Polishing Aluminum To Mirror Finish On Airboat

Рет қаралды 53,740

4 жыл бұрын

Previous videos on this airboat
PART 1 (Purchasing the airboat)- • I Purchased A Cheap Ai...
PART 2 (First start up)- • Will My $175 Airboat R...
PART 3 (Rebuilding the trailer)- • I Rebuilt My $175 Airb...
PART 4 (Redoing the bottom)- • Redoing The Bottom Of ...
PART 5 (Motor mounts & prop)- • Motor Mounts, New Prop...
PART 6 (Painting the engine)- • Painting The Engine On...
PART 7 (Spraying bed liner on deck)- • Spraying Raptor Liner ...
PART 8 (Polishing hull)- • Polishing Aluminum To ...
PART 9 (Wiring & storage Compartment)- • New Wiring & Painting ...
PART 10 (Grand finale)- • Air Boat Gets Second C...
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Пікірлер: 144

@1armedguy4 4 жыл бұрын

That's a lot of elbow grease, can't believe your doing all this sanding and polishing by hand, looks darn good ! 🇨🇦

@Cammo-vp1gl 4 жыл бұрын

Mate, I’ve been following this since day one and I’m busting to see you get on the water for her maiden voyage. We don’t have this style of boat where I live but they totally fascinate me so, hurry up 😀😀🍺🍺🇦🇺🇦🇺

@dirtyhooker6317 4 жыл бұрын

Same mate🇦🇺

@jcdesignsandboat-works8290 4 жыл бұрын

They are very popular here. We use them for gator hunting, frog gigging, and just plain ol’ havin’ fun! With polymer on the bottom and enough power they will run on dry land.

@Cammo-vp1gl 4 жыл бұрын

James Curry Designs and Boatworks I want one, just don’t tell my wife. She says I have too many toys 🍺🍺

@chefpinot45 4 жыл бұрын

What a transformation. Been watching since you bought it. You always do excellent work, but this could be your most impressive to date.

@scottberry5266 4 жыл бұрын

When you get done polishing take some baking flour and put into a old sock and wipe the whole boat down.The flour will sift through the dock and absorb the oily film the polish leaves behind and will draw the polish out of the pours of the aluminum. It takes the black shadowy look away.

@iaintnomanstealer 4 жыл бұрын

Nice tip I'm gonna try it

@jcdesignsandboat-works8290 4 жыл бұрын

Looks great! Here’s a tip... when hand sanding, use a sanding block and go at it on the diagonal overlapping your strokes. Go through all your grits just like you did the hit the mothers with a random orbit buffer. If you have a random orbit sander you can put a foam interface pad on it and using same grits cut a lot of work down for yourself! Thanks for sharing!👍👍

@RichieRouge206 4 жыл бұрын

Your effort and the result are just amazing. I’m so excited to see how she looks and goes on the water

@richardulmer9234 3 жыл бұрын

The best video on youtube. Thanks alot. Simple way I don't have a lot of money. The easiest way yet to get great results

@LongBinh70 4 жыл бұрын

Good job! Years ago I got to tour my mentor's aircraft restoration shop. There was a small plane there that was fabric-covered and painted red. The paint was so shiny your brain couldn't quite process what your eyes were seeing. The owner had gone through all the grits, then automotive polishing compound (machine), but still wasn't satisfied with the gloss, but couldn't find a finer abrasive. He finally got it: toothpaste! He bought a case of tubes and continued polishing, resulting in what I saw. But what really gets you is when you realize this gloss was over stretched fabric! I need to reiterate the comments below. When wet sanding, keep the surface wet! It prevents the paper from loading up (you'll use less), and it floats the sanded dust off the surface, exposing more of what you're working on.

@RoadhogRNA 4 жыл бұрын

Fine job, you worked your self on that polishing!!!! Air boat is looking great!!!!

@jamesharmon5963 4 жыл бұрын

The boat is looking good. I love it. Thanks for sharing 👊

@robert_D187 4 жыл бұрын

Man this airboat has come a long way ! Looking great !!!

