MarkD51
Active member
- Oct 15, 2012
- 3,130
- 0
Mike/All,
I didn't want to somehow taint your other most recent thread with questions about some thoughts I've been having about Rotary Polisher use, but thought might be wise to ask these questions in another thread.
Yes, I have some caution, and some fears with Rotary useage, as I have done 2 of your horror stories mentioned, once burned through an edge on a rear quarter (thank God it was a beater, and the owner didn't much care) and the other is of course the common hologram trails.
I myself had troubles when "not playing it safe", meaning I was treading into unknown territory with quite heavy duty polishes, and compounds. When I used mild Polishes, mild Cleaner AIO's, or Glazes, no problem.
In the olden days, I would attempt mild polishes with good success, but I knew well not to go overboard with such, even if some mild holograms were left behind. Back then, I concluded "better to be safe than sorry", and would usually follow up after "light-mild" Rotary use with a Waxcoa Orbital to finesse the finish further in what I felt was a safer fashion. This seemed in virtually all cases to then remove what small amount of holograms were left behind, and as well evened the finish out.
Of course back then, who had a paint gauge, and although such is used today by many smart-accomplished professionals, I am well aware that a master detailer will also have good experience in knowing how to read paint. Those last two words I mention are of course paramount to being an expert, reading paint.
Glazes, I never had trouble with, those were never a problem to me.
But as for polishes, I know the abrasives in such can cut paint quite quickly. Back then (I'm talking 30-35 years ago) we usually only had wool, or polyester pads the size of basketballs!
We have come quite a long way since, but still, there is always room for disasters, and horror stories, no matter what the tools, or products in an arsenal.
So, let me ask this simple question Mike/All:
Is there any harm-foul of not going ape with a rotary, to not knock oneself out with trying to finesse-jewel paint with a rotary to the nth degree all by it's own?
Can one say to oneself, that, "OK, the paint still looks a bit marred, a little dull, I can see some Holograms, and unevenness of finish, but let's stop here at this point with the rotary and polishes"? In other words, one is not totally "perfecting" the finish by Rotary alone, to not even perhaps try to accomplish such with Rotary? Especially too if-when one has a DA in their Tool arsenal.
And then move onto the DA to futher finish-refine the paint in a more safer-user friendly fashion?
The whole thing in a nutshell I guess I'm trying to get at, and perhaps can answer some of my own questions, that yes, such would be OK, to ultimately consider that "less is more", to do the least amount of paint removal in the paint perfecting process to get the job done, and no more.
Many of us, such as myself, were "self taught". Seen a couple guys buffing at the dealer when I was a kid, and said to myself "Oh, that's easy, I can do that"! LOL Yeah, right. There are pitfalls for sure, and we probably all will fall into those at some point with enough experiences as time passes.
I know for sure, once Rotary gets placed into hands, this is an entirely different animal than a DA. Key considerations-attributes, are wisdom, time, and patience for sure!
Mark
I didn't want to somehow taint your other most recent thread with questions about some thoughts I've been having about Rotary Polisher use, but thought might be wise to ask these questions in another thread.
Yes, I have some caution, and some fears with Rotary useage, as I have done 2 of your horror stories mentioned, once burned through an edge on a rear quarter (thank God it was a beater, and the owner didn't much care) and the other is of course the common hologram trails.
I myself had troubles when "not playing it safe", meaning I was treading into unknown territory with quite heavy duty polishes, and compounds. When I used mild Polishes, mild Cleaner AIO's, or Glazes, no problem.
In the olden days, I would attempt mild polishes with good success, but I knew well not to go overboard with such, even if some mild holograms were left behind. Back then, I concluded "better to be safe than sorry", and would usually follow up after "light-mild" Rotary use with a Waxcoa Orbital to finesse the finish further in what I felt was a safer fashion. This seemed in virtually all cases to then remove what small amount of holograms were left behind, and as well evened the finish out.
Of course back then, who had a paint gauge, and although such is used today by many smart-accomplished professionals, I am well aware that a master detailer will also have good experience in knowing how to read paint. Those last two words I mention are of course paramount to being an expert, reading paint.
Glazes, I never had trouble with, those were never a problem to me.
But as for polishes, I know the abrasives in such can cut paint quite quickly. Back then (I'm talking 30-35 years ago) we usually only had wool, or polyester pads the size of basketballs!
We have come quite a long way since, but still, there is always room for disasters, and horror stories, no matter what the tools, or products in an arsenal.
So, let me ask this simple question Mike/All:
Is there any harm-foul of not going ape with a rotary, to not knock oneself out with trying to finesse-jewel paint with a rotary to the nth degree all by it's own?
Can one say to oneself, that, "OK, the paint still looks a bit marred, a little dull, I can see some Holograms, and unevenness of finish, but let's stop here at this point with the rotary and polishes"? In other words, one is not totally "perfecting" the finish by Rotary alone, to not even perhaps try to accomplish such with Rotary? Especially too if-when one has a DA in their Tool arsenal.
And then move onto the DA to futher finish-refine the paint in a more safer-user friendly fashion?
The whole thing in a nutshell I guess I'm trying to get at, and perhaps can answer some of my own questions, that yes, such would be OK, to ultimately consider that "less is more", to do the least amount of paint removal in the paint perfecting process to get the job done, and no more.
Many of us, such as myself, were "self taught". Seen a couple guys buffing at the dealer when I was a kid, and said to myself "Oh, that's easy, I can do that"! LOL Yeah, right. There are pitfalls for sure, and we probably all will fall into those at some point with enough experiences as time passes.
I know for sure, once Rotary gets placed into hands, this is an entirely different animal than a DA. Key considerations-attributes, are wisdom, time, and patience for sure!
Mark
