Recommendation for wool pad on a DA

Edi25

Edi25

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Pretty much not getting enough cut on my flex 3401 I need something heavier I'm looking for wool pad to pair it up with I have in hand the factory backing plate and 4inch backing plate
Thanks !


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Have you tried microfiber cutting pads? I am amazed at the level of cut with MF pads and my Rupes 15.
 
Honestly wool doesn’t play well with a “DA” style machine IME. I feel wool is meant for a rotary style machine. There are some specialized wool pad for da machines but I have no experience with them. Perhaps post what you are working on and trying to accomplish so you can get some refined suggestions. The 3401 is a powerful machine and with the right foam pad and mechanical abrasive can pretty much handle anything.
 
maybe lawrenceSA will chime in, there's quite a few of his write-ups where he uses a wool pad on his flex 3401...
 
The 3401 doesn’t quite match the cutting power of todays long throw polishers. I was in the same boat, trying everything to get both my 3401’s to perform better. Your best bet would be the LC Blue foamed wool and LC Force Grey pad along with something like Scholl Concepts S2 Orange, Menzerna 300, Mothers HD Rubbing Compound etc.
 
I don't have a Flex 3401 but I get excellent results on my GG6 with LC thin foamed wool pads.
 
Just to chime in...

When I need more cut and don't want to use a rotary, I throw a traditional rotary buffer wool pad on my FLEX and go to town...

The fibers of a wool pad on a gear-driven orbital polisher are going to micro-mar the paint but that's the trade-off for MORE cut from this type of tool.

Here's a full write-up where I shared this...

How to restore a Barn Find - 1969 Ford Thunderbird - #7 Rub Out + FLEX = 3D products


7.5" Lake Country Wool Pad on a FLEX 3401

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There is so much how-to information in this write-up. I could turn it into a how-to book.

How to restore a Barn Find - 1969 Ford Thunderbird - #7 Rub Out + FLEX = 3D products


Try to find this much info in a FB post...


:laughing:
 
Here's another example...

Just SONAX Cut Max with a wool pad on a FLEX 3401 - 1940 Pontiac 5-Window Coupe


The paint on this old 2-door Pontiac was SO HARD and the scratches were SO DEEP that a foam cutting pad was just making them shiny. So I switched to wool on the FLEX 3401

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This is an aggressive compound using top notch abrasive technology and this is what I'm talking about when I say it's all about the abrasive technology.


Next up... SONAX Cut & Finish with a LC Hybrid foam polishing pad on the FLEX 3401.


On Autogeek.com

SONAX CutMax Cutting Compound 1000 ml --> In the pictures

SONAX CutMax Cutting Compound 250 ml

6.5 inch 50/50 Wool Acrylic Polishing Pad

6.5 inch 50/50 Wool Acrylic Polishing Pad - 3 Pack

Flex XC 3401 VRG Dual Action Orbital Polisher


:)
 
In addition to Mike's suggestions, what about some of the LC Thin Pro pads? The orange pad seems more aggressive than the Flat pads of the same color and the gray pad is really aggressive. The extra working ability of the thinner pads may be an alternative to MF or wool.
 
Mike P nailed my experience with wool pads on my Flex 3401. Because of its direct gear driven drive I treat it like my rotary and have never had a problem with forcing some aggression with it. It'll spin anything and at any speed for me.
 
Thank you everyone and thank you mike! I'm currently at work but when I get chance I'm going read the articles
At the moment all I have in my arsenal as far flex pads are force pads.
I tried microfiber on the flex but it just didn't seem to like it plus a lot the spot and trying get the extra cut are really curvy angles and thin pads and microfiber just don't cut for me since there so thin I don't want hit the car with the backing plate
I ended ordering some purple wool pads and the thin wool to see what I like
All check back in few days for anyone that wondering if it helped out


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Edi25 said:
I tried microfiber on the flex but it just didn't seem to like it
Click to expand...


Been there done that...

Direct drive or gear-driven orbitals (and rotary buffers for that matter too), don't like or play well with thin pads. All the microfiber pads on the market today are [in context] thin.

Lake Country used to have a microfiber pad with about a 3/4" foam backing and these worked out "okay" but not enough to ever get me to use a MF pad on a gear driven orbital. Machine buffing out cars for hours is already a lot of work, I tend to avoid doing things that make a lot of work even more work.


:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
Been there done that...

Direct drive or gear-driven orbitals (and rotary buffers for that matter too), don't like or play well with thin pads. All the microfiber pads on the market today are [in context] thin.

Lake Country used to have a microfiber pad with about a 3/4" foam backing and these worked out "okay" but not enough to ever get me to use a MF pad on a gear driven orbital. Machine buffing out cars for hours is already a lot of work, I tend to avoid doing things that make a lot of work even more work.


:)
Click to expand...

Yes! I felt the buffing cycle really rough and I felt like my microfiber was getting destroyed as I was buffing it just didn't feel I guess
Natural
Lesson learn !
Thanks again mike and by the way a lot ur articles have helped me out when ever I felt stuck detailing.very informative thank you for what you do .


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Has anyone tried the cool wool pads on the 3401. The fibers are only about 1/4" long so they are fairly stiff, I would think they would give incredible cut on that machine. I bought a couple before I got rid of my 3401. I haven't tried them on a long throw. I may have given them away. If I still have them I would be happy to send them to someone with a 3401 to try if anyone is interested.

Just saw Mike's post about thin pads. These are thin pads so you may want to run an innerflex when using them...
 
DaveT435 said:
Has anyone tried the cool wool pads on the 3401. The fibers are only about 1/4" long so they are fairly stiff, I would think they would give incredible cut on that machine. I bought a couple before I got rid of my 3401. I haven't tried them on a long throw. I may have given them away. If I still have them I would be happy to send them to someone with a 3401 to try if anyone is interested.
Click to expand...

Help a brother out Lol


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