How to I polish curved panels?

[adower]

Hello,

I am wondering how do you guys polish/correct small curved panels.

Specifically the back of the housing of the side marker mirrors as well as the little lip on the tail lights of corvettes. I tried to use my flex 3401 on the side marker mirrors and it was too uncontrollable.

The rear tail lights on the corvette there is a small maybe 1" lip I wanted to get some water spots out but wasnt sure what to use.

Any tips from the pros?

 

[af90]

smaller backing plate and pads. 3" dedicated polisher like the Griot's Mini or Rupes. I use a Porter Cable 7424XP as a dedicated 3" backing plate/pad combo now.

 

[hernandez.art13]

If the area is really small. You can always do it by hand, at some points it's even safer too.

 

[WA.Detailer]

What speed are your running on the Flex when you did that ?

I put a spacer on my Rotary to get the machine out of the way, and a 3" or 4" backing plate..

I have to mind the edges more because I am running direct drive and keep the rpms down but it works fast for me..

Any other machine as has been already suggested, will work too !

And you know that Flex offers smaller backing plates now - however, I have never used anything but the 4-7/16" diameter backing plate and 5" pads on it..

Good luck !
Dan F

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I would use a rotary buffer like this,

Or a Griot's 3" Mini like this,


Jeff Bell, a full-time professional detailer always helps me with the more intricate or complex areas to buff, here he's working M101 with the Griot's 3" Mini Polisher using a Meguiar's 3" Microfiber Cutting Disc...

Or a Porter Cable like this,

Here I'm using my finger to both point to the dull plastic mirror and also to help the camera to focus as I get the before shot. Note the dull paint on the A-Piller, Robert will fix this too...

Robert hammering on the black plastic housing. The pad looks like it's stopped but hes on the 6 setting...

Now look at both the A-Pillar and the mirror housing... Robert is a top notch detailer in Palm City and if you can get him to squeeze you into his schedule you're lucky.

A Griot's 3" polisher with micorfiber pads for thin panesl....

Or work by hand like this,

There's all kinds of ways to skin a cat....

 

[adower]

What speed are your running on the Flex when you did that ?

I put a spacer on my Rotary to get the machine out of the way, and a 3" or 4" backing plate..

I have to mind the edges more because I am running direct drive and keep the rpms down but it works fast for me..

Any other machine as has been already suggested, will work too !

And you know that Flex offers smaller backing plates now - however, I have never used anything but the 4-7/16" diameter backing plate and 5" pads on it..

Good luck !
Dan F

I had the flex on speed 4. I couldnt keep it on the mirror housing. It was just too much. I will have to purchase a mini or something.

 

[lawrenceSA]

I had the flex on speed 4. I couldnt keep it on the mirror housing. It was just too much. I will have to purchase a mini or something.

I cannot say this with absolute certainty but I am pretty sure that the paint on mirror housing would be thinner than say on your hood, and secondly, given the generally 'curvy' shape to most mirror housings, you are effectively decreasing the contact area of the pad, thereby increasing cut of the pad/polish combo.

Then add into the equation that these mirror housings are generally plastic, which do not conduct heat as well as metal panels, and in my opinion, you have a recipe for easily striking through the paint.

I would therefore caution against using a big pad, a powerful machine or a aggressive polish when working on these sections.... rather just tread very lightly and proceed with caution....

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I tried to use my flex 3401 on the side marker mirrors and it was too uncontrollable.

The reason you had a hard time controlling the tools is because you're working on a curved/rounded "object" and my guess is you're using 6.5" foam buffing pads. Let me know if this is correct but I'm pretty confident this is the case.

Due to the gear-driven design of the tool and the fact that with the larger diameter pads, if at any time you're buffing on a curved surface with just an edge or outer portion of the pad this is going to feel uncontrollable because of the "walking effect" of the gear-driven oscillating action.

If you held just the center of the pad on any portion of the mirror you would greatly reduce the felt out of round, walking effect that you describe as uncontrollable.

Any tips from the pros?

Yes.

First, don't give up on the tool as it's a great tool. So great in fact that I wrote a dedicated how-to book just for this tool.

Second, do yourself a huge favor and sometime in the future get the Lake Country Backing Plate Adapter Kit so you can get the 4" backing plate and this will allow you to use th 5" Lake Country Hybrid Pads and this combination of backing plate and pads really takes the effectiveness of the Flex 3401 to a higher level.

I strongly recommend this combination in my book too...


How to use the Flex 3401 for Show Car Detailing


:xyxthumbs:

 

[adower]

The reason you had a hard time controlling the tools is because you're working on a curved/rounded "object" and my guess is you're using 6.5" foam buffing pads. Let me know if this is correct but I'm pretty confident this is the case.