@RYEINDUSTRIAL 4 жыл бұрын

Totally enjoy this rebuild, looks amazing! Great Job.

@markgrillo180 4 жыл бұрын

So look forward to these videos. That boat was hideous when u first got it, and what a transformation. I love the polished look of the "luminum" LOL. Keep wondering what folks up here in the northeast would say if they saw one of these buzzing around the lake.... Keep up the good work, your great !

@sweettee3647 4 жыл бұрын

Looks great. Polishing is hard work. So worth it.

@tommymccormick8806 4 жыл бұрын

Can’t help seeing some other boats in the background! I know it’s a lot of work but there’s definitely an appetite for more project videos!

@OutBoardTink62 4 жыл бұрын

Nice job looking forward to seeing it on the water amazing you buffed that all out by hand and no machine Wow!..Glenn P.

@bb0123 4 жыл бұрын

wow thats friggin amazing!! 👍👍 youve really come along way with this project. best one ive seen on here so far. nice seats too! 👍😁

@motomizfit2892 4 жыл бұрын

I didn’t even know u could polish aluminum that good! It looks amazing!!! Always looking forward to your vids! You do a damn good job 👍🏻!

@kalh.9241 4 жыл бұрын

All I can say is wow man, looks amazing great work

@richardvargas9224 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome job!! Going tio try and polish my wheels using the same technique.

@prk5339 4 жыл бұрын

Just sand with water. Otherwise you paper will clog up too quickly.

@ThatBoatGuy 4 жыл бұрын

I did that a few times and it worked good

@stevenquigley4208 4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely beautiful job thank you for sharing

@Thewrightstuff777 4 жыл бұрын

That came out really awesome!!!

@zombieman9559 4 жыл бұрын

Wow! What a transformation Once again awesome work.

@AeRoSpaceman-1 4 жыл бұрын

Keep it up man. Hard work brings good times.

@brandonellis7445 4 жыл бұрын

Looks awesome! Can’t wait till you put it on the water!

@AmraphelofShinar 4 жыл бұрын

That is amazing! You'll need sunglasses just to look at that boat!

@bobjoncas2814 4 жыл бұрын

...WOW!! that was a lot of work, but the result was worth it....great vid..

@Gopherdave1 4 жыл бұрын

WOW! That turned out nice!

@jbcXR 4 жыл бұрын

Like others have said, can't wait to see it on the water buddy, good job, .....👍🇬🇧

@nicholasweston4516 4 жыл бұрын

Looks like new great job!!

@georgejohnston8425 4 жыл бұрын

love your work man!

@Paul-hs9dw 4 жыл бұрын

you have done a fantastic job well done

@markcooper554 4 жыл бұрын

You're fantastic. Dude. You are fantastic is looking great. But like everybody else. Can't wait to see it float

@aljohnson1191 4 жыл бұрын

Looks awesome

@jimtanner8516 4 жыл бұрын

I had polished my 1983 aluminum was worse then your boat. 2 years later I had to polished a second time was losing he’s luster Then i painted with cerakote aluminum clear should stay shining for many years to come” plus the clear give it scratches resistance that’s a bonus ..

@uttwan9617 4 жыл бұрын

Great job

@billbehrens4487 4 жыл бұрын

Looks great!

@sonsrc1326 4 жыл бұрын

Looking sweet mate

@mikeperth8027 4 жыл бұрын

Nice job mate.

@EDUARDOSANCHEZ-df5pt 4 жыл бұрын

Freakin awesome with all the work you put into your videos you need more subscribers honestly there is very few videos I haven’t liked from your channel

@Nevertrustalawyer 4 жыл бұрын

I’ve polished a lot of aluminum. I agree with using sandpaper. But I use a squirt bottle with a mix of soap (lubricant to float fines away) and water. I start at 600 grit and go to 2000 grit. After that I use Turtle wax “Polishing Compound (approximately 2500 grit). I would never use any product like Mothers, these product appear to work, but they promote oxidation. Speaking of oxidation, you will find the outer layer of aluminum is tougher, but once you get past that and into fresh meat, you can start to feel the cutting action. When you use your fingers as a backer for the sandpaper, in the end, you will see it. Use a backer of some type to even out the pressure being applied to the aluminum. Each method will produce a different final finish. Use paste wax for a protectant. If you think power tools are the only way, then don’t even start a project like this!

