Oxidation, polishing and waxing

Ok, so I've read a few posts where some guys have removed oxidation and polished and waxed over the off season. I was looking at Meguiars three step system. I have the 7" circular variable speed sander/polisher from Harbor Freight. My question is, how much pressure and how fast do you move the machine across the surface? Should I have an orbital polisher instead?

It's my first time trying this, so I'm practicing on my dad's boat first! The oxidation is worse on his.

nah, the orbitals don't work good. the gel coat isn't that thick, you'd have to be pretty dense to mess it up. that said, keep it moving at all times. too much pressure and you'll hear the polisher slowing down. you don't want to fight the polisher so just hold it firmly against the boat but light enough that you can swipe it back and forth too.

work on a small section at a time. 3'x3'at most. it will probably take a couple of times on each section. glob some compound on the pad, smear it on the hull in the area you'll be working, then turn the buffer on and work it around.

wool, velcro-backed pads work best. clean them often to get the grime you've removed from the hull off the pad. i use a screw-driver and carefully run it along the pad when the wheel is spinning...don't shoot the screwdriver across the yard, don't jam it into the buffer, don't splatter it all over the boat, etc...

with alot of oxidation, you'll probably need to work each section 2 or 3 times. keep cleaning your pad.

then finesse it, then wax.