Finally investing in my own polishing equipment.

I’m a big fan of the Rupes Yellow foam pads. And CarPro Essence is amazing.
 
Well, our offer on a house was accepted, nice big two car garage with plenty of shelves and bench space. Upgrade the lighting, reseal the floor and fill some cracks. I should have a suitable location to polish and detail regularly, finally.

My end game will be to have the garage capable of washing cars in year-round, doors closed, without water concerns. The most expensive part of that, from what I can tell, will e repairing the floor and installing a drain that leads to the driveway, which already has a nice large drain grate. Heat? Torpedo heaters are amazing.
 
PouncingPanzer said:
Well, our offer on a house was accepted, nice big two car garage with plenty of shelves and bench space. Upgrade the lighting, reseal the floor and fill some cracks. I should have a suitable location to polish and detail regularly, finally.

My end game will be to have the garage capable of washing cars in year-round, doors closed, without water concerns. The most expensive part of that, from what I can tell, will e repairing the floor and installing a drain that leads to the driveway, which already has a nice large drain grate. Heat? Torpedo heaters are amazing.
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Well, there goes your detailing budget down the drain

Literally...

lol
 
I havent been around this community since I returned to my regular job this year... but my 2 cents on abrasive products is this.

Majority of the products (abrasive) from reputable companies these days are fairly good. The differences between them are slight and what we generally talks about in the end is the user experiences between them. From my personal journey, I find that one has to work with them for a length of time to get the most of out them. By having a full understanding what the product capabilities are will give you more efficiency and effectiveness. It is this that will give you the result you are expecting.

Dont make the mistake as I had done by buying products that I only use once or twice. It is simply a money pit. Only if I could talk to my younger self and tell him to stick with it a little bit longer and learn how to max out the products.... I would have alot more $$$$ in my account. LOL
 
Still going back and forth with myself on what AIO I would like to try first. Reading reviews seems like there are many good choices. Rupes, 3D, Megs, Menzerna...so many choices :wow:

Thinking it is down to the Rupes and Menzerna options. Seems like everyone who uses those love them. I have settled on Rupes and Lake Country for starting out pads. Few of each brand of various levels of cut.
 
I don’t use it but if you’re thinking an AIO, 3D is probably the most popular. So if you asked me for one AIO, it would be 3D, I think I either Speed (protection) or One.
 
dgage said:
I don’t use it but if you’re thinking an AIO, 3D is probably the most popular. So if you asked me for one AIO, it would be 3D, I think I either Speed (protection) or One.
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If you got 3D One for a one step and 3D Speed for an AIO you could do everything from "pretty messed up to shiny and finished with an LSP" with 2 products and probably 2 pads

I am not saying other brands couldn't give you the same thing but this is a tried and true combination that has been very popular and continues to be popular among pros and advanced hobbyists

Many people will rag on 3D Speed for not having a very long life for the LSP component but it can easily be topped with something else

I am not aware of any AIO that gives phenomenal life from the LSP component but others here may know of something

3D One and Speed, in my book, are easy to apply, cycle forever, and wipe off nicely
 
PouncingPanzer said:
Still going back and forth with myself on what AIO I would like to try first. Reading reviews seems like there are many good choices. Rupes, 3D, Megs, Menzerna...so many choices :wow:

Thinking it is down to the Rupes and Menzerna options. Seems like everyone who uses those love them. I have settled on Rupes and Lake Country for starting out pads. Few of each brand of various levels of cut.
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Search around. AGO has samples (I think they sell and give them away with orders) and others sell smaller bottles of many brands. I once thought I could get away with just 1 polish and I'm up to 5 I think now and like them all.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 
chilly said:
If you got 3D One for a one step and 3D Speed for an AIO you could do everything from "pretty messed up to shiny and finished with an LSP" with 2 products and probably 2 pads

I am not saying other brands couldn't give you the same thing but this is a tried and true combination that has been very popular and continues to be popular among pros and advanced hobbyists

Many people will rag on 3D Speed for not having a very long life for the LSP component but it can easily be topped with something else

I am not aware of any AIO that gives phenomenal life from the LSP component but others here may know of something

3D One and Speed, in my book, are easy to apply, cycle forever, and wipe off nicely
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This is the sorta information I am looking for. I'd like to keep it lean and avoid as much experimenting as possible. Gonna try and keep it lean!
 
PouncingPanzer said:
Rupes, 3D, Megs, Menzerna...so many choices
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I hate to pile on, but I've used BlackFire OneStep and really like it. Corrects nicely, wipes off incredibly easy and can be easily topped with things (I've used BlackFire Hybrid Wax).
 
