that to get the process down then moved to the fuselage (figured I could recover a tail piece if I had to, but had no need). Was also recommended that I use the carnuba wax every 6-12 months to help with the shine. Carnuba wax will not hamper the reparability of polytone. Know how you feel. My wife saw your post and said that sounded like me three weeks ago! Best way to describe this was I had to spend time to get the shine rather than keeping it from plowing into the finish. Had no trouble over the stitching on the tail parts.

Ryan
Taylorcraft BC-12D NC43754
Piper PA22/20 N2305P