Pads

[gizzsdad]

I recently used my new Griot's G9 for the first time, also my first time machine polishing. I was using the Boss thin (5 1/2 inch) correcting pads, and as long as I stayed on flat panels - all was great. But when I came to ridges, body lines and curved surfaces, the contact area became much smaller, and I had hard time keeping the pad from stopping/stalling.

I was using speed 2 to spread the material (AIO), and 5-6 to finish. Would thicker pads help me maintain full contact, especially on the door panels with concave, convex and complex curves? Or do I just need more practice or better technique?

 

[Juanito805]

Maybe a spongier (or slightly smaller) pad can get you into those harder to reach to areas - just be sure it fits well in your machine. Sometimes hand polishing is the best or last resort, depending on the part.

Sent from my SM-G988U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Bruno Soares]

With better technique you can get it to still work but most will resort to also having a 3" polisher (in my case, the G8) or you just use a forced rotation (Flex) which will spin no matter how little of the pad is in contact with the surface. The longer the throw, the more stalling you'll see when the pad is not even on the surface. The G9 shouldn't be terrible once you get some more time behind it.

 

[PaulMys]

Curved surfaces take some technique like Bruno stated above.

But, try NOT to buff on "ridges or body lines".

The clear coat is already thin, but even thinner on sharp edges like these, and if you're not careful you can easily burn through the clear.

Luckily, and as you have found out, the free-spinning machines stall on these making them all the more safe to use for beginners.

 

[gizzsdad]

Thanks guys!