Rupes 2" Blue Pad on Nano short neck with coarse compound

[Crispy]

Set up the Nano with the 12mm Orbital tool and 2" Blue Pad. Applied 3 small smudges of blue compound on unprimed pad. Speed setting 4 to test. I did 5 section passes on the barrels of the wheel. The pad was very dirty so I cleaned with microfiber. Did the wheel in 4 sections. The pad was beat up pretty bad. The edges are frayed and the surface looks like it was chewed up by a metal brush. The surface was sanded with 1500 grit paper so was really testing the Nano's ability not the pad. Is this normal for open cell pads? Is it a function of the 2" size? Be nice to know. By the way the polisher is a dream to work with on this application.

 

[Rsurfer]

I take it that the blue Nano pad is the same as the standard blue Rupes pad. Cuts great, but no durability. I would imagine even worse on a smaller pad working around edges and curves,

 

[Crispy]

That would seem to be the case. I think the little pads are like $9.00 each so that can't be good. I tried a 2" LC CC and it did not degrade near as much. I will keep trying different combos just to get experience.

 

[Crispy]

Today tried the 1" Blue Pad with coarse compound speed 1-2 rotary tool on complete rim. Wet sanded 1200 grit on freshly painted barrel and old face (not sanded). I was careful to avoid polishing on the edge of the pad (lots of tight spots). On the face turned out great doing 4 section passes ( still getting lots of sling but think it is because tool is not in complete contact all the time). On the barrels did in 4 sections. Completely removed sanding marks after only 4 section passes (very impressive). Whole project took about 1.5hrs. Very pleased and the blue pad was much less tattered than the first time (that one I had to toss).

 

[Rsurfer]

Appears that you are getting the hang of using this tool.