Due to the gear-driven design of the tool and the fact that with the larger diameter pads, if at any time you're buffing on a curved surface with just an edge or outer portion of the pad this is going to feel uncontrollable because of the "walking effect" of the gear-driven oscillating action.

If you held just the center of the pad on any portion of the mirror you would greatly reduce the felt out of round, walking effect that you describe as uncontrollable.







Yes.

First, don't give up on the tool as it's a great tool. So great in fact that I wrote a dedicated how-to book just for this tool.

Second, do yourself a huge favor and sometime in the future get the Lake Country Backing Plate Adapter Kit so you can get the 4" backing plate and this will allow you to use th 5" Lake Country Hybrid Pads and this combination of backing plate and pads really takes the effectiveness of the Flex 3401 to a higher level.

I strongly recommend this combination in my book too...


How to use the Flex 3401 for Show Car Detailing


:xyxthumbs:

Hi Mike!

I am actually using the 4" backing plate and 5" pads. If you can use this setup to polish out the back side of mirrors I am guessing my technique is flawed, which means more practice. What speed would you recommend I use on the flex?

 

[adower]

I cannot say this with absolute certainty but I am pretty sure that the paint on mirror housing would be thinner than say on your hood, and secondly, given the generally 'curvy' shape to most mirror housings, you are effectively decreasing the contact area of the pad, thereby increasing cut of the pad/polish combo.

Then add into the equation that these mirror housings are generally plastic, which do not conduct heat as well as metal panels, and in my opinion, you have a recipe for easily striking through the paint.

I would therefore caution against using a big pad, a powerful machine or a aggressive polish when working on these sections.... rather just tread very lightly and proceed with caution....

So would you recommend using something like a rupes mini/griots?

 

[lawrenceSA]

So would you recommend using something like a rupes mini/griots?

IMO, yes.... a smaller machine will definitely help you follow the contours of the mirror housing and keep the pad flatter. This will no only aid in correction ability but will reduce the 'pressure points' where the pad is only making contact with a tiny portion of the surface you are buffing.

I have also found that in comparison to a traditional 8mm throw DA the Flex gets more heat at the working face of the pad (and thus the paint) whereas the traditional DA tends to generate more heat at the velcro backing of the pad.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hi Mike!

I am actually using the 4" backing plate and 5" pads. If you can use this setup to polish out the back side of mirrors I am guessing my technique is flawed, which means more practice. What speed would you recommend I use on the flex?

Just goes to show sometimes my guesses are wrong....


For buffing out a small curved object like a rear view mirror housing using a 5" pad on a flex you want to try to use the middle of the pad on the surfaces of the curved object, not the outer edges or you'll feel the Flex 3401 wanting to walk around on you.

Also, hold the tool close to your body and tighten up your arm, chest, back and leg muscles. This will give you leverage over the tool.

When you hold the tool away from you with extended arms you give the tool leverage over you. This is something I show and teach in all my detailing boot camp classes along with about a zillion other tips and techniques.

I always hear and read people saying to hold the tool loosely.... (any tool) and that might work when you're machine applying a finishing wax to a horizontal panel but that's about the only time. Maybe final polishing.... but again, only on horizontal panels.

 

[adower]

Just goes to show sometimes my guesses are wrong....


For buffing out a small curved object like a rear view mirror housing using a 5" pad on a flex you want to try to use the middle of the pad on the surfaces of the curved object, not the outer edges or you'll feel the Flex 3401 wanting to walk around on you.

Also, hold the tool close to your body and tighten up your arm, chest, back and leg muscles. This will give you leverage over the tool.

When you hold the tool away from you with extended arms you give the tool leverage over you. This is something I show and teach in all my detailing boot camp classes along with about a zillion other tips and techniques.

I always hear and read people saying to hold the tool loosely.... (any tool) and that might work when you're machine applying a finishing wax to a horizontal panel but that's about the only time. Maybe final polishing.... but again, only on horizontal panels.

Thank you for the in site! I am going to order a rupes mini when the black friday deal comes up here. I love the 4" backing plate w/ 5" pad combo that you have recommended in other threads!

We can keep that guess on the hush hush I dont think you've been wrong on here at all.

 

[Crispy]

Here is what I setup. I use a drill chuck hooked up to a flexible shaft mounted in my Rotary Polisher. You can now buy 1", 2" or 3" backing plates and pads. Set the speed low (2-4). The flexible shaft gives great mobility and the small size gives good access. Caution on the speed setting-very small pads heat up very quick so go low speed at first.