Mike, thanks for your response! No, I do not own a polisher.
I've invested way too much time in my life explaining to people and trying to convince people to move up from working by hand to working by machine, (simple DA). But suffice to say, I've been teaching detailing classes now for over 32 years and I can no longer count how many people that like you - never machine polished and helped them to switch to machine polishing and everyone was happy with their decision. In fact I cannot remember a single instance of a person learning how to machine polish end up regretting it. And more so - most people say something like this,
I should have made the switch sooner.
Modern DA's or Dual Action Polishers are incredibly safe. The Porter Cable 7424 started it all back in the late 1980s when someone at Meguiar's discovered 2 things,
1: A foam buffing pad they ALREADY made for body shops fit onto the Porter Cable 7424 Wood Sander.
2: The Porter Cable 7424 unlike the HUNDREDS of wood sanders on the market had the power and the counterweight that would maintain pad rotation under pressure.
The second thing above is going deep for some people but that's how things work.
A modern version of the Porter Cable that has a TON more power but is still just as safe is the Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher.
Here's three article for you, in case you haven't noticed.... I have a LOT of articles. (lots of videos too)
From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it. <-- my good buddy Mitch - retired police officer
Machine polishing paint - It's not that hard and with modern dual action polishers it's real safe! <-- look at the young boy, the girls and the elderly gentleman in this thread
Proof You Can Do It! - Joe The Detailer - Black Porsche Turned into Black Pearl! <-- from 2010
Here's my info-packed article on the Griot's polisher. If you read this entire thread. Clicked the links I share and read the info they share. Watch the video embedded in the thread. You would know more than most detailers and have the confidence to try machine polishing.
Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips
Whether you work by hand or machine - read this article. THE most important article I've ever written in my opinion. Also the showcased article in the first edition of my newsletter. My second newsletter going out next week.
How, why & when to inspect your microfiber towels when detailing cars
If you do get into machine polishing read and use the tip shared here.
Video: Mark your backing plate to make it easy to see pad rotation
And this one, (I'm turning this article I wrote years ago into a video)
DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide
Simple technique if you don't have a swirl finder light
How to inspect paint for swirls using overhead sunlight
TONS of tips and techniques
How To Detail Your Brand New Car by Mike Phillips
To go back up to your previous post you're saying the Ultimate Compound is maybe too abrasive for my type of car possibly because of "soft" paint? You then mention that the Ultimate Polish and Ultimate Wax would be good ideas for me if I want to do a multi-step process. Or if I don't, go ahead with the Ultra Polishing Wax. Is that correct or am I misreading.
I would have guessed the Ultimate Compound would be too aggressive and I also would have assumed an orange foam CUTTING pad would be too aggressive of Tesla paint but DMW has a completely opposite experience.
Read his reply here,
I've used D166 with an orange Lake Country pad on my Flex 3401 on a '14 Black Tesla, and it came out great.
It is soft paint and this combo works quite well. I plan to do it again this or next weekend as I have another customer with a red Tesla coming in.
And yes, I was going to ask if doing this by hand is ok.
You can go down this road. I used to teach hand polishing technique at Meguiar's for 7 years. That's because most people already own a hand. When I came to Autogeek the old boss said, we don't sell hands, we sell tools. He's right. Plus in all my experience I rarely meet anyone that has the muscle, the experience, the patience and the skill level to actually "move their hand over paint" and remove swirls and scratches without instilling swirls and scratches. Here's something I've typed for years.
It takes more skill to remove swirls and scratches by hand than it does to remove them with a dual action polisher -Mike Phillips
Here's a few articles on the topic of working by hand.
Put a little passion behind the pad - Mike Phillips
Man versus Machine
Tools for polishing paint by hand <-- this was written in 2015 but I think most of these tools are still available.
I just don't want to do anything that takes away from the paint
And just to note - the ONLY way to remove a below surface defect is to abrade the surface and LEVEL it. This means removing a little paint. The big picture idea is to do this once and then only TOUCH the paint with things that are clean and soft.
By touch I mean anytime you,
Wash - Wash mitts
Dry - Drying towels/chamois
Spray detailers - microfiber towels.
Remember I shared an article above on how and why to inspect your towels. Here's two brand new articles I just wrote for customers with sound info.
How to safely wash a ceramic coated car by Mike Phillips - Traditional Hose & Bucket Approach
How to maintain a Coated Garage Queen by Mike Phillips
Thanks, Calendyr! So you guys are using DA type machinery to do these cars? Am I crazy for thinking of doing it by hand? I don't want to screw it up nor do I want to buy expensive equipment to use one a year (maybe 6 months if I'm not tooo lazy haha).
See everything I wrote above. There are cheaper tools than the Griot's Garage 6" ROP but I've used them and they quality is matched by what you paid and I quite honestly had a hard time maintaining pad rotation with the cheapie tools.
I would get a DA polisher and some orange pads to do this work. It’s a relatively small investment (you do have a Tesla) and it will save you a ton of time.
What is your time worth?
I agree with the above plus you will NEVER get as good as results working by hand as you can get by working by machine.
We actually have an employee from Tesla on this forum. I saw their e-mail address when I was approving accounts. I don't believe they have ever posted though?
Hope the above helps. Try to get that much info in a single "message" on a Facebook group.
