Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

[Tinklespout]

Hi,

I'm brand new here and am really impressed with this forum. I have just moved to Punta Gorda, FL and bought a 14 foot Orlando Clipper for the Intercoastal Waterway.

My boat doesn't seem to be taking a polish very well. Is it because it was left in a "mill finish" condition.

I was told that these boats were made from leftover WWII aircraft aluminum. Does anyone know what grade or type of aluminum this might have been? Would it be the same as alloys used for boats, better or worse?

If anyone can help me out with information on this boat I would greatly appreciate it. I'm only guessing at the age of it. The hull number is 48-14-294. It looks like it might have originally had a steering wheel and possibly a windshield. The transom is 48 inches wide and the boat is 14 feet long. It appears that it might even have a double-wall floor. I can't be sure but it sure looks like it through the hole for the drain plug

Thanks in advance

Kim

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Welcome to the iboats.com forum! The members here are great and the experts, which I am not, can help you with any questions about that great old boat. Every Orlando Clipper I recall seeing had a bare aluminum finish but there may have been painted ones that I missed. The link below is currently active with pictures that may help you compare. The WWII-surplus aluminum story is very believeable even if the actual material was manufactured after the war ended due to the wartime build-up in production capability. I have no clue about the alloy that may have been used for your boat. FYI, my understanding of putting a high-gloss finish on bare aluminum first requires chemical removal of the aluminum oxide coating that has developed with atmospheric exposure during the last 50+ years. Once removed, it can be mechanically polished and then coated with a sealer/wax/polish to prevent the reformation of the oxidation. Good luck!

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=571516

 

[Tinklespout]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Thanks Willyclay,

Hopefully I will hear from some Orlando Clipper folks regarding the history, that is the part that intrigues me. The boat may have some military influence to its construction because it is built like a tank!

The link you gave me is great. I'll go through it tonight.

Thanks again,

Kim

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Hi Tinklespout. Welcome to iboats. I live up the road a bit in Tallahassee. Cool old Clipper you got there. You can certainly bring it back to a mirror shine with enough polish and elbow grease. As stated in the previous posts, you'll first want to clean the hull thoroughly using a product like Sharkshide, Kleen Brite, or other aluminum cleaner. They're usually acid based so be careful and read the directions. You can then start on the polishing. Most folks just use aluminum mag wheel polish on a buffing pad. There's no real secret, or magical technique just lots of time and elbow grease, but it can be done. Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

What have you used/tried on your boat?

Sanding with 400 grit sand paper and then applying Mothers aluminum polish according to directions will make aluminum pretty shiny.

Then there's always this if you want to go all out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyOodLNI4BQ

 

[Tinklespout]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Hi and thanks for the feedback.

I've tried CLR, purple degreaser/cleaner and TSP. I've read that I shouldn't use bleach. I'm not looking to maintain a mirror finish or anything close. I just want a uniform color. Someone mentioned purple cleaner and steel wool but I read that the steel wool can result in rust marks from particles left behind around the rivets.

Thanks again,

Kim

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Hello again Kim. It's best to use a cleaner specifically made for aluminum/metal. If you can't find anything a simple scotch brite pad and dish soap will help you get the hull fairly clean. You can then start sanding it using progressively finer git paper upto 1000 grit emery paper and beyond. Once the metal is clean and sanded, you can start polishing the hull. Mother's aluminum wheel polish is great. It goes on like a cream that you then let sit for a moment and wipe away. It will come off black and filthy, but that's what you want. A buffing wheel and/or a mountain of rags will be your best friends.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Some car or dishwashing detergent and some of these will do what you want:
http://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotch-Brite-Maroon-General-Purpose/dp/B0002SQYF0

You can buy them at most automotive supply stores and they'll usually sell them to you one at a time, buy 6 maroon and 6 gray ones and you should be good to go. Scrub your boat with them with horizontal strokes from bow to stern, start with the maroon and finish with the gray.

