Please Help... Polishing Polyethylene
Mike Kadar
First, please forgive me. I realize that this question is far
below the level of the group, and my asking is out of pure
selfishness... Please, no flames.
Quickly, I need to rub out small scratches and scrapes from
the hull of my rotationally molded, cross linked polyethylene
kayak (the surface is not painted, just red plastic). Is there a
compound that is appropriate in both the mechanical and
chemical sense? I've heard of others destroying the slightly
marred finish of their boats, and I didn't want to make the same
mistake.
Any advice would be appreciated as I am clueless. Perhaps I
can be of assistance on some statistical issue (I am a statistician),
but probably not. Let's hear it for old-fashioned, unadulterated
altruism.!
Thank you,
Mike
Brent Viers
Ahh the days when one thought that rubbing compound and some elbow
grease would solve the world's problems...
Briefly, have you considered putting a layer of (car) wax on your boat?
Wax is a misnomer, todays stuff is a crosslinked urethane which should
help to fill in your cracks-also water resistant and won't affect the
mechanical properties much,
If that's out-why not just quickly remelt the area where the scratches
are and let them soften and fill by itself (PE will melt and flow at
about 150 C-way higher than a hair dryer's heat, but still possible.)
Assuming you don't scorch the surface-the finish should be similar.
Also, be careful about bandying about that you are a statistician
willing to ply his trade for answers. I could wax on endlessly about the
"statistics" of my systems, which don't make sense all of the time. ;)
Brent
--
Brent D. Viers
Department of Chemistry
Polymer Research Center
Mail Location 0172
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172
Telephones: 513-556-9291
513-556-9290
Fax: 513-556-9239
e-mail:vie...@ucbeh.san.uc.edu
br...@jemcom.crs.uc.edu
http://www.jem.research.uc.edu/~brent
H. Oelschlaeger
You can, of course, ask the builder of the boat.
I can think of the following method:
(1) Take away the coarse roughness with a razorblade or a microplane
(the same, in a holder).
(2) Expose the surface for a very short time to very hot air or a wide
flame. The material should melt just in a very thin surface layer and
not become warm throughout, or it will warp. Practice on a piece of
scrap.
I know a similar problem: the gliding surface of a ski consists of
polyethylene. Major scratches are first filled up by dripping on molten
PE and then milled to smoothness in a special machine under a water
spray. The resulting surface looks dull, but is smooth to the touch. A
gloss could be achieved by applying skiing wax and polishing lightly, or
by spraying on "cockpit spray".
sadar...@icloud.com
Renee Keller
>grease and plain white toothpaste. No, really, give it a go once you're
>down to the fine scratch stage.
grit.