"Ooo Shinny"... Buffing it out!

[tbirder]

Hey MooseFamily,
You mentioned Sharkhide being expensive. It would take one quart to put two good coats on your trailer. Those two coats will easily last several (3 to 5+) years. That's about $10.00 to $15.00 per year to keep it looking perfect. That's not too awfull bad in my book.
After every few years, you may want to swipe a new coat right over the first just as a precaution. But you may be a gambling man and want to see how many years you can go before it wears through. If so, I've seen things like railings and such on house boats go as many as ten years plus without wearing through. I even have a Mustang here in my shop that the last time I polished and Sharkhided the wheels was back in 1993. They still look great.
Clint

[tbirder]

Hey MooseFamily ,
I know this is kind of an old thread, but I have a couple pictures you might be interested in.
Even though these aren't trailer pictures, aluminum is aluminum in this case.
Hope this helps.
Clint

This is a picture of a pontoon boat that we polished with a Makita variable speed buffer and Sharkhide Metal Polish. Once we were done polishing, we wiped a couple coats of the Sharkhide Metal Protectant on. These shots were taken AFTER the protectant was wiped on.
[/img]



This is a shot of the same boat after several outings (KY Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Kinkaid Lake). The dark streak you see down the length of the pontoon is a spot I missed when I wiped the Sharkhide Metal Protectant on. It only took a few hours before we could see the dark spot starting to apear.
[img][img]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g24/wehedo2/POLISHEDPONTOONMISSEDSPOT1.jpg[/img][/img]

This is a shot of a boat that was treated with Sharkhide when it was new not quite three years ago. This boat is used to fish fresh water as well as in salt water (Pacific Ocean). The dark area is a spot where the owner missed when he coated the boat.
[/img]

[greg755]

This guy charges $150 a foot!

but here is a link has some good tips and products:

http://www.airstreamguy.com/polishing_info

on his site (to the left click on "never polish again" link

[Cliffmeister2000]

This guy charges $150 a foot!

but here is a link has some good tips and products:

http://www.airstreamguy.com/polishing_info

on his site (to the left click on "never polish again" link

The way I determine the value of a job is; would I polish an Airstream for $150 a foot? Answer: No Way. Therefore, I declare the $150 a foot a great deal! (of course, I don't have an Airstream!)

[greg755]

I dont know..

A 20 ft trailer at $150 a foot is $3000.00

Minus at most $500 for materials. = $2500 profit.

It cant take him more than a week AND he gets to try to "up-sale" them on the Special "never polish again" sealant,

I guess some people have money to burn....

[Cliffmeister2000]

I guess some people have money to burn....

Well, if you put it that way...

Another reason I don't have an Airstream!

[brian_bp]

I dont know..

A 20 ft trailer at $150 a foot is $3000.00

Minus at most $500 for materials. = $2500 profit.

It cant take him more than a week ...

Profit? Or pay for work as well as coverage for other overhead?

In the best case (the mythical zero-overhead business), this is $2500 / 40 hours = $62.50/hour (assuming that the one-week time estimate is correct, and a 40-hour work week). Nice, but not out of line with other specialty services.

I don't have $3000 to burn on this type of service, but on the other hand I would not expect to be able to buy it for less.

[greg755]

He says his kid does this..

Other than buying a buffer and some rags (the other stuff listed is accounted for in materials) I dont think there is much overhead.

So for a kid to make 62 bucks an hour that seems pretty good to me.

Its not like you have to go to college for 4 years or a tech school and spend thousands of dollars to figure this out.

I don't know to many blue collar laborers making 62 bucks an hour...

Not to mention a lot of these trailers are well over 20 ft.

Also like I said it leads to other work;

You want that sealed Mam?, Fix those lights for ya? you really should put an awning on that thing! etc etc etc

If you could do at least a 20 footer every other week (26) that's $78,000 a year on just the polishing alone...

Just out of curiosity lets ask the Man that started this thread

Mr. Moose
How many feet is your trailer?
How long did it take you to strip it down and polish it?
How much did you spend on materials/chemicals?

Bare in mind it is his first time doing this. So he might have taken a little more time than the professional and spent a little bit more money figuring out what materials to buy.

But I do agree with most people it is hard. Thats why they call it "work"

[cuyeda]

Quote: A 20 ft trailer at $150 a foot is $3000.00

Minus at most $500 for materials. = $2500 profit.
**************

Anyone who has attempted polishing knows it can be more than buying some special polish, and putting a special buffer to the metal. Polishing can be an art form. It's the experience that goes into polishing that makes you an expert. I have polished. I am not an expert. I am becoming an expert.