 

[Tinklespout]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

OK,

Pretty much as I expected. I heard about the expensive magic chemicals so thought I would ask. I'm not afraid of a little good old elbow grease.

Thanks.

Kim

 

[orlandoclippertim]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Clippers were made here in Orlando at what is now the orlando executive airport. My understanding is that they took over a building that was used durring the war to build boeing stearman a-75 biplanes. The companny was a subsadairy of "orlando lighting".
Yes, they did use over-run sheet aluminum intended for aircraft construction. specificly- aircraft skin material - allthough skin on most planes was often thinner than that used on the clippers hulls. the material its self would be aluminum aloy 2024 and heat treated to a condition refered to as either T-3, T-4 or T-6. (the sheets are baked in ovens and cooled very slowly which increases the sheet's hardness and stiffness greatly. when bent it springs back instead of bending. ) All aircraft skin is made like this bacause the skin carrys the structural load of the aircraft.
My dad had a clipper when i was about 5 or 6. I remember him saying they had a TV commercial which showed then shooting a clipper's hull with a 22 rimfire rifle and the bullet didnt go through. (could have been a short!)
The finnish on the sheets would have been a polished but satin look. just like modern aircraft sheet when new.
If you have deep pits to grind out- try a heavy blue norton paint stripping pad from home depot. Goes in an angle grinder. Like a 1 inch thick rotary scotch brite pad- except coarser. then you can do finer pads in regular small scotch brite pads.
Dont polish the decks- they are textured and the hills will go away easily.
If you want to know about high polishing- look up how to polish aircraft skin- there is plenty of info about that- and special tecniqies.

Also I have been told that the plant emploied many handicapped persons. Dont know if they were injured vetterains or civialians who had trouble finding regular jobs because of their disabilitys.
I do remember there was a post somewhere on this forum from someone who said that their father and uncle were plant manager and foreman respectively. maybe you can search that out. would love to see pictures of the plant !

Tim in orlando

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Old thread.

 

[D A Matherne]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

ROFL...You can polish all you want, but why? I've owned mine since before 1960. I don't believe it was every meant to be polished. Still looks the same today as it did back then...pretty much. And yeah, it had a steering wheel, probably on the left side, and a windshield. I skied many a mile behind mine until I got to darned old to get my butt up out of the water. :lol: She can take a lot bigger motor than most people think if you know what you're doing. She has a VERY stable hull design.

Hi,

I'm brand new here and am really impressed with this forum. I have just moved to Punta Gorda, FL and bought a 14 foot Orlando Clipper for the Intercoastal Waterway.

My boat doesn't seem to be taking a polish very well. Is it because it was left in a "mill finish" condition.

I was told that these boats were made from leftover WWII aircraft aluminum. Does anyone know what grade or type of aluminum this might have been? Would it be the same as alloys used for boats, better or worse?

If anyone can help me out with information on this boat I would greatly appreciate it. I'm only guessing at the age of it. The hull number is 48-14-294. It looks like it might have originally had a steering wheel and possibly a windshield. The transom is 48 inches wide and the boat is 14 feet long. It appears that it might even have a double-wall floor. I can't be sure but it sure looks like it through the hole for the drain plug

Thanks in advance

Kim
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[D A Matherne]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Thanks for the great info, Tim. This is the reason I joined this forum tonight, to learn more and share about my old "Sassy Gal"
D A

