Unable to see paint swirl and scratch at home - any tips or tricks?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I was ready to make my paint look perfect and polish or compound as needed but at home with a bright flash light I couldn't even see the defects. I can clearly see them at a car meet at night for example with the street lamp shining on it.

Am I going at it wrong. Do I need a less bright flashlight? The car is also a space gray metallic which I suppose doesn't help.

I rather not polish/compound "in the dark" and no be able to see the improvement right away.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Bring 2 100ft. extension cords and ask the store manager at the supermarket if you could please plug your cord into the outlet so you can polish your car in their parking lot.lol.

Or you could invest in a cordless Flex and polish your car in the middle of the night at the gas station. Lol. J/k

Seriously though, that color can be borderline insane. I remember polishing my brothers Cadillac and the paint was blinding in direct sun trying to look right at it looking for swirls. It was crazy.

 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Bring 2 100ft. extension cords and ask the store manager at the supermarket if you could please plug your cord into the outlet so you can polish your car in their parking lot.lol.

Or you could invest in a cordless Flex and polish your car in the middle of the night at the gas station. Lol. J/k

Seriously though, that color can be borderline insane. I remember polishing my brothers Cadillac and the paint was blinding in direct sun trying to look right at it looking for swirls. It was crazy.

Hhaahaha if only... but yeah man even in the bright sun the swirls wouldn't show up. Guess I'll try again this week-end... so hyped to have watched videos all last winter and now that I have an actual nice car wanted to make itl ook perfect

 

[fightnews]

I was ready to make my paint look perfect and polish or compound as needed but at home with a bright flash light I couldn't even see the defects. I can clearly see them at a car meet at night for example with the street lamp shining on it.

Am I going at it wrong. Do I need a less bright flashlight? The car is also a space gray metallic which I suppose doesn't help.

I rather not polish/compound "in the dark" and no be able to see the improvement right away.

Mike always says the most important factor when you polish paint is abrasive technology. I say the second most important factor is light.

It's not easy I just spent some good money on 2 sunmatch lights. If that's not in the budget the sunmatch scangrip headlamps work great. I

 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Mike always says the most important factor when you polish paint is abrasive technology. I say the second most important factor is light.

It's not easy I just spent some good money on 2 sunmatch lights. If that's not in the budget the sunmatch scangrip headlamps work great. I

Thing is those "fancy" light is it all they offer is high lumen output? If so, I have a Milwaukee pen light and even a HF Braun light and they seem really really bright. I would expect they work as much.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Hhaahaha if only... but yeah man even in the bright sun the swirls wouldn't show up. Guess I'll try again this week-end... so hyped to have watched videos all last winter and now that I have an actual nice car wanted to make itl ook perfect

I did end up using 1 of those really bright LED flashlights, but IIRC the trick is to focus your eyes a certain way where you really need to focus on just 1 part of the paint instead of looking at it as a whole the way it can be done when it’s easy i.e. black paint.

You gotta move that light real slow, then you’ll be able to see the swirls appear sort of like how those snowflakes would appear in those binocular things from the 1970’s. I don’t remember what they’re called but if you’re from the old school then hopefully that made some sense. Lol.... Except the swirls are microscopic in size compared to those binoculars you remember as a kid.

 

[FUNX650]

Do I need a less bright flashlight?

IMO: Yes.

•Among other factors, such as, but not
limited to: distance from the light source
(flashlight) to the vehicle’s panels; and
the light beam’s angle...
-It sure does sounds like there is too much
light output/intensity [lumens (lm)] com-
ing from the flashlight you’re using.

{I keep in mind that somewhere ~20 lm
is usually enough for reading purposes.}


Bob

 

[fightnews]

Thing is those "fancy" light is it all they offer is high lumen output? If so, I have a Milwaukee pen light and even a HF Braun light and they seem really really bright. I would expect they work as much.

No it's not regular high lumen led light. There's alot to it but it's what they use in paint booths. 4500k to 6000k depending on color. Read into it it makes all the difference even just a headlamp

 

[fightnews]

Check out the scangrip Iview sunmatch 2 headlamp. I'm using it now. It has 2 diffrent color lights that you can switch back and forth too. Its pretty cool I never even realized there was diffrent color light like that.

 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I did end up using 1 of those really bright LED flashlights, but IIRC the trick is to focus your eyes a certain way where you really need to focus on just 1 part of the paint instead of looking at it as a whole the way it can be done when it’s easy i.e. black paint.

You gotta move that light real slow, then you’ll be able to see the swirls appear sort of like how those snowflakes would appear in those binocular things from the 1970’s. I don’t remember what they’re called but if you’re from the old school then hopefully that made some sense. Lol.... Except the swirls are microscopic in size compared to those binoculars you remember as a kid.

Ah okok, I'll try focusing more and going slow.

And no I'm not oldschool I'm 21 hahaha.

 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Check out the scangrip Iview sunmatch 2 headlamp. I'm using it now. It has 2 diffrent color lights that you can switch back and forth too. Its pretty cool I never even realized there was diffrent color light like that.

For 150$ in my currency hard pass.

I'm going to try other tricks this weekend before I spend more money haha, already spent alot on detailing

 

[fightnews]

For 150$ in my currency hard pass.

I'm going to try other tricks this weekend before I spend more money haha, already spent alot on detailing

I know its brutal but I spent alot of money to find out reg high lumen lights dont work. I had 10000 lumen on it and it just doesn't work the same.

 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I know its brutal but I spent alot of money to find out reg high lumen lights dont work. I had 10000 lumen on it and it just doesn't work the same.

Then it's gotta be the opposite, a low lumen light and probably a certain color temp. At night in my driveway I recall I could see some swirls easy with the street lamp halogen.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Then it's gotta be the opposite, a low lumen light and probably a certain color temp. At night in my driveway I recall I could see some swirls easy with the street lamp halogen.

Halogens used to be the latest and greatest for detailing back in the days. The Meguiars Garage in Irvine has halogens on the ceiling.

Pics of my old Cadillac.