@emilflognoid1532 3 жыл бұрын

Pretty sick!

@looking8030 3 жыл бұрын

Love you’re videos

@i000_ 4 жыл бұрын

Damn, it's looking nice 👍🏽

@mercman0071 4 жыл бұрын

You made that look SOOOO EASY!!

@ripemm5737 4 жыл бұрын

Yea 4 inch square looks easy ,how easy will the whole boat be

@Clan501-Scotland 4 жыл бұрын

I love how you yanks say aloomiuum 😂

@axeman6560 4 жыл бұрын

Very impressive!

@raywhite2696 4 жыл бұрын

Looking good

@boyse69 4 жыл бұрын

By Hand God bless you - Lots of power tools and buffing heads available

@mgeiger72 4 жыл бұрын

Looks great. In the future- Use a foam/rubber block with that sand paper. Use water too. Will be more uniform, and easier on you.

@jasonpurcell4270 4 жыл бұрын

Impressive.... most impressive.

@timothyknotts4035 4 жыл бұрын

Airboat is looking really nice

@Cg-lm9od 4 жыл бұрын

I would love to be there, I imagine lake Seminole for the first try out.

@lmramos44 4 жыл бұрын

I did the same polishing job on my 22 foot AlumaCraft. Once finished, seal it with a product called Shark Hide. It will stay shiny forever!

@rickygs6434 4 жыл бұрын

Looking sweet

@randygriffin5701 4 жыл бұрын

Man I love that boat you have done a lot of hard work on it but it looks so good if I remember right you paid 175 for it wow can’t wait for it to hit the water

@scottyt8t 4 жыл бұрын

Looks great though!

@whitecompany18 4 жыл бұрын

Nice one mate top job, you can get polish blocks in different grits so you can just hit it with a mop on a drill instead of all the sanding but it's nice to see an American using elbow grease instead for once..you guys usually have a massive noisy unnecessary tool haha 😜

@MattMorris481 4 жыл бұрын

Great job with the boat, but I would definitely get a tach that way you can set the prop pitch better, if I’m not mistaken you should get around 2400 rpm with that engine.

@harlandvaught1177 4 жыл бұрын

Man that airboat looks awesome. Great job on it. Just an idea. Keep you a witch on board just in case if you get into a sticky situation that you can't get out of you can actually use that to pull yourself free. Just a small one a little insurance. For yourself Can't wait for catch and cooks. I wonder if you can camp on it. I'm seriously starting to think I know what a crack head feels like when they are waiting for their next hit watching your videos. Lol

@scottselkey4460 4 жыл бұрын

Need a seat belt? Or a kill switch of some sort? Maybe the throttle has a spring to bring it to idle? Look sweet man!

@thewatcher5271 4 жыл бұрын

Just Another Ol' Guy Watching You Have A Blast With Your New Toy Since You Got It . . .

@royboydanny1415 4 жыл бұрын

Looking great man, hard work. Have you tried T-cut ?. 👍🇬🇧

@IRONMAN-kb4su 4 жыл бұрын

WOW dude looks amazing holy ! You need to buy a mouse sander .

@lincsfencingandgardeningse9128 4 жыл бұрын

Wow just wow it's a million miles from when you first baught it. M

@daredevil7442AUTOMOTIVE 4 жыл бұрын

I have a suggestion; use aggressive compound with a buffer, then less aggressive compound then polish and was....all with a buffer. So much quicker....tight spots will still require elbow grease but, the rest will go much faster and painless.

@Ken-fisho 4 жыл бұрын

Lookn good Eric

@davida6383 4 жыл бұрын

Man you should have invested in a DA sander and soft interface pad to sand big areas it before polish, but either way really good job.

