Thanks a lot for the in depth explanation Mike, I'll have to post some pictures later of my attempts.
Working by hand, and at the simplest meaning of working by hand it means,
how you move your hand or more specifically,
how you move some type of "applicator pad" by hand, is completely and 100% all about technique.
I've been teaching people how to work by hand all my life and that's because most people already
own a hand or two. The most common issues when trying to actually remove defects, not just clean the surface, comes from,
- Not using a fiber material for the first step.
- Not moving their hand fast enough.
- Not pressing the applicator against the paint with enough pressure.
And the actual manner in which you do the above is best shown to someone else in person, not shared via text on a forum. The best picture I've ever been able to take showing what good technique looks like is this picture and I did this while both hand rubbing out sanding scratches and holding the camera to take the picture.
These two pictures are from an article I wrote about how to use your thumb as a "distance guide" to prevent you from burning through a raised body line or an edge.
Here's the link to the full article,
The Rule of Thumb
Here's the pictures.... notice how my hand is a blur?
Here's the deal....
If I can remove wet sanding marks out of a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint job on a custom 1970 El Camino... anyone can do this on the car in their garage or driveway even if it's a brand new car.
It's all about using the correct technique.
Plus you must use compuonds that use great abraisve technology or you'll simply replace one set of scratches with a new set of scratches.
One thing for sure... it's always a good idea to practice on a car that's not important to you when dialing in your technique BEFORE working on your important project.
That PE8 looks awesome, never knew they made rotaries that small.
That's what this forum is about... show new and even existing tools and products to people as well as share with them the correct technique for using the tools and products.
I purposefully took the PE8 to our local car show specifically to work these thin panels to show exactly what this tool can do.
It looks like a repaint of someone's cherished ride. Let us know how it goes!
Mike's detailed replies are certainly worth reading, he always goes above and beyond. Even though I've read them again and again, I always seem to glean a little more info that I can apply to my detailing.
Thank you sir for the kind words... I remember when I was learning to detail we didn't have discussion forums and you learned by trial and error and by following other people's advices.
Back then I received a lot of what you could call, inaccurate advice, so I never forget my roots and it's the experiences I gained when I was younger that fuels my passion to help others so they don't have to make the mistakes I made.
Quite simple really.
:dblthumb2:
