Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
Good question and of course technique is important but it's the abrasive technology that comes into contact with the paint that is the starting point for all the magic.
I've helped thousands and probably tens of thousands of people learn to machine polish paint over the last 29 years. Occasionally this includes people that upon using the Porter Cable orbital polisher for the first time used it to try to correct paint on the 1 or 2 speed setting and not pushing down with firm pressure while making their passes. They were taking the careful approach since they were NEW to machine polishing and usually afraid of making a mistake like burning through the paint.
Then they find out they are not removing the swirls. The issue was using too slow of a speed setting and not enough firm downward pressure. These are technique issues.
And I think in the poll thread I stated everyone is entitled to their opinion and apparently from the results of the poll more people consider technique to be the number one factor than the other options I listed in the poll.
Actually JRP, if you grab your how-to book and continue reading to the bottom of the left hand column on page 8 you'll see the passage you were probably looking for where I wrote,
Mike Phillips said:
And in the context of that chapter, (talking about how to determine soft paint from hard paint), that is correct but only a part of the equation. And I explain more detail in that section about how a person can or cannot know if the paint they are buffing on is hard or soft and the only way they can really know is by having a lot of experience buffing on a wide spectrum of paint. In other words, the way a person becomes GOOD at knowing if the paint they are buffing on is hard or soft is by buffing out a LOT of cars. So a person that only buffs out their own cars, one, two maybe three cars, will not have the experience gained by buffing out LOTS of cars like a professional detailer that buffs out hundreds of cars each year.
And in that context, and here's the key word, ASSUMING the person is using high quality products, then technique is the most important factor for determining whether the paint on a car is hard or soft with all other variables the same.
But out of the above context, if you were not given the option to choose your pads, products or tools, and that's how I envisioned the poll I started, if you could NOT choose your compound or polish, then out of the 5 factors I listed in the poll, which would be the most important when it comes to polishing paint. Not testing for hard or soft paint but simply polishing paint in general and I'll still stick to my opinion that the most important factor is the abrasive technology because all the best technique in the world won't make some compounds and polishes work great. Clearcoats paints and especially clearcoated black and other dark colors show everything.
When I write the 3rd Edition to my first book I'll update that section to fully clarify the context of what I mean by technique is most important for a person that wants to or is trying to determine if the paint they are buffing on is hard or soft and in that context we're assuming they are in fact using quality products plus the right pad and tool for the testing process.
Just to note.... that section, Hard paint or soft paint? in the chapter Car Paint Overview, of my how-to book, The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine is the only book ever written that addresses the topic of hard paint or soft paint. If you read enough in the online world of car detailing you'll notice it's a popular topic with a lot of confusion surrounding it. Then if you re-read that section and the entire chapter I think you'll find that even a novice to car detailing will understand the history of car paint and this has affected the hardness or softness factor and how that affects all of us today when it comes to working on car paint.
It is in my opinion the most important chapter in the entire book because it gives the reader a foundation to build on as they progress though the book learning how to successfully do every task related to exterior paint washing, decontaminating, correcting, polishing, sealing and maintaining.
Here's the index for the first chapter,
I think it's important for anyone that wants to be good at polishing paint to have a foundational understanding of what I call the 3 P's.
- Paint
- Products
- Procedures
And since paint is the stuff you're working on it's important to know something about it and that's what the first chapter does, it give the person reading the book enough information so that ALL the rest of the chapters make sense and build upon the foundational information presented in chapter 1.
There is so much to learn and Mike you are the man if I am off key please advise. Now just a couple more quotes.
Thank you for your purchase and your trust. Thank you also for bringing up your point about what I wrote, I never mind discussing anything I've ever written on a forum or said publicly in a class.
And if you send me your shipping address I'll send you a new copy.
:xyxthumbs:
