This past weekend, at my detail training, I used a rotary for the first time. The trainers advised us to slightly lift the pad to one side when buffing because when holding the pad flat to the surface the rotary will tend to walk. When I tried to hold the pad flat the buffer most certainly did want to walk on me. However when I did as advised I had more control. I just purchased the AG online video with Mike Phillips demonstrating some tips on the use of a rotary. In his video he was holding the pad flat and it was not walking on him. How do you keep the pad flat on the surface and maintain control of the buffer? I would rather keep the entire pad flat than lift it to one side.
Rotary Buffer Question
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93fox
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- Dec 25, 2010
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Center the pad 100% correctly. This is key. If the pad is off a bit then yes it will hop and do its own thing. But center it 100% in the middle to the backing plate and that will never happen. One other thing, the smaller the pad the easier it is to control. I use 5.5 inch pads on my rotary and its a breeze to control. Where was this training at that you took?
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Detail King. I've seen others do this as well. However that seems to be an inefficient use of the pad but when I held the pad flat it did want to walk. The pad was perfectly centered on the rotary. It wasn't a hook and loop interface, the way the pad snapped onto the rotary it couldn't be anything but centered perfectly.
CleanGene
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- Nov 26, 2010
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My friend, I'm afraid the trainers advised you wrong. You should try to keep your pad as flat to the surface as possible to prevent uneven pressure on the pad which can and usually does lead to holograms. The only time you may ever so slightly lift your pad to one side is at the end of a pass to get it moving in the opposite direction and even then it's not necessary. At the right pace, a rotary can be easily managed. It's usually when people go to fast that they have problems controlling them. Start slow and get comfortable with the machine and speed will come.
Bates Detailing
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Practice! Lots of practice! Please learn to hold the pad flat - better results will come :dblthumb2:
AeroCleanse
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I find it best to tip the buffer slightly, while making sure all the pad is in contact.
Bates Detailing
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When I train my guys it baffles me why they cant quite grasp the rotary (I'll never be a professional teacher lol) But then I realize that I have been doing it so long that I just know my makita. Once you do it enough you will easily feel where the rotary is going and be able to control it with ease. Another thing - try a wool pad.... way easier to control than a foam pad at first IMO.
WRAPT C5Z06
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There's DEFINITELY a learning curve with a rotary. I tried for a short time to learn, but didn't have the patience. It's not easy to master and you have to deal with holograms. Maybe sometime in the future I'll go back to it.
oldmodman
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That's what I did. When Mike was here on the west coast he suggested getting a junk yard hood and using it as a practice piece.
It was invaluable. I was able to learn control of the rotary. Plus I was able to see how much correction each type of compound and pad would produce. And how much was needed to burn through the clear. I also got a good feel for how to use my paint thickness meter.
And after I had turned that hood into a disaster I used it to learn how to use spray can clear to fix both small and big problems.
Get a hood and some saw horses to put it on then have a ball.
Kristopher1129
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- Jan 3, 2011
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I know everyone likes to say that you're supposed to hold the pad flat. I rarely hold my pad flat, and never get holograms. I actually find it puzzling that everyone is saying to keep it flat. You're supposed to tilt slightly.
I find it's much easier to maneuver. I'm gonna have to agree with your trainers on this one. The buffer will want to walk if you hold it completely flat.
Of course it won't every single time. But, it will have a tendency to want to take off in all directions at higher speeds if held flat.
It's basically just a learning curve with a rotary. You'll know when to tilt, and when not to. It all depends. There's no real answer to this. Sometimes you have to tilt it...sometimes you don't.
I find it's much easier to maneuver. I'm gonna have to agree with your trainers on this one. The buffer will want to walk if you hold it completely flat.
Of course it won't every single time. But, it will have a tendency to want to take off in all directions at higher speeds if held flat.
It's basically just a learning curve with a rotary. You'll know when to tilt, and when not to. It all depends. There's no real answer to this. Sometimes you have to tilt it...sometimes you don't.
Wendell Jarvis
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:xyxthumbs: I agree....wool pads work great.........but its a technique for sure with a rotary, but I love the end results it produces, like no other machine in my opinion .
Mike Phillips
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I would agree with the above statement.
Anytime you can hold the pad flat to the surface you should hold the pad flat to the surface. There are sections of panels that the only way they can be buffed wit a larger pad is to hold the pad on edge at an angle.
Couple of tips,
Clean your pad often. Rotary buffers can remove a lot of paint quickly and this shows up as a residue on the face of your pad and this residue is usually gummy or caked-up and it will make controlling your pad more difficult. There's a way to use a terry cloth towel to clean your pad on the fly, I show this in all our classes but don't have a video of it.
Pad Washers work great too...
The System 2000 Pad Washer is for the most part best at cleaning wool pads with rotary buffers and it does a great job! If you're going to do a lot of compounding with wool pads and rotary buffers you need a System 2000 Pad Washer.
The Grit Guard Pad Washer
Shrink your pad size down when you're first starting to learn the way of the rotary buffer, if you look at the pictures from this class I had most everyone practicing with flexible backing plates and 5.5" foam pads.
Pictures & Comments from May 14th, 2011 Saturday Detailing 101
Larry loves the Flex PE14 with a 7.5" Wool Cutting Pad and a Solo Flexible Backing Plate
Frank in the two pictures below was actually very good with the rotary buffer, you could tell he's been using an RB for decade as he made it look so easy...
That's a Flexi-Foam 5" Backing Plate with a 5.5" Hydro-Tech Crimson Pad... I highly recommend flexible backing plates, especially if you're new to the rotary buffer.
Look for products with good lubricity. Some products buff easier than others, an example are the Optimum Hyper-Compound and Hyper-Polish also the Meguiar's M205, any of the Menzerna polishes, both the Wolfgang Twins and the Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover and Finishing Polish.
Lots of info in this thread...
New Flex PE14 - How to use ONLY a rotary buffer to finish out hologram free?
I show guys to hold the polisher close to their body as this way you have more leverage over the polisher, as soon as you start extending your arms you loose leverage.
Kevin Brown
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- Apr 11, 2009
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Someday, we'll have to meet at Meguiar's. I'll guide you along... you've proven yourself to be a loyal "paint polisher".
Or, you could start with 4" pads, then eventually step up to 5", and so on. This will allow you to slowly get used to how the pad is affected by panel shape, user input, machine speed, paint polishes, etc.
Or, just use one of these instead of a "typical" backing plate:
Kevin Brown
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Oh, that's funny.
I just saw the post above mine from Mike Phillips saying to use smaller pads... sorry Mike! :doh:
We think alike on this...
rops:
I just saw the post above mine from Mike Phillips saying to use smaller pads... sorry Mike! :doh:
We think alike on this...
rops:
master detailer
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- Nov 9, 2010
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let the buffer do the work dont push down on it.This is when it will go from side to side also when the pad has to much comp on it. it will want to go side to side .Clean pads when your just starting out is the best.Its all in how you balance the buffer.Just like a floor buffer.flat is the best but you can tilt it just dont push down on it.Also use small amount of comp its will help alot.If its not working this way go to a lower grit comp.
Mike Phillips
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Oh, that's funny.
I just saw the post above mine from Mike Phillips saying to use smaller pads... sorry Mike! :doh:
We think alike on this...
Smaller pads and flexible backing plates are perfect for people new to the rotary buffer. So is a junker car or a trunk lid or hood off a car to practice on before tackling something important.
One thing about working with smaller pads, especially 3" and 4" pads and FULL SIZE rotary buffers... the buffer can be kind of tippy so if a person is new to the rotary buffer and using these really small pads to focus on the task at hand, that is pay attention.
My definition of tippy...
Tippy = having a large rotary buffer elevated over and with pressure on a pad with a small footprint. If you're not careful it can be easy to make a mistake.
Small pads do have their place... that's why I really like this thread, it shows where to use small pads and where to use large pads...Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover
We could even work on the hairpins for the front suspension...
The major panels were buffed using a Makita 9227C Rotary Buffer using a double sided wool cutting pad and XMT Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound. After this step a foam polishing pad with Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover was used to remove the compounding swirls left by the XMT #4 Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound. Note that XMT #4 Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound is a very, very aggressive compound and should only be used for serious correction work.
This was cool too...
Rick's 1932 Ford Highboy
[video=youtube_share;YKDmRrRoZCE]- 1932 Ford Highboy Burnout[/video]