PouncingPanzer said:
This is the sorta information I am looking for. I'd like to keep it lean and avoid as much experimenting as possible. Gonna try and keep it lean!
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I ran into a situation this summer where 3D One wouldn't get the defects and I had to get a bottle of Jescar Correcting Compound but there will always be a situation that strays outside the capabilities of what you have on hand

You just wait until that happens and get what you need to deal with it

In retrospect I wish I had gotten a Rupes Blue Wool pad and tried that with my One but that didn't occur to me at the time

The path I took is one of dozens that would have taken care of the problem

I personally found that when I had way more products on hand I wasted more time and energy fretting over what I should or could use and just got deer in the headlights paralyzed at times because of TOO MANY options

Keep it lean as long as you can and whatever you end up with, use the crap out of it and learn the limitations
 
Got the G8 to go with the G9 for my birthday this weekend. Came with some 3.5" Lake Country pads. Cannot wait to get these things fired up. Unfortunately it may be a couple months before that chance comes.
 
PouncingPanzer said:
Got the G8 to go with the G9 for my birthday this weekend. Came with some 3.5" Lake Country pads. Cannot wait to get these things fired up. Unfortunately it may be a couple months before that chance comes.
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Nice....I got a g8 in Sept...going to use it today for all the wrong reasons:mad:
 
Consider standing where you are with the G9, the Perfect Finish, maybe get some Yellow Buff and Shine Uro-Tec foam pads (similar to Rupes yellow), and pick up some Uro-Fiber for heavier cutting. A great compound to pair with it would be Sonax Cutmax or Ultimate Cut. I've seen a lot of detailer's get a lot of mileage from Perfect Finish though. From cut to finish it has a lot of versatility. An unsung hero of the Sonax line is Cut & Finish. So much cut, and such a great finish. It's a true medium polish if you ever saw one. An AIO from Sonax I believe is called "paint cleaner". Not 100% on that one though.

For an AIO I really like 3D Speed. Works great on the yellow pads as well.

Hex Logic is manufactured by Buff and Shine. Great quality components and construction.

Someone mentioned the Rupes offerings. That's not a bad suggestion either. They have everything set up for you, and the polishes are extremely high performing. The cut and finish from the Coarse has been just tearing it up at the shop for me. I finally dialed in a process that eliminates a lot of the dusting issues, and the time saved is remarkable. Their DA Fine, can cut a bit, and finish a lot! The Uno Pure... It's so fine that on some paints it won't make a difference. I haven't tried the Uno Protect yet, because the shop where I work is almost always doing coatings. One of the guys that works there used it on a job we did together and it worked great. Seems to cut more than 3D Speed, and finish just as well. But - that's not to say you should go that route, just that in the future, once the Sonax and LC pads wear out, you might want to consider it.
 
dlc95 said:
Consider standing where you are with the G9, the Perfect Finish, maybe get some Yellow Buff and Shine Uro-Tec foam pads (similar to Rupes yellow), and pick up some Uro-Fiber for heavier cutting. A great compound to pair with it would be Sonax Cutmax or Ultimate Cut. I've seen a lot of detailer's get a lot of mileage from Perfect Finish though. From cut to finish it has a lot of versatility. An unsung hero of the Sonax line is Cut & Finish. So much cut, and such a great finish. It's a true medium polish if you ever saw one. An AIO from Sonax I believe is called "paint cleaner". Not 100% on that one though.

For an AIO I really like 3D Speed. Works great on the yellow pads as well.

Hex Logic is manufactured by Buff and Shine. Great quality components and construction.

Someone mentioned the Rupes offerings. That's not a bad suggestion either. They have everything set up for you, and the polishes are extremely high performing. The cut and finish from the Coarse has been just tearing it up at the shop for me. I finally dialed in a process that eliminates a lot of the dusting issues, and the time saved is remarkable. Their DA Fine, can cut a bit, and finish a lot! The Uno Pure... It's so fine that on some paints it won't make a difference. I haven't tried the Uno Protect yet, because the shop where I work is almost always doing coatings. One of the guys that works there used it on a job we did together and it worked great. Seems to cut more than 3D Speed, and finish just as well. But - that's not to say you should go that route, just that in the future, once the Sonax and LC pads wear out, you might want to consider it.
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Well, are you going to spill it or make us beg, cause I can grovel with the best of them...
 
chilly said:
Well, are you going to spill it or make us beg, cause I can grovel with the best of them...
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Ha!

I'm a bit reluctant to offer technical advise any more because observing the two other technicians I work with has been a stark revelation that everyone is wildly different in their approach.

But the short of it is to avoid their priming process on their wool and microfiber pads. I start with four drops on the wool, and eight on their microfiber. A little bit of pressure and minimal passes - no more than four. I treat their machines like sanders, where I used to (and sometimes still) use the Porter Cable like a rotary.

But because all of us have our own approaches, anyone's mileage may vary.
 
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