@colededeaux1113 4 жыл бұрын

Get a mag kill switch if it has a push start. If throttle sticks you can get the mags which shuts the motor off.

@fader2701 4 жыл бұрын

if you wipe between sanding grits you'll end up not causing scratches with the removed media from the previous pass.

@joriskylie6857 4 жыл бұрын

You need to mount a scabbard on the seat frame for your 30-30.

@mikefed 4 жыл бұрын

Orbital polisher might work? Looks good, regardless...

@AirplaneDoctor_ 3 жыл бұрын

Use Rolite and a buffer, that’s how we polish warbirds, sanding does more damage than good in the long run.

@Themarcustree 4 жыл бұрын

wow just wow i might do that to my jon boat!

@iddddaduncan 4 жыл бұрын

Cool restoration! Question: why no muffler on the engine? It would be nice to have a stealthy boat.

@mgeiger72 4 жыл бұрын

Those old reg numbers on the rudders were cool. Maybe try to recreate?

@SoCalSeaChaser 4 жыл бұрын

So why not use an electric hand sander? That’s a lot of elbow grease. I wasn’t to excited to watch a video series on an air boat, but I got hooked and impressed with all the work you’ve put in, great job!👍

@Ca1hoon 4 жыл бұрын

Goal to Keep or Flip like the others? if your flipping i definitely wanna know the details. Either way, Keep it up man and im digging the progress

@JamesSmith-ud2mi 4 жыл бұрын

awsome

@58dorsett 4 жыл бұрын

The polishing looks great, but if you get anywhere near brackish water it will quickly oxidize again. I tried it once myself on an aluminum boat...too much trouble to keep it looking nice.

@llshamelessll 4 жыл бұрын

Do the same thing much faster with orbital polisher using valve grinding compound, then rubbing compound and then finish with polishing compound and not have worn out hands. it looks great tho.

@AuburnAquanaut 4 жыл бұрын

A+

@ThePorridgeGobbler 4 жыл бұрын

Looking good but you will find it a lot easier when using your different grades if you keep your papers wet, hence the terms wet and dry.

@renem6441 4 жыл бұрын

Looking good, you should clear coat the polished aluminum

@user-yi8pf8on6w 4 жыл бұрын

Just clear with spray cans??

@Brextime Жыл бұрын

Can believe he hand sanded this thing

@aaronwood3540 4 жыл бұрын

Two words bro. Orbital sander!

@Airboat_Madness 4 жыл бұрын

are you gonna try to make it to the freedom ride at lake kissimmee the 22nd

@gersinhw15 4 жыл бұрын

will you give a protection layer of anything ?

@XloMotion 4 жыл бұрын

I'm a bit late but for better result you should have used plenty of water. Sand and wash the area for the next grid of sandpaper

@dalcallcenter2879 4 жыл бұрын

a good compound and polisher would work just as well no?

@fredgarvin4482 4 жыл бұрын

Need a better way to crank motor. how will you crank up once you stop motor and are in the water?

@jaredblackwelder4937 4 жыл бұрын

Are you going to try to go to krvsa freedom ride on lake Kissimmee on Feb 22

@garymucher9590 4 жыл бұрын

I'm sure you learned what works and what does by now. But the typical way you polish such aluminum metal is to use water and wet/.dry paper and sand everything with your courser paper. In your case you started with 400. The clean everything off and go to the next higher grit (600) with water again. But you don't finish that stage until you removed all the 600 grit paper's scratch marks. Once that is removed, you clean it off again and move to the water and even higher grit paper and don't stop until you removed the previous scratch marks and so on. It really is time consuming but done correctly, you will end up with an amazing chrome-like finish. But if you don't protect the new chrome-like finish, aluminum oxidizes quickly with a dull grayish look. To make it tons easier, get a variable speed sander/polisher and you will never ever hand polish ever again...

@user-yi8pf8on6w 4 жыл бұрын

How do you protect after polishing, just clear spray cans?