which pads would you recommend with the Blackfire and the Collinite? i am going to buy the Griots Garage DA polisher. can i use pads other than the griots garage pads and still use them with it?
to answer for Robert:
Lake Country makes great pads. They can be used with your GG polisher. Griots offers only 2 choices: Orange for polishing and red for waxing. LAke Country has a vast array of pad styles and levels of aggression. They are color coded. For example, yellow is very aggressive, orange is moderate and White is mild. There are literally thousands of threads on this subject.
Read this. You can pick and choose or go with a kit like the second link.
Lake Country 5.5 Inch CCS Pads 6 Pack - Your Choice!
This might be a nice start for you:
Dual Action CCS 5.5 Inch Foam Pad Kit
You will need a smaller (5 in) backing plate:
Porter Cable 7424 Backing Plates- Dual Action Hook & Loop backing plate for your porter cable 7424, The best backing plates for the Porter Cable 7424
The 5.5 in pads are easier to use and correct more efficiently than 6.5. Your Griots comes with a 6 in plate.
If I were choosing a starting point, at a minimum, I would get 1 yellow, 3 orange, 2 white, 1 gray and 1 red pad.
If you want to make it an even factor of 6 (for the 6 packs of pads) and get a good base of pads, I would go 2 yellow, 4 orange,3 white, 2 gray, 1 red.
If you want to keep it to 6, get 3 orange, 2 white and 1 red.
Yellow is only for really bad finishes or trying to reduce deep scratches (RIDS). Orange and white are the most used. It usually takes a few of them to finish a car. They get saturated and it is nice to change to a clean one. Gray would be for very mild polishes such as Menzerna PO85rd or Griots #4. Red is for wax/sealant and will typically last the whole car.