My 1st rotary job w/ pics. It was easy.

[Rhudeboye]

I have read all the scare post about burning through paint and decided to head to the junk yard and grab a panel to practice on. To my surprise they had the same make and model porches as mine. I stripped off the sunroof for my practice panel. Once home I taped it off into sections and ran the polisher on setting 1.5 then 2.5 then 4 and finally 6 to try and burn through the paint. Here are the results.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5003/p1030254n.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/i/p1030254n.jpg/)
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3606/p1030255n.th.jpg (http://img46.imageshack.us/i/p1030255n.jpg/)
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/6229/p1030256l.th.jpg (http://img202.imageshack.us/i/p1030256l.jpg/)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2163/p1030257u.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/p1030257u.jpg/)
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6433/p1030258p.th.jpg (http://img517.imageshack.us/i/p1030258p.jpg/)
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3158/p1030259a.th.jpg (http://img694.imageshack.us/i/p1030259a.jpg/)
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/3195/p1030260k.th.jpg (http://img203.imageshack.us/i/p1030260k.jpg/)
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/5250/p1030261n.th.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/p1030261n.jpg/)
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/1919/p1030262id.th.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/p1030262id.jpg/)
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1346/p1030263q.th.jpg (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/p1030263q.jpg/)
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1816/p1030264c.th.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/i/p1030264c.jpg/)
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/2649/p1030265b.th.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/p1030265b.jpg/)

[Rhudeboye]

So the fine scratches came out, the deeper ones looked better. Much better. The paints luster was revived. I was very happy with this test. The one thing I couldnt correct was teh water damage. Doesnt show well int he pics but the water rings wouldnt come out. Also, to my surprise, I couldnt burn the paint. I set it up as high as it would go and held it there for about a minute in one spot with heavy pressure on the orange pad. When I finally shut it off the panel was smoking but the paint looked OK. Go figure.

By way of comparison:
I also have a griots RO and I must say the rotary breaks down the polish much faster.

I never polished one 1/4 of the panel. I will get some more practice in on that 1/4 later.

[cnfowler]

Burning through a flat panel is much more difficult than burning through a high point or edge. That is what you should be working on. I've yet to see a vehicle that has all flat panels. The edges and high points of body creases are where the thin paint is, and you are much more likely to cause damage there than on a flat panel. Also, working around trim and emblems is another area that causes the unexperienced problems. Bump one of those suckers at 1500 rpms and see what happens!

Colin

[Rhudeboye]

That was never pointed out to me before. I just heard be careful, keep it moving and get experience first or your can burn through the paint in seconds.

So your point is now noted. Not sure what I'm going to practice on with corners.

[Dubbin1]

Not sure what I'm going to practice on with corners.

Neighbors car :buffing:

[sullysdetailing]

Try a wool pad on the water spots

[Rhudeboye]

Wool pad? Y- Does it cut deeper/faster?

[TLMitchell]

Wool pad? Y- Does it cut deeper/faster?

Eggzactly!

TL

[rohnramirez]

Neighbors car :buffing:


LOL.




I have read all the scare post about burning through paint and decided to head to the junk yard and grab a panel to practice on. To my surprise they had the same make and model porches as mine. I stripped off the sunroof for my practice panel. Once home I taped it off into sections and ran the polisher on setting 1.5 then 2.5 then 4 and finally 6 to try and burn through the paint. Here are the results.

Yeah try the wool pad on speed 6, try and see if you burn through the paint...but not on your car, just the test panel..lol :)

[Rhudeboye]

As much as I would like to burn it, I'm not buying a pad just to do it. Im pretty happy with what I've learned thus far. Seems that my pads and technique is pretty safe, I need to be extra careful on the edges and corners and unless I do something really stupid, I doubt I will ever burn my paint. That or Porsches clear coat is super strong!

[rohnramirez]

Agreed Rhudeboye. But you will definitely need a wool pad, nonetheless. There are just defects that a wool on rotary is best suited for. just my 2cents. :)

[detailjohn]

As much as I would like to burn it, I'm not buying a pad just to do it. Im pretty happy with what I've learned thus far. Seems that my pads and technique is pretty safe, I need to be extra careful on the edges and corners and unless I do something really stupid, I doubt I will ever burn my paint. That or Porsches clear coat is super strong!

Good for you. There seems to be a stigma about rotary polishers being extremely difficult to handle. Not the case at all. If taught properly from a professional who knows exactly what they're doing, it can be picked up pretty quickly. I think hacks give rotary buffers a bad name.

John

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks for sharing your experiment.

I've been following your progress since you first joined our forum and you've really grown in your knowledge and experience.

It's rewarding to see members get into this craft in all it's dimensions and even better when they share back with the forum.

Good job!


:dblthumb2:

[Rhudeboye]

That's what forums are all about. I do need a better image hosting site though. I hate that all my pics have to be clicked on to see the details

[Rhudeboye]

one more thing. on the 2nd to last pic. Where the foam pad is resting is where I attempted to burn the paint. Note how dull the paint is. It doesn't look as good as when I polished at 2.5 and then briefly ran up to 4. Very impressive and fast correction.

PS I need to sell some of my orange pads. I brought too many in the 5" size