Makita PO5000C which pads and product?

Jeroen1000 · Sep 22, 2019

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here. I've been polishing with a Meguiars G220v2 DA. On my new VW, using DFC5 cutting pads and Ultimate polish seems to do little for the swirls the dealer so kindly installed on my car for no extra charge. On my Honda, this combination removed them with ease even when using the compound on a polishing pad (no need for a cutting pad).

But just recently, my Meg's polisher broke down so I got a Makita gear driven polisher last week. My idea was to use the Meg's DA microfiber correction system, which includes a whool pad and a wax, polish and compound. But that was before I had the Makita. Now I read some recommend thin pads for it, some say thick pads...I'm a bit lost on what to use on the Makita.

Seeing the Makita is more powerful, I might not need whool pads or other products at all This leaves me with too many options

- Should I get the Meg's polishing pads and use the products I have and step it up to a cutting pad if required.
- Are there beter suited pads and should I get a whool pad right away?
- The Meg's pads might be grabby making the Makita hard to control?

Any guidance would great be appreciated. I really want to tackle the swirls!

Jeroen1000 · Sep 23, 2019

Alright, I did some research to the best of my knowledge and I came up with this list:

Menzerna One-Step Polish 3in1
Menzerna Super Finish 3500
Menzerna Heavy Cut Compound 400
Uro-Cell Red Finishing Foam Pad - 6 (x 4)
Uro-Cell Orange Polishing Foam Pad - (6 x 4)
Uro-Fiber Pad - 5" x 2
Uro-Fiber Finisher Pad 5" x 2
Gummi Pflege Rubber Care Stick 100ml

I think I still need something to clean the rubbers before I apply the rubber care stick.
And I might also need 3" pads to use with this backing plate Flex Flex steunschijf voor XFE 7-12 75mm | Carclean.com. Too bad the URO-cell pads do not come in 3" size...

But in the grand scheme of things

1) I would first use the Super Finish 3500 on the foam finishing pad and if needed on the foam cutting pad and check for remaining swirls.
Then I suppose I should resort to the fiber pads and check if that helps.

If swirls remain:
2) ditto to (1) but with the one-step polish
Then as a last resort:
3) ditto to (1) but with the heavy Cut Compound 400

Mike Phillips · Sep 23, 2019

Jeroen1000 said:
Now I read some recommend thin pads for it, some say thick pads...I'm a bit lost on what to use on the Makita.

Here's the deal, with any gear-driven orbital, the tool is going to rotate and oscillate the pads no matter how thin or thick they are. The tool does not care.

The "factor" that will care is you and my experience is with gear-driven tools, a thicker pad feels more comfortable to buff with as you move over curved body panels than thin pads.

It is true, a thinner pad will transfer the "oscillating action" to the surface of the paint better than a thick pad but this is mostly an important factor when doing correction work and your choice of pad and product are more important than thin pad versus thick pad.

So if it were me, I would opt for pads like the B&S Uro-Tech or the Buff & Shine SDO or HDO, or heck just about quality pad is going to work with this tool as long as you're using the right "type" of pad for the process you're trying to accomplish. By this I man,

Cutting pad for correction work
Polishing pad for polishing work
Finishing pad for finishing or machine applying a wax or sealant.

As for product, as long as you stick with products that use GREAT abrasive technology you'll get great results. If you use products that use crap for abrasive technology you'll bet micro-marring. It's that simple.

Mike Phillips · Sep 23, 2019

Some info here that might help you, it's my review from 2017

Review: Makita PO5000C Orbital Polisher - Gear-driven and Free Spinning - Mike Phillips

Makita PO5000C Orbital Polisher

First thank you to all the fine staff at Makita for trusting Autogeek to test the prototype for this tool back in 2014 and again to launch the final production version here in 2017!

Intersteting backstory was Makita asked me to put together a team of people to test out their prototype. For this test they brought over 2 Engineers from Japan and a Translator.

Here's some history behind the development of this new Makita orbital polish....

Back in the spring of 2014, Autogeek was contacted by Makita and we were asked if we could put together of team of experienced detailers to test out a prototype of this tool. We were told there would be 2 Makita Enineers from Japan plus an Interrupter to translate English to Japanese plus two staff from Makita, so a 5-person team in all from Makita.

Because I would need a LARGE vehicle in HORRIBLE condition to create the perfect testing vehicle for the team of detailers to put this prototype through some rigours testing, just by chance my good buddy Mike Gelter had a 1940 Ford Panel Delivery Streetrod for sale and in dire need of an extreme show car makeover.

This turned out to be the perfect testing vehicle as it was,

Large
All swirled out
Cool

All of the guys had to sign disclosure stating they would keep the tool, the test and all related information top secret. While I have pictures of the prototype being tested by all the guys, I could not include them in the original write-up so all you'll see in the original write-up is the before and after pictures of the 1940 Ford Panel Delivery Streetrod.

Here's the link to that write up dated September of 2014

Pictures: 1940 Ford Panel Delivery - Secret Project

To keep the identity of the Makita staff, the interpreter and the Engineers secret, I took the below photos and replaced their faces with the face of Ivan, our company cartoon logo...

Here's the original....

Here's a cropped out section of the team from Makita....

And because I save all the pictures from our projects here at Autogeek, here's the original....

And here's the team from Makita!
(not including the guy in the blue shirt in the background)

Car Detailing History at Autogeek!

:dblthumb2:

Mike Phillips · Sep 23, 2019

And for what it's worth, I've never seen any other online detailer not only get the people for prototype tool testing but also DOCUMENT the project and the project was not only incredibly cool but a REAL STEEL 1940 Ford Panel Delivery is incredibly RARE.

And we let a team of people work on some guys cool streetrod. This type of stuff either never happens anywhere else or the people in charge never document it like I do and the documentation provides education and that leads to sales for Autogeek but more important, problem solving for those trying to figure out what to buy for their own detailing arsenal. Win/Win/Win/Win

BEFORE

Inspecting using artificial light
And here's some pictures I took after moving this streetrod into our garage using florescent lights and swirl finder lights.