So Zach, you're saying you've owned your buffer for a YEAR and not figured out how to get the most out of your paint yet?
That doesn't sound like it's a Meguiar's problem. Sound's like a technique problem.
Really need to know what vehicle that paint is on. No big secret that Porsche black, and Subaru paints are stupidly soft.
The first thing however is "use the least aggressive method" AND "test spot"... can't say that strongly enough!!!!!!! You mentioned the hex logic pad, but was that the only one you used? What pads did you try first? Which pads do you have? Have you been able to remove all your swirls? That's what you'll need to figure out first. Find the method, the pad, the product, the amount of section passes that work. Use THAT to get rid of all the swirls. NOW.... you've got all the swirls removed.
But did that leave you with micromarring / hazing? Could you have used a less aggressive method for removing the swirls? Not saying you can, but on a black car your chances of ending up with micromarring is greater than any other color. (Or at least seeing the micromarring that may be hidden by a light colored paint.)
You may need to tape off your hood into a good 6 sections. Then write down what you are doing to each section. You may use one compound on 2 sections, another on 2 more, and another on 2 more. Change from say a orange pad on one to a white pad on another. Use medium arm pressure and speed on one, maybe medium-hard pressure (but the same speed on the other) but use say machine speed 4.5 on one section and 5.5 on the other. Do no more than 4 or 5 section passes on ALL sections. The reason I say this is you need to figure out what your technique needs to be.
Pads! Get more pads!!! Everything from orange all the way to red. Some paint responds fantastically well to an orange pad (and doesn't micromarr like crazy) wile others want a white pad, or even a black pad. All using the same compound!
I'm not saying you'll be able to compound all the swirls out without micromarring, (probably not with black paint). But you NEED to figure out what you can do, what the least aggressive method is, that gets the results you can live with.
THEN.... and ONLY THEN.... you move to the polishing stage.
Meguiar's has excellent products, although many of the newer ones are SMAT based (which tend to be a bit harder to finish down well on soft black paint). They are GREAT for removing swirls and RIDS, but you'll maybe need to switch to Menzerna 2500 or 4000 to finish with. Then again, you said you have WG TSR 3.0. That's a medium polish, where you may need WG Uber 3.0 to start with a bit more cut. And of course after TSR you'd step up to WG Finishing Glaze 3.0, which despite saying it's a "glaze" is actually a polish.
I can't speak to all of them as I don't have them all. I do know that WG Uber 3.0 has quickly become a favorite for a lot of guys out there.
Bottom line is don't throw in the towel just yet. And speaking of towels.... make sure you are using at least a good 360/365 gsm for wiping down your work. You can find 10 packs of the 365's at Microfiber Tech for pennies compared to what some sites charge for "gold plush" towels, (and they are the same thing).
Work out that technique, write it down, change the speed, or the arm pressure, or the pad. Heck you might use all 6 sections with the same product, just different technique on each one. You'll be surprised at just how little, how BIG a difference it'll make. :xyxthumbs:
