[VAC] Re: Clearcoat removal frustration

[Cynthia Grant <Cynthia.Grant@xxxxxxx>]

Steel wool may not be a good idea - dunno if it would do permanent harm ... 
below is a posting from an aviation group by a guy who is a polishing 
fanatic (and witty, to boot :-)) on abrasives to use on surfaces that will 
be polished.  Someday I'll forward one of his postings on polishing with 
Nuvite - they're full of good information, and also hilarious!

Cynthia

> 
> I would be reluctant to use anything other than aluminum wool or Scotch
> Brite pads. While stainless wool should be okay on aluminum, God knows
> what's in the stuff they sell at Home Depot R'Us. Lycoming doesn't even 
> know which alloy they are using in their crankshafts... what do you 
> think the chances are that the $.99 package of stainless steel wool 
> contains what the label states? At least with aluminum wool most of it 
> is going to be aluminum... probably.
> 
> Scotch Brite is good stuff but ya gotta be careful here too. All 3M 
> stuff is color coded as to the type of abrasive. The pads are coded 
> too. For the life of me I can't find the color code info on the 3M site 
> (anybody know where this info can be found?). I can't guarantee my 
> memory is correct (AARP propaganda is wearing me down...) but I think 
> the maroon, tan and white are okay on aluminum. The maroon and tan use 
> aluminum oxide abrasive while the white (very fine grit) uses talc. 
> Don't use anything that has silicon carbide as the abrasive. That would 
> be the gray or black pads. I'm not sure what the abrasive is used in 
> the house-hold green pads. Might be worth an email or phone call to 
> 3M...
> 
> Side note: Up at Carson City there is a guy who restores/rebuilds/sells
> Albatross amphibs. He had one sitting on the ramp that had been blasted 
> with baking soda and it looked good. All the panels looked straight and 
> unwarped. And the skins almost looked like they could have been 
> polished. Of course the skins on that big 'ol Grumman are probably 2-3 
> inches thick on the hull so they wouldn't warp much. Might not work as 
> well on a delicate Luscombe skin...
> 
> Dan
>