DA Polishing Raised Edges

[charlestek]

I read the article from Mike on DA polishing up to raised edges on car panels that have them:
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions-/90714-orbital-polishing-creases-edges.html (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions-/90714-orbital-polishing-creases-edges.html)

Mike also describes using 3M blue vinyl tape to protect edges. With your average DA polishing, I'm not sure I can precisely polish up to the edge on both sides, but not over an edge.

The tape is supposedly for only very sharp creases. How many people actually tape edges and creases? Or are most experienced people that good to polish near an edge but not over it
with say a 5.5" inch pad.........

[AutowerxDetailing]

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to effectively polish all the way up to an edge with a 5.5" pad on a DA tool. This is because there is usually an area of the pad that isn't receiving downward pressure because it is not being touched by the backing plate. Additionally the orbital offset (5-21mm depending on which tool you're using) will add to the difficulty in achieving meaningful results along the very edge of the panel without hanging your pad dangerously over the edge of the panel. For safety you would need to switch down to a smaller 3" or smaller size pad/tool to fully correct each panel edge to edge.

The trick with polishing on an edge, with any style tool, is to not allow the pad to dig straight into the side of the opposite panel. This can be achieved by tilting the pad/machine so that the edge of the pad is rolling off/away from the edge of the panel you are working on. If you are polishing in a location where the pad will be digging into an adjacent panel you should tape off that edge and focus on safely polishing the edge you are working on without damaging adjacent panels. You also have to be careful to watch the rotational direction of your pad because sometimes, depending on the curvature of the panel you are polishing, the machine will tend to rotate the opposite direction in which it usually spins when you have the pad set at an angle.