What are you....when polishing?

[YankeeFan]

A person who does all the correction first, then moves onto the final polish or someone that corrects a specific area then switches pads and polish to finish that area?

Howard

[GXPWeasel]

I haven't done many vehicles, mostly my own, but I would think that it would do nothing but slow you down if you went one panel at a time, start to finish before moving on to the next. I do everything I'm going to need to do with the product I have before I move on.

[redgt03]

I haven't done many vehicles, mostly my own, but I would think that it would do nothing but slow you down if you went one panel at a time, start to finish before moving on to the next. I do everything I'm going to need to do with the product I have before I move on.

:iagree:

[jmp09fg2]

Not only will it save you time to do an entire step on the car and then move on, it will save the backing on your pads.

[BobbyG]

I haven't done many vehicles, mostly my own, but I would think that it would do nothing but slow you down if you went one panel at a time, start to finish before moving on to the next. I do everything I'm going to need to do with the product I have before I move on.

You just can't argue with logic... :iagree:

[Matt S.]

I actually prefer to finish each specific polishing step on each panel before I move to the next. Then, I wax/seal the whole car at once, assuming the product allows it.

[JohnHenry]

A person who does all the correction first, then moves onto the final polish or someone that corrects a specific area then switches pads and polish to finish that area?

Howard

The previous posters are absolutely correct. It's most efficient and makes perfect sense to do: 1) compound, 2) polish(es), 3) glaze, 4) sealant, 5) carnauba, one step at a time. (Of course, not all steps are always used on all cars.) However, I don't do it that way.

For context, I'm a serious weekender, one-two cars per week for pay, mostly work at my customers' homes, working steadily for a year and a half. (I'm a rookie compared to most on AGO.)

I had an unpleasant experience with my first black 911. I was pretty confident, had done lots of luxury DDs. I had compounded the entire car, when the owner showed up. He was not familiar with the multi-step paint correction routine. He became quite upset when he saw his $80K baby looking worse than when he had left it. I had to do some quick talking to reassure him.

Since that time, I've developed a personal routine of completing one panel at a time. On a smaller car like the Porsche, I at least finish the hood to the LSP, for "display" purposes. I have found that this also helps to sell the "hangers on." You know, the neighborhood nudge who talks your ear off, the car owner's boss who is stopping by for a minute, other family members. All these folks probably drive primo cars and represent potential business. I find that it helps to let them see a sample of the final product.

FWIW

[Birdhunter]

One step at a time; just like life:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

I'm probably the odd man out...

If the car has a painted roof, I'll do all the steps to the room right up to the LSP and then cover the roof and tackle the rest of the car. That way I'm not getting any splater on lower panels that have already been wiped clean from the next steps done to the roof.

I don't know why I do it this way but that's how I've been dong it for years, maybe decades. I did it that way to this El Camino and also to this 1051 DeSoto, in the picture with the Desoto you can see a soft flannel bed sheet covering and taped down so that it won't slip off.

In these two cases, bot cars were sanded, cut, polished and the sealed before the buffestin steps were started on the lower panels.



Taken from this thread...


If it has paint... it gets polished... (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/23865-if-has-paint-gets-polished.html)

Post #4

Edging
I edged the entire car, edging means to go around and remove the sanding marks from all the edges leaving only the major portions of the panels left to compound.

Most people just compound the entire panel from start to finish and that approach works and is used in body shops all the time, but I like to edge all the panels for a couple of reasons.

1) This isn't my car and for that reason I want to be very careful. If it were my car I would edge it, even though it's not my car I treat it like it is my car (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/20551-mindset-professional-detailer.html).

2) Removing the sanding marks around all the edges using a 4" pad is actually very easy to do and gives you GREAT control over the process, especially if you have the Flex 3403 or a lightweight and small rotary buffer to work with. You remove most of the risk for burning and edge or a high point due to the control factor.


Here's the roof edged,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof001.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof002.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof003.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof004.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof005.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof006.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/836/EdgingRoof007.jpg

After I finished edging the roof, I was finished edging the entire car. The next step is to remove the sanding marks out of the center portions of the roof, the major portions of the panel. Using #3000 Grit Foam Finishing Discs, means it only takes a just a few minutes to compound out the major flat portions of the roof using the Makita with a W5000 Double Sided Wool Cutting pad with the M105.

Next I machine polished the roof 3 times with the rotary and then once with the DA and then I sealed it with M21. I probably won't get those pictures uploaded and inserted however as I'm going back out to finish compounding the major portions of the rest of the panels on the car.

I usually work the roof of a car all the way to wax, or paint sealant and the tackle all the panels below it afterwards. I'll share why tomorrow but feel free to take a guess as to why someone would work a sand, cut and buff project like this?

Here's a 1951 Desoto I actually Damp Sanded before Damp Sanding was a term, I did this one with Richard Lin.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/715/1951Desoto001.jpg

If you look carefully at the roof, you'll see it has a soft, flannel sheet taped onto it, that's because we sanded, cut, polished and sealed the paint before tackling the lower portions of the car. We damp-sanded the entire thing at one time, but did the buff-out on the roof from compounding all the way through to sealing in one process and then covered it to prevent dust from accumulating on the finish.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Another reason I like to knock the roof out all the way to LSP is so that every time the owner or any potential customer is around while the rest of the car is a work in progress, I can show them what the end results will look like . Assuming you're doing a good job and the results are coming out good, this can be a good door opener.

When you're at someone else's location it's possible "car guys" will be coming and going that you might not ever meet any other way and by knocking out the roof first you might have the opportunity to showcase your work to someone that stops by at 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning than might not ever stop by at the end of the day when you're making your final wipe.

It's a chance to "wow" them and you might be able to use this type of opportunity to get their business on their "toy" or special interest car. (Or daily driver).

FWIW

[tcollins33]

As always, Mike gives us something to think about!!!!!!!!