💦 Detailing Detailing crew - I want to learn how to buff

[daturbosix]

The other one the 7" There is an adapter you can buy so you can use the nice 3m pads, the other one is good for putting wax on and very minor stuff, but I have a porter cable already you can mess with if you want to try it out first

that 7" one is on sale today for $29.99 with coupon.
but that adapter... tell me why i need it? they say that the arbor on the polisher is 5/8-11 thread already. and i believe thats the thread size of the 3m pads.

oh, where do i buy the pads from? i need wool, foam, and a anti-swirl, correct?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Z55XKO/?tag=tcg21-20

 

[1quick]

that 7" one is on sale today for $29.99 with coupon.
but that adapter... tell me why i need it? they say that the arbor on the polisher is 5/8-11 thread already. and i believe thats the thread size of the 3m pads.

oh, where do i buy the pads from? i need wool, foam, and a anti-swirl, correct?
Robot Check

Some of them have a long shank that will stick out the other side and touch whatever you are buffing on, I watched this happen once on a boat it was not good, the adapter has a short shank that is made for the 3m pads, I buy pads from a marina, I pretty much only use wool pads but get whatever you want to Learn to do

 

[ktraver97ss]

Some of them have a long shank that will stick out the other side and touch whatever you are buffing on, I watched this happen once on a boat it was not good, the adapter has a short shank that is made for the 3m pads, I buy pads from a marina, I pretty much only use wool pads but get whatever you want to Learn to do

I got a long shank for ya

 

[SMRTSS1]

Want a piece of advice?

Go to a junkyard, body shop or see if someone on here will give you an old painted panel like a hood or something big and practice on that before you touch your own car. When you got it right get a beat up shop rag or towel and rub it in the dirt or sawdust and wipe over your work with windex and the rag, fuck up the paint and do it again. And again and again and again. You'll get your technique down and you don't have to worry about mistakes. I used to bring home wrecked hoods from body shops all the time and work on them until I knew what I was doing, then I started doing used cars at the dealership I worked at with an experienced detailer, then he got fired and I took over. I have yet to burn paint by accident.

 

[daturbosix]

borrowed my buddies porter cable porter cable 7424xp, yellow/orange/blue pads, and picked up some meguiars M105 & M205 as well as machine glaze. and this sucks dick to do.

product cakes up(105), not seeing a whole lot of progress in the panel(sides of truck).
when i switched over to the blue pad and 205 compound, i was able to finish the hood and part of the roof with out the stuff caking up and needing to SCRUB it the heavy haze off.

rethinking this... i dont think anything more than washing my vehicle at the DIY wash near the grocery store is for me.

(the goods)

(caked up)

(progress with the blue pad)

 

[TCG Member 5219]

borrowed my buddies porter cable porter cable 7424xp, yellow/orange/blue pads, and picked up some meguiars M105 & M205 as well as machine glaze. and this sucks dick to do.

product cakes up(105), not seeing a whole lot of progress in the panel(sides of truck).
when i switched over to the blue pad and 205 compound, i was able to finish the hood and part of the roof with out the stuff caking up and needing to SCRUB it the heavy haze off.

rethinking this... i dont think anything more than washing my vehicle at the DIY wash near the grocery store is for me.

(the goods)

(caked up)

(progress with the blue pad)

Sounds like the pads are old and you are using too much product. You only really need a nickel sized circle of it on the pad. The M105 should dust up quick. Also you needed to prime the pad with some detail spray before first use.

When I use the 105 with my PC, it breaks down all the way into a fine dust and looks like the paint is stained. Then it wipes right off. I usually follow up with a detail spray/microfiber towl on that spot right after.

My only gripe with the 105 is the dusting. But this is the case with any polish that has an abrasive in it. The $60 a bottle menzerna nano polish did this x10. But it works.

My advise would be to wash the pads with dish soap and dry them. Then prime them with detail spray and try very little 105. Or get a yellow pad.

 

[muskie]

Meguiars is known for caking and dusting really bad.

You can add a little mineral oil to the product or spray some water on the pads and that helps.

 

[Grabber]

105/205 will dust no matter how much primer you use, unfortunately.

I always start out with dime-size droplets of product and work it in gradually. The other thing is, it appears that the product is very much hazed over, which to me says it's been sitting for several minutes or more. Humidity and temps have an affect on this, but, as soon as you're done with a panel, immediately remove the product to avoid it caking and becoming hard to remove.