Clippers were made here in Orlando at what is now the orlando executive airport. My understanding is that they took over a building that was used durring the war to build boeing stearman a-75 biplanes. The companny was a subsadairy of "orlando lighting".
Yes, they did use over-run sheet aluminum intended for aircraft construction. specificly- aircraft skin material - allthough skin on most planes was often thinner than that used on the clippers hulls. the material its self would be aluminum aloy 2024 and heat treated to a condition refered to as either T-3, T-4 or T-6. (the sheets are baked in ovens and cooled very slowly which increases the sheet's hardness and stiffness greatly. when bent it springs back instead of bending. ) All aircraft skin is made like this bacause the skin carrys the structural load of the aircraft.
My dad had a clipper when i was about 5 or 6. I remember him saying they had a TV commercial which showed then shooting a clipper's hull with a 22 rimfire rifle and the bullet didnt go through. (could have been a short!)
The finnish on the sheets would have been a polished but satin look. just like modern aircraft sheet when new.
If you have deep pits to grind out- try a heavy blue norton paint stripping pad from home depot. Goes in an angle grinder. Like a 1 inch thick rotary scotch brite pad- except coarser. then you can do finer pads in regular small scotch brite pads.
Dont polish the decks- they are textured and the hills will go away easily.
If you want to know about high polishing- look up how to polish aircraft skin- there is plenty of info about that- and special tecniqies.

Also I have been told that the plant emploied many handicapped persons. Dont know if they were injured vetterains or civialians who had trouble finding regular jobs because of their disabilitys.
I do remember there was a post somewhere on this forum from someone who said that their father and uncle were plant manager and foreman respectively. maybe you can search that out. would love to see pictures of the plant !

Tim in orlando

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

And still an old thread. Neither the OP or orlandoclippertim have been here since March.

Please start a new thread on "Sassy Gal"

 

[D A Matherne]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Oh...I'm very sorry for raising old issues. Mine is an old boat so her issues are old as well as am I. If new posts to old strings do not float to the top, how is this forum good for anyone? I am often out of the country for extended periods of time. Therefor, so are my questions and comments in answer to others' questions. Perhaps I chose the wrong forum to join... are you forum management?
D A

And still an old thread. Neither the OP or orlandoclippertim have been here since March.

Please start a new thread on "Sassy Gal"

 

[D A Matherne]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

why? seems you have told me I am not welcome here.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

Oh...I'm very sorry for raising old issues. Mine is an old boat so her issues are old as well as am I. If new posts to old strings do not float to the top, how is this forum good for anyone? I am often out of the country for extended periods of time. Therefor, so are my questions and comments in answer to others' questions. Perhaps I chose the wrong forum to join... are you forum management?
D A

why? seems you have told me I am not welcome here.

The 90 day inactive thread red banner at the bottom of a browser window is to keep posts relevant to the project & whoever started the thread. The original poster (OP) designation is next to their username as: [OP]

If the OP hasn't posted to their thread in 90 days, it becomes inactive. Until the OP re-posts to their thread, it should be considered closed, and used as a resource only, treated like a library book, not to be written in. If you have questions or comments that you think important about their project, you should consider sending them a private message. You can access the PM system by left mouse button clicking anyone's user name and selecting private message from the choices. Perhaps although the thread is inactive, the OP is still frequently using the iboats forum & will reply. Often that is not the case and there is no further input, reply or posts by the OP.

Doing a search from google or the iboats forum will pull up lots of inactive threads so the info is still readily available. By adhering to the 90 day inactive status, the thread remains relevant to the OP, their boat and their project's progress. Resto threads often take twists & turns and will change directions over time.

All of that ^^^ long winded stuff is also so I can repeat GA's suggestion to start a thread. GA & I are also both among the tin-heads here on iboats, and I'm sure we'd both LOVE to see pix of & any info you have about Clippers. Particularly if you have a pix of how it looked when you bought Sassy Girl, what you've done to it while in your care & how you accomplished that work.

If you don't think the resto forum fits your boat's current/past status (you bought it water ready & have pretty much basic maintenance only) consider posting pix & info in the Orlando Clipper owner's group forum:
Orlando Clipper

You would be the 1st. Lots of great vintage boats from many makers have very few surviving original examples for others to use for reference when they are lucky enough to find 1.

Iboats is a great forum, full of great info, and has lots of great folks that take the time to read, reply & comment on a project's progress.

