Tiger Stripes After Polishing?

Well, I gave her another whirl. Picked up the softest pad I could find, and used some meguiars ultimate compound... Results are about as good as it's gonna get for this paint..

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There's a little before and after. The far side has been buffed.

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And there's a pretty decent shot of the after side

I should have gotten a real close up of the paint. The metallic is fantastic! Love this color personally...
 
backlash2032 said:
Well, I gave her another whirl. Picked up the softest pad I could find, and used some meguiars ultimate compound... Results are about as good as it's gonna get for this paint..
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If you finished it with UC and didn't move on to UP then you'd be SURPRISED how much better it'll get. It surely looks better than having buffer trails/holograms, but trust me, even working with the softest pad and Ultimate Polish you'll see a much different result.

You can actually work with a pad that has a bit more cut when moving to UP, that part is up to you. But it WILL look even better no matter which pad you use.:xyxthumbs:
 
UP is just a finish glaze correct? Not sure if that's what I remember seeing at the store next to the UC lol
 
backlash2032 said:
UP is just a finish glaze correct? Not sure if that's what I remember seeing at the store next to the UC lol
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No.... it's a polish. Doesn't fill like a glaze. I'd try it for sure. Then top with M21 2.0 or whatever sealant you like. You can also top M21 2.0 with Meguiar's M26 yellow wax. M26 is a sealant in it's own right, but has a bit of carnauba in it and has a totally KILLER "DOI" rating. DOI = Distinction Of Image and is a rating given to LSP type products when calculating how clear they are, what type of reflectivity and how accurate the color rendition is. It's not super durable, but if you want amazing 'pop' it'll do that HANDS DOWN. :props:
 
I'd like to know specifically what buffer and pads you are using.

You could be "shooting yourself in the foot" based on those variables.
 
backlash2032 said:
I guess I didn't clean on the fly (or from day one to day two! Yikes..) so I'll give that a whirl before I go pick up a DA style buffer. Thanks for the suggestions guys!

And yes, my tiger stripes look like the ones in the video. Haha. Maybe if use a finishing glaze and a softer pad like it shows in the video that'd take care of it. That is, if I can't get the finish I'm looking for with a nice cleaning and cleaning on the fly.
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Cosmin said:
i dont think is just the cleaning , is the technique , too much pressure , or angle pad , and improper pad/paste /and speed.
go lower rpm on the machine and a polish pad , something lighter than what you been using, and lower passes
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First thing I thought of when reading this thread was the pad was probably not flat, not clean, paint not clayed first and the use of the 2 speed rotary...just a total recipe for disaster in the hands of a first time polisher.

Cosmin is likely spot on in his conclusions/comments as he typically is.:xyxthumbs:
 
It is nice to see someone jump right into a rotary buffer and figure it out, and that Craftsman 2 speed buffer is probably one of the hardest buffers to get the hang of and produce real nice results with. If you ever get your hands on a Makita 9227C or a Dewalt 849x it'll be like going from a Cavalier to a Cadillac in terms of smooth operation and a starting RPM of 600 and a top end of 3000 RPM.

Didn't want my previous post to look negative so I posted the difference between what you're using and what's available.

Kudos for sticking it out and finding/producing a finish you're satisfied with.

With a Harbor Freight "Chicago Platinum" DA polisher and a few of their blue polish pads combined with a finishing polish, that paint would double in clarity and pop.
 
There are two kinds of tiger stripes that I know of besides the actual stripes on a Tiger.


Tiger Stripes from the painting process

This type of Tiger Stripes is caused by how the spray gun is moved over the paint when the car is being repainted.




Tiger Stripes from the buffing process
For this meaning of the term tiger stripes, if you buff too much on single stage metallic paint you will remove enough pigmented or colored paint plus abrade the aluminum flakes enough to leave stripes or lines in the paint that mimic the way you moved the buffer over the paint.



When you create lines in the paint from a rotary buffer these are called holograms or buffer swirls or buffer trails.

Here's an example of very faint holograms in a true show car...


Guess these "lines" and win something off Nick's desk!


Note: The contest in this thread is over....



:)
 
tuscarora dave said:
First thing I thought of when reading this thread was the pad was probably not flat, not clean, paint not clayed first and the use of the 2 speed rotary...just a total recipe for disaster in the hands of a first time polisher.

Cosmin is likely spot on in his conclusions/comments as he typically is.:xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...

Cosmin was definitely right.. I think my biggest issues were not keeping the pad clean and also I was putting way too much pressure on it. Once I started actually listening to the buffer you could actually hear the motor bog down when it hit the paint... So all in all I'm sure I was doing just about everything wrong lol
 
The rotary polisher is way harder to master than the Dual Action ( DA). So what I would do is polish with compound, polish and final polish with a DA. On subsequent panels try the DA first or halve the speed on the rotary. I have only been doing this for couple years but my car is 14 years old and less aggressive is best.
 
Even the best of us have problems at times in avoiding buffer trails when using a rotary.
Consider getting yourself a DA down the road, with the new Meguiar's Microfiber cutting and finishing disk along with the Correction Compound is a great combo in getting great results most of the time, with the Meguiar's new DAMF system we can now get rotary results but without causing swirls or buffer trails.
 
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