Mike Phillips recommended foam pads for the FLEX Family of BEAST 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers

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Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN said:
Mike, thank you so much for writing this. I just got my BEAST today and you wrote this just on time for me as I am researching pads for my beast and hoped you'd have a reccomended list!

Truthfully I'm leaning towards the Rupes yellow pads to start with for my one step corrections, but all of the other pads look quite interesting as well!

I can't wait to add these pads to my collection, as well as some extra backing plates!

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Don't take my word as any expert advice, as I only have a single use to base my opinion, but it might be useful to some extent. The Rupes yellow "fine" D-A polishing pad is a tick on the firm side compared to the Meguiar's pads that I am more familiar with.

While it's a good starting point choice for an AIO, I'd also have some of the white "extra fine" D-A polishing pads on-hand to try out. At least that is my plan for my next AIO project, along with some 7" Meguiar's Soft Buff 2.0s.

You can see more of my initial thoughts on the Rupes D-A pads here (starting with post #6)... RUPES Mille Review by 2black1s (autogeekonline.net)

Have fun with your new Flex. I'm really liking my new Rupes Mille so far. I really don't know why I waited so long for a Forced Rotation Orbital. Well yes I do, but that's another story.
 
Thank you! any info helps. I am not doing any heavy correction right now just one step, still new to detailing but getting better. That's why my questions are very basic.
 
Rupes new yellow pad makes me feel like a pro sometimes! :D Such balance that makes my machine run even smoother over the panel then other pads - free spinning DA - and very nice rich color. Because i like the pad so much i will be picking up their new yellow polish. After watching some of Rupes polishing videos for the first time the last few weeks i realized i was already following a lot of their polishing style has well, due to other people in detailing. I might be a new fanboy. :D
 
2black1s said:
The Rupes yellow "fine" D-A polishing pad is a tick on the firm side compared to the Meguiar's pads that I am more familiar with.

While it's a good starting point choice for an AIO, I'd also have some of the white "extra fine" D-A polishing pads on-hand to try out.
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I'd say your description is accurate.


The yellow RUPES foam "polishing" pads, have always been a tick coarser than most other brands of "polishing" foam pads.

Their white foam finishing pads have also been a tick firmer and even coarser than most other brands of foam "finishing" pads.


It's important to know the above. RUPES foam pads the old models and now the new models are great foam pads but you need to know and understand the unique characteristics of both the yellow and white foam formulas.

The yellow, because it's a tick coarser and firmer than most polishing pads, even after it gets wet with product, makes a great pad for doing one-step production detailing with products like BF One Step. On softer paints you may be able to get enough correction out of the RUPES white foam finishing pads. You won't know until you do a Test Spot.


At the same time, their NEW white foam finishing pad is firm enough, and coarse enough that it will not work on stupid soft paints.

How do I know? I tried to use the new white foam finishing pads on some stupid soft paint. The pad itself left marring. So I switched over the the other brand of foam pads I recommend in this article, the Buff and Shine pads.


See here,

Barn Find - 1950 Pontiac Chieftain Deluxe Convertible - Extreme Paint Correction


From post #4



Begin excerpt


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First Test Spot

For the first test spot I used a popular AIO and while it easily removed the swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation it also left micro-marring in the paint. The results from this Test Spot told me not only was the paint soft it was STUPID SOFT. I don't use the term stupid soft to describe paint unless it's accurate. This paint was so soft that even using a great AIO with a super soft foam "finishing" pad, there was still micro-marring being left in the paint.



Second Test Spot

For my second test spot I remember that RUPES had recently introduced a brand new ultra finishing polish called UNO 1 PURE. This product was specifically formulated for super soft, finicky and sticky paints. I wouldn't call the paint on this 1950 Pontiac finicky or sticky but it definitely qualifies as super soft.

I tested the RUPES polish with a Buff & Shine 7" Uro-Tec soft white foam finishing pads. Together, the RUPES ULTRA fine polish and this softest foam pad formula in the Buff & Shine line-up, this is about as non-aggressive as you can get and still have enough cutting or abrading ability to actually remove the swirls and scratches.


RESULTS

This combo did the trick. It removed the majority of swirls and scratches without leaving any micro-marring behind. After PROVING my system, I then proceeded to machine buff the entire car after doing a waterless wash with SONAX Glass Cleaner and claying the paint with Pinnacle Ultra Fine Detailing Clay.


Pictures - Paint Correction

Barn_Find_1950_Pontiac_023.JPG




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End of excerpt






Think.

If I'm using the RUPES Ultra Fine Polish on this stupid soft paint... why wouldn't I have also used the RUPES white foam finishing pad?


