tuscarora dave
Active member
- Aug 21, 2009
- 5,408
- 12
After reading this thread I thought I would offer some of my thoughts on this subject. I've been through this same scenario with M-105 on a DA polisher and it can be frustrating for sure. Now mind you that these are just a few observations from my own reading, testing and experience.
1. The pad conditioner or any QD for that matter tends to hyper lubricate the abrasives in M-105, taking away from it's cutting ability. I used to do this pad preparation with a pad conditioner because I read it here at AG. IME it's a gimmick that only adds to the frustration so I completely dropped it from my plan. My testing/experience proves that it's a waste of time and money.
2. The X of product on the pad was also a problem for me. Instead I will apply 2 circles of product to the pad (one on the outer surface of the pad and one closer to the center) then using my finger I lightly spread the 2 circles of product over the entire face of the pad ensuring that 100% of the pad is covered with a light film of the product. I compare the look of a 100% properly primed pad to the way a hamburger bun looks after spreading a light film of Mayo to it. This ensures that you have the product and the pad doing the work for you instead of just an X of product and the rest of the pad dry. (the abrasives in the product really do the cutting)
3. I'll do section passes on speed 5 until the product flashes or is no longer wet on the panel. (This is where the dust starts to fly and you may have some dried 105 still on the work section) At this time I take a look to see if I've achieved the results I'm looking to achieve. If not then I do this.
4. On the same work section, I'll lightly mist some water onto the panel being compounded, using a spray bottle that atomizes the water into a light mist. Did I mention just a light even misting of water on the panel and not the pad? After misting the panel with water not QD and without removing any spent product from the pad (actually at this point what is left on the pad is far from spent, It's just dried product not spent product.) Place the pad back down on the water misted work section and continue your section passes. You'll observe that the water is rehydrating the product in the pad and you'll see it trailing behind the pad on the work section. Continue you section passes until all you see is paint with no wet product trailing behind the pad.
You'll see lots of dust all around your work section and you should observe that the leftover product that is on the pad will be a crusty type of deposit that will brush right off of the pad with a pad cleaning brush. The pad should be dry at this point, if it's still wet you're misting too much water onto the work area. Try again on a new section but using less water this time.
After using this method you will likely see some very light marring left behind by the crusty deposits on the pad, M-205 will clean this marring up with very little effort and your work section should look perfect after cleaning the M-205 residue off for a close inspection.
A few noted observations are that the cut of the M-105 will significantly increase after misting the work area with water(QD Does not work for this).
With this method you get twice the dusting but cut your overall compounding time drastically.
Practice this method a few times before dismissing it. It works very well if you develop a good technique with it.
In closing, what works for me might not be for everyone and Kevin Brown gets full credit for me learning and developing this technique that has cut my compounding time in half.
Hope this helped someone, TD
1. The pad conditioner or any QD for that matter tends to hyper lubricate the abrasives in M-105, taking away from it's cutting ability. I used to do this pad preparation with a pad conditioner because I read it here at AG. IME it's a gimmick that only adds to the frustration so I completely dropped it from my plan. My testing/experience proves that it's a waste of time and money.
2. The X of product on the pad was also a problem for me. Instead I will apply 2 circles of product to the pad (one on the outer surface of the pad and one closer to the center) then using my finger I lightly spread the 2 circles of product over the entire face of the pad ensuring that 100% of the pad is covered with a light film of the product. I compare the look of a 100% properly primed pad to the way a hamburger bun looks after spreading a light film of Mayo to it. This ensures that you have the product and the pad doing the work for you instead of just an X of product and the rest of the pad dry. (the abrasives in the product really do the cutting)
3. I'll do section passes on speed 5 until the product flashes or is no longer wet on the panel. (This is where the dust starts to fly and you may have some dried 105 still on the work section) At this time I take a look to see if I've achieved the results I'm looking to achieve. If not then I do this.
4. On the same work section, I'll lightly mist some water onto the panel being compounded, using a spray bottle that atomizes the water into a light mist. Did I mention just a light even misting of water on the panel and not the pad? After misting the panel with water not QD and without removing any spent product from the pad (actually at this point what is left on the pad is far from spent, It's just dried product not spent product.) Place the pad back down on the water misted work section and continue your section passes. You'll observe that the water is rehydrating the product in the pad and you'll see it trailing behind the pad on the work section. Continue you section passes until all you see is paint with no wet product trailing behind the pad.
You'll see lots of dust all around your work section and you should observe that the leftover product that is on the pad will be a crusty type of deposit that will brush right off of the pad with a pad cleaning brush. The pad should be dry at this point, if it's still wet you're misting too much water onto the work area. Try again on a new section but using less water this time.
After using this method you will likely see some very light marring left behind by the crusty deposits on the pad, M-205 will clean this marring up with very little effort and your work section should look perfect after cleaning the M-205 residue off for a close inspection.
A few noted observations are that the cut of the M-105 will significantly increase after misting the work area with water(QD Does not work for this).
With this method you get twice the dusting but cut your overall compounding time drastically.
Practice this method a few times before dismissing it. It works very well if you develop a good technique with it.
In closing, what works for me might not be for everyone and Kevin Brown gets full credit for me learning and developing this technique that has cut my compounding time in half.
Hope this helped someone, TD