When I started polishing for the first time I learned a lot of things that I would do on the next pass. To say, I must have done my trailer three times over during the learning experience. Following different methods that I found on the internet. Each round can take three to four passes to get to a final stage. Not to mention the black stuff that gets all over everything.

Depending on the severity of oxidation, type of metal, working temperature, angle of buffer, quality of buffing pad, cleaniness of rags, type of rags, type of polish, how many different grades will be used, and a whole lot more tips you can only get by doing. You would be fortunate to get free advice from someone who is an expert, hence the instructional web pages. Those experts are not ashamed of the prices they quote, because for every 7 people who would not pay the prices, 3 people will pay.

After doing a 20 foot trailer for yourself (correctly), you seriously consider paying the $3000. Repeat after me... I would consider paying someone next time! For the record I myself would not pay $3000, because I do know people that will do it for less. They don't need to advertise, because there is always a job waiting.

Don't get my comments wrong... I am just providing food for thought.

One project waiting a turn... Anyone want to make some money? I live in Long Beach, CA. I have all the materials, the buffer, and cyclo polisher. So let's see, minus the materials, what would you charge?

[greg755]

Cliff,

Bingo you Hit the reason I started this discussion in the first place. "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner"

There is gold in them there hills.

No doubt about it, this is a tough job, but like any hard manual labor job you do learn in time how to do it faster, cheaper and better.

When I was a young buck I used to dig out drain fields and install septic tanks by hand. I could do one on a weekend (thank God for soft FL sand.) My point is that it took me any where from 10 to 12 hours non stop both days. Back then my boss got around $3500 for the whole job, I got $8.00 an hour, which was good money back then, but that is no where close to this, even with inflation.

So if you get a kid that works hard ( that by the way is the hard part and a subject for another thread) and pay him $15.00 an hour even at 60 hours you only got $900 into labor as you supervise... You would have to set him up as an "independent contractor - detail-er" to avoid those nasty taxes.

Any ways I would figure that $150 a foot is a "normal" job. if you run into a really bad one it would probably be more.

Also if you have some down time you could offer to go pick it up and deliver it, THAT ain't cheap. (see my thread "shipping your TD")

If I just spent three grand or more to have mine done, I don't think I would bat an eye at paying another 5-6 hundred dollars to have you seal it to protect my investment.

Whether you do it full time or part time, it can be a good way to pick up some much needed cash in these hard economical times, especially if you live in CA, or NY.

Lator Gator
G
PS according to the expert a "cyclo" polisher is a big no no.

They don't need to advertise, because there is always a job waiting

[Mark McD]

You can save alot of time by first wet- sanding the aluminum with 1200 grit wet sandpaper on a DA or orbital sander. Then compound and glaze it. Of course, test a small area first. You can get 1200 grit sandpaper from any autobody supply. Any swirl marks caused by the sander are easily buffed out.

[halfdome, Danny]

Every aluminum trailer is a different case. My first TD took a whole month to polish out working 8 hour days five to six days a week. Someday I'll do our current TD. I think it will take a lot less time since the skins are very nice but I'm not looking forward to the task. I don't think those who charge to polish a trailer are trying to make an exorbitant amount of profit, they just know how much work is involved. Danny

[cuyeda]

PS according to the expert a "cyclo" polisher is a big no no.

Some use a rotary buffing wheel on edge. I acquired a new cyclo polisher with the purchase of one of my trailers. I really like the results on the last two passes using different grades of polish I have experimented with the wet/dry sandpaper, and was a bit concerned when I tried it. I don't think I will ever be doing that again. Not that it doesn't work, I won't be doing it on 60+ year skins. The black (oxide?) particles can get embedded into the aluminum surface, and will deter you from gettting the best shine possible. For a few minor scratches perhaps, and proceed with caution. I am not an expert.

However, I did use the wet/dry sand paper doing these tanks. The photo is not the end result, just the first pass.

I get a few questions. ie. Where did you find those chrome tanks?

Some have suggested the 3M scuffing pads. There are some who ONLY use the polish itself to do the work. Some say acid wash, others say never acid wash.

There have been a couple other thread attempts to get this subject going. Perhaps a new thread attempt for healthy discussions on DIY polishing. Like Danny said every trailer type can have different circumstances.

[MooseFamily]

Wopw... what amazing posts!