I've already stated I LIKE this design, that is the new RUPES CP Foam Pads or Contour Profile Foam Pads. So why would I have NOT used the correlating pads with the RUPES polish?


The answer?


Because the RUPES white foam finishing pads are not as soft as most foam finishing pads and the pads themselves were leaving pad haze in the paint.



So I switched to the Buff and Shine equivalent. And is my norm - I included not only a full photo-documentation of the work but also the tools, pads and products used.

Barn_Find_1950_Pontiac_083.JPG


Barn_Find_1950_Pontiac_087.JPG





After re-visiting the above write-up, heck there's enough information in this ONE write-up to write a how-to book. Could never do this on Facebook or Instagram. :laughing:


Barn Find - 1950 Pontiac Chieftain Deluxe Convertible - Extreme Paint Correction




Point being, the new RUPES yellow and white foam pads in both 7" and 6" are GREAT foam pads but like all things, they have a spectrum or work they can accomplish and a spectrum of work they cannot accomplish. And this is why you need a variety of pads from different manufactures to...

Get the job done...

Re-visit the first page of this thread to see the variety of pads I included in this article to - help you round out your pad collection so no matter what you're working on - you have enough of the right pads to tackle anything.


And that's how I roll. I don't just type for the moment... I type for the future. And when I discover new pads or better pads for the BEAST family of FLEX tools I'll update this thread.



:)
 
Mike, isn't this a single stage vs bc/cc issue more than just a foam pad issue?
 
DUBL0WS6 said:
Mike, isn't this a single stage vs bc/cc issue more than just a foam pad issue?
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Yes.

There's a number of factors that affect or determine the right pad for the job or more specifically, the right pad for the paint.


Some single stage paints are very hard. For example single stage white paint. The reason why is because when it comes to single stage paint you're buffing on a mixture of the paint, which is technically RESIN and the pigment, which is blended into the resin. The resin has a certain softness or hardness as does they type of pigment.

This is why it's never a good idea to generalize about paint hardness or paint softness but instead, do a Test Spot and let the Test Spot be your guide as to how to process via pad, tool and product.


Here's a recent example of soft paint - and this write-up alone could be a small how-to book it's packed with so much information.

Barn Find - 1950 Pontiac Chieftain Deluxe Convertible - Extreme Paint Correction



Here's a recent example of hard paint and this is a MODERN single stage urethane in white.

2006 Toyota Sequoia - Comet Wash - Extreme Makeover - BLACKFIRE One Step




Same thing goes for basecoat/clearcoat paint. While GENERALLY SPEAKING modern basecoat/clearcoat paint systems are harder than old school single stage paints - there are exceptions. I know many seasoned and experienced detailers will tend to agree that historically Honda's have soft paint. At least these cars don't have a history for being known to have hard paint.

Also - in my experience, Audi's tend to have hard paint BUT - I experience some Audi's that have very soft paint.


Audi Soft Paint - Making Generalizations about Hardness and Softness



So yeah, how any pad, product, tool and even technique will work on any given car depends on the paint.


:)
 
I realize this thread is quite old now, but I am wondering if the pad selections are still relevant in 2024? Particularly concerning the CBEAST? thanks for any info.
 
Wicked Westie said:
I realize this thread is quite old now, but I am wondering if the pad selections are still relevant in 2024? Particularly concerning the CBEAST? thanks for any info.
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Forced rotation from what I can gather likes a thicker pad.

The Lake Country Force Hybrids seem to still be the go to.


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Coatingsarecrack said:
Forced rotation from what I can gather likes a thicker pad.
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Is that the way you look at it? I always looked at it as the machine didn't get bogged down by a thick pad, so you could use thick pads which allows you to use the edge for tight spaces. I was just saying to someone else, that was the great thing when I got my Flex was that all those old thick 7" rotary pads that they were selling for PC's 20 years ago that were useless on those machines, were perfect for the Flex.
 
here's another option which will help protect against any damage caused from the backing plate...
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Is that the way you look at it? I always looked at it as the machine didn't get bogged down by a thick pad, so you could use thick pads which allows you to use the edge for tight spaces. I was just saying to someone else, that was the great thing when I got my Flex was that all those old thick 7" rotary pads that they were selling for PC's 20 years ago that were useless on those machines, were perfect for the Flex.
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Well these pads were made specifically for forced rotation. I think thinner ones were getting blown out by the heat and never heard anyone talk about that being the reason but who knows.

I know Mike mentions using the side but I’ll stick with my mini polishers personally


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Thanks guys. I use the force pads for my BEAST, but it has been some time since I lurked around the forums. Was just curious if these were still recommended.
 
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