Otherwise, the work looks good and there is room for improvement.

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

the hood looks okay.

The paint should have been clayed before polishing. It's all in the prep.
Were the pads clean when you started ? Even if a dedicated pad cleaner isn't used, they should be rinsed and allowed to air dry.

Test sections with the LEAST aggressive combo and work from there.

how much pressure are you applying to the machine ? should be minimal.
How fast are you moving the machine around ?

It's not hard but it takes a few times to get the hang of it.

 

[TCG Member 5219]

the hood looks okay.

The paint should have been clayed before polishing. It's all in the prep.
Were the pads clean when you started ? Even if a dedicated pad cleaner isn't used, they should be rinsed and allowed to air dry.

Test sections with the LEAST aggressive combo and work from there.

how much pressure are you applying to the machine ? should be minimal.
How fast are you moving the machine around ?

It's not hard but it takes a few times to get the hang of it.

It never hurts to clay bar, but if you are going to be using a cutting pad/compound, then its redundant. You will be cutting the top layer of the clearcoat, and anything that claying would remove, will get removed anyway. But again, claying wouldnt hurt. Just a ton more work.

 

[Grabber]

It never hurts to clay bar, but if you are going to be using a cutting pad/compound, then its redundant. You will be cutting the top layer of the clearcoat, and anything that claying would remove, will get removed anyway. But again, claying wouldnt hurt. Just a ton more work.

Claying is a key part of successful paint correction. By not removing all of the contaminates in the clear and only polishing, you're moving that dirt and contaminates in the paint, which will hinder the work and yield poor results.

Prep is the single most important part of paint correction. If you're not going to clay prior to working on a car with a lot of scratches, do not waste your time polishing.

 

[TCG Member 5219]

The abrasives in the cutting compound will do far more damage to the paint than existing stuff already in there. As I said, clay bar is great but not a necessity if you are going to cut.

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

I've used a clay mitt twice, saves ALOT of time and didn't mar the finish.

a rotary and an aggressive pad may be used to substitute the clay but I prefer to prep the paint for the polishing step.

Jeff,
If you're looking for some help let me know.
Maybe I can test out the new Rupes

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

looking at the picture again, that is an original PC 7424

this is an " XP "

 

[Grabber]

The abrasives in the cutting compound will do far more damage to the paint than existing stuff already in there. As I said, clay bar is great but not a necessity if you are going to cut.

If used improperly. It is near impossible to do that with a PC. If using a Flex or Rupes, you FS damage the paint.

The idea is to cut as very little as possible. No matter what, there are many layers of a clear coat and if you need very minor correction, you won't get far enough to "cut through the clear coat" as you say.

This is an improper method and I've debunked it many times with people that skip this step.

Their in lies another issue. Your pad will contract those contaminates and you will end up spreading them across other panels of your car where the paint could be healthier. Even if you clean on the fly during a full correction, you just ruined an 8-10 dollar pad.


You're entitled to your opinion. I don't believe this is good advice to that poster.

 

[daturbosix]

looking at the picture again, that is an original PC 7424

this is an " XP "

yeh i got the other. idk why i put xp, probably cuz all the youtube videos i watched earlier. but theyre basically the same thing

 

[daturbosix]

the hood looks okay.

The paint should have been clayed before polishing. It's all in the prep.
Were the pads clean when you started ? Even if a dedicated pad cleaner isn't used, they should be rinsed and allowed to air dry.

Test sections with the LEAST aggressive combo and work from there.

how much pressure are you applying to the machine ? should be minimal.
How fast are you moving the machine around ?

It's not hard but it takes a few times to get the hang of it.

yes to all. lol

i followed a couple youtube tutorials on how-to.. dampened the foam, applied compound and went to town in 2ft sections. it works, just not well.

all the pads are used and previously washed before i got going on them

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

maybe it's the truck

 

[daturbosix]

22 year old GM paint that has never been buffed? mayyyyyyyyyybe

 

[ktraver97ss]

It wasn't the truck...

I came out and clayed and polished that turd up for him. He was most likely using way too much product and it was just caking up on him. My one step ceramic polish on a white pad on a Flex on 5 and it was looking much better in a few hours. I didn't take any pics but maybe he can.