I am nothing more then 1 of those folks that post to the forum. The moderators here do a fantastic job monitoring their respective areas of the forum. But w/ over 1500 users daily, there is a terrific amount of traffic reading & posting to the forum. That's a ton of posts to wade thru for the mods.
iboats Boating Forums Statistics

Topics: 600,575
Posts: 4,337,269
Members: 415,296


Currently Active Users There are currently 668 users online. 84 members and 584 guests
Most users ever online was 2,418, July 7th, 2013 at 09:51 PM.

With this volume of traffic, it may be more clear why trying to keep threads relevant to the OP & their project is so important.


Thanks for joining iboats, I for 1 am happy to have you here, and I suspect GA really is as well.

All of the above is merely in my humble opinion (IMHO).

You will be surprised at the traffic a new thread about 1950's boat will get. Esp 1 that has a 55 year ownership history.

Welcome again & please consider starting a thread, in whatever forum area you choose

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

why? seems you have told me I am not welcome here.

Don't read so much into my post. All I'm asking is that you abide by the rules you agreed to when you joined.
If I didn't think you belonged here, then I would not have suggested starting a new thread on "Sassy Gal".

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Was a 1958 Orlando clipper left in "mill finish" when new?

The 90 day inactive thread red banner at the bottom of a browser window is to keep posts relevant to the project & whoever started the thread. The original poster (OP) designation is next to their username as: [OP]

If the OP hasn't posted to their thread in 90 days, it becomes inactive. Until the OP re-posts to their thread, it should be considered closed, and used as a resource only, treated like a library book, not to be written in. If you have questions or comments that you think important about their project, you should consider sending them a private message. You can access the PM system by left mouse button clicking anyone's user name and selecting private message from the choices. Perhaps although the thread is inactive, the OP is still frequently using the iboats forum & will reply. Often that is not the case and there is no further input, reply or posts by the OP.

Doing a search from google or the iboats forum will pull up lots of inactive threads so the info is still readily available. By adhering to the 90 day inactive status, the thread remains relevant to the OP, their boat and their project's progress. Resto threads often take twists & turns and will change directions over time.

All of that ^^^ long winded stuff is also so I can repeat GA's suggestion to start a thread. GA & I are also both among the tin-heads here on iboats, and I'm sure we'd both LOVE to see pix of & any info you have about Clippers. Particularly if you have a pix of how it looked when you bought Sassy Girl, what you've done to it while in your care & how you accomplished that work.

If you don't think the resto forum fits your boat's current/past status (you bought it water ready & have pretty much basic maintenance only) consider posting pix & info in the Orlando Clipper owner's group forum:
Orlando Clipper

You would be the 1st. Lots of great vintage boats from many makers have very few surviving original examples for others to use for reference when they are lucky enough to find 1.

Iboats is a great forum, full of great info, and has lots of great folks that take the time to read, reply & comment on a project's progress.

I am nothing more then 1 of those folks that post to the forum. The moderators here do a fantastic job monitoring their respective areas of the forum. But w/ over 1500 users daily, there is a terrific amount of traffic reading & posting to the forum. That's a ton of posts to wade thru for the mods.
iboats Boating Forums Statistics

Topics: 600,575
Posts: 4,337,269
Members: 415,296


Currently Active Users There are currently 668 users online. 84 members and 584 guests
Most users ever online was 2,418, July 7th, 2013 at 09:51 PM.

With this volume of traffic, it may be more clear why trying to keep threads relevant to the OP & their project is so important.


Thanks for joining iboats, I for 1 am happy to have you here, and I suspect GA really is as well.

All of the above is merely in my humble opinion (IMHO).

You will be surprised at the traffic a new thread about 1950's boat will get. Esp 1 that has a 55 year ownership history.

Welcome again & please consider starting a thread, in whatever forum area you choose

Wow! Very well put, thank you.........

Welcome to the forum, D A Matherne.................