Stainless steel rails around swim platform

[ryandmartin]

Does anyone know if the stainless rails around the swim platform are coated or uncovered stainless?

Also, anyone have experience getting scratches out / wet sanding them?

Boat was on a morning this weekend, and another mooring is set too close to it (and it has a swim dock tied to it). Current and wind ended up in opposite directions, and I had the pleasure of watching the swim dock slam into the starboard stainless rail at the swim platform.

Now have some nasty deep scratches in there. Hoping someone might know a good solution.

[Big Block Power]

Yea I'm not a fabricator. That's Slides job on here. I'm sure you can wet sand then down then get like jewelers Rouge and start buffing. If you have a truck shop around you they sell them in blocks. You can buy small 3m buffing wheels too. Google works. I got mine from a stainless shop. Just haven't tried it yet Because I know it's going to make a mess and it's for my tower. It's black chalk like powder and a white interior. Not a good match. They guy that fixed my tower gave it to me because I think he is a perfectionist and didn't like to see the small scratches in the tubing.

[ryandmartin]

Yea I'm not a fabricator. That's Slides job on here. I'm sure you can wet sand then down then get like jewelers Rouge and start buffing. If you have a truck shop around you they sell them in blocks. You can buy small 3m buffing wheels too. Google works. I got mine from a stainless shop. Just haven't tried it yet Because I know it's going to make a mess and it's for my tower. It's black chalk like powder and a white interior. Not a good match. They guy that fixed my tower gave it to me because I think he is a perfectionist and didn't like to see the small scratches in the tubing.

So that sounds uncoated. I have heard you can’t perform those treatments on coated Stainless. I’m hoping that’s what I can do.

[BobRae99]

Absent an definitive answer here, I’d just check with Cobalt before trying to repair your new boat. Maybe they have a recommended method to repair the finish.

[Big Block Power]

I know Tuscany was going to polish his up too. Not sure if he did it yet.

[Tuscany]

Yeah, not yet, but I plan on it when I do my season end detail.

[slideruleracer]

Not sure about the new boats, but definitely polishable on the older boats like my 2004 250.

[BobRae99]

I got a stalest steel polishing sample with my 2019 R3, so I'm assuming the stainless is polishable - including the swim platform tubes.

[ryandmartin]

All right folks, I went all-in to figure this out, and polished the stainless this weekend. I know you all enjoy details and pictures, so here you go...

1st investigation on "is it polishable?"
At the New England Boat Show in Boston this winter, my dealership actually had a rep from Cobalt at their booth. I didn't get all the details what his role was at Cobalt, but he was well aware of the construction and engineering that went into the boats. I asked him about the stainless tubes around the swim platform and whether they were polishable. Without hesitation, he said yes, and that basically all the stainless on the boat was polisable and was not "coated".

2nd investigation on "is it polishable?"
Interestingly enough, I had sent an email to Cobalt customer service about a day or two before the boat show. I received their response around the same time as talking to Cobalt rep above. Their response was interesting, saying "the stainless is electro-polished, so wet sanding may remove the coating". Further investigation on electro-polishing is that it's not a plating or coating, it actually removes a microscopic layer of metal to further reduce fine scratches (which give a place for rust to form). It didn't make me overly comfortable he mentioned something about a coating, but I felt fairly confident I could polish.

Go time
I purchased wet-dry 3m sandpaper of grits 220, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000. Using a spray bottle of water mixed with some dish soap, I went to work.

As you might recall from above, the tube was hit by a wayward floating dock (moorings were too close together). This caused some nasty scratches, but the weren't excessively deep. Didn't feel deep enough to start with 220 grit. So first, I cleaned the area and started with the 400 grit sandpaper, trying to stay in the direction of the grain lengthwise along the tube.


I did realize that some of the scratched weren't really coming out to the extent I wanted, even with some elbow grease on the 400 grit. I went down to the 220 grit for a minute or two, which really helped. Honestly am glad I started with the 400 and adjusted from there.



Finally went up in order, through the 800, 1000, 1500. By the time I was on the 2000 I started to realize how many micro-scratches I had on the remainder of the tube -- this section was becoming more scratch-free than everything else! I will probably put on my list to polish the full length of both tubes with 1500 to 2000 grit at some point.


As a last step, I used Flitz polish on a Mother's Power Cone. Very, very happy with the results, and that the scratches are out!

[AsLan7]

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Awesome update RM.

Thanks for doing that.

Unfortunately your pictures are not posting with your links. Any chance you could screenshot them and upload?

I haven’t used Flitz in awhile. Used to polish a brass radiator with it back in the 80’s. Good stuff.

Can’t wait to see your finished product. Thanks for doing the research on Cobalt SS.

[Big Block Power]

Thanks for the post. My sure why we can't see the pictures? But they also make like a wool buffing pad and Rouge for polishing. That's what a stainless steel company gave me when they fixed my tower. This is there life and what they make is really cool stuff. They sent some of it home with me as they were embarrassed that my tower had fine scratches in it and preferred it to look new. I didn't want to make a mess all over so I just have not done it yet. Dont use a chrome polish on stainless though. Or other chemicals that can damage stainless. I have bronze looking spots on my swim platform that go away then come back from something.

[ryandmartin]

Apologies, I posted the pictures like noob and now can't edit the last post. For some reason I can't get them to display inline, just as a link. Guess I'll have to get smart on posting pictures here.

Here's the progression...

[AsLan7]

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Nice job Ryan. We are seeing them now. You do nice work my friend.

Looking forward to the entire rail being done.

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[Big Block Power]

That turned out really good. Now you can take a breath.

[akorcovelos]

Well done!