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300mph
07-03-2010, 06:12 PM
Help with Buffing Convex and Concave surfaces on a Black C6 Corvette (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/26852-help-buffing-convex-concave-surfaces-black-c6-corvette.html)


I am getting ready to do some light buffing on my black C6 to remove some minor imperfections, water spots, etc., with my PC7424. This is my first experience with buffing so I have watched many how-to videos on the subject. Sadly, all of the videos I can find only show examples of buffing on nice flat sections like the hood or door panels.

I feel pretty good about doing these flat sections but I am very unsure just how to handle tight, concave or convex surfaces. For example the concave area on the upper part of the doors near the window and the sharp edges like you might find on the rear fascia.

Can you buff into concave areas using the edge of the buffing pad on an orbital buffer or do the lateral oscillations make this impossible?

Can you safely buff around sharp corners by just taking it easy and lightening up on the pressure?

It would be nice if there were some more advanced videos that show how to handle these types of topics that we will all surely encounter if we are attempting to buff out an entire vehicle.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Finemess
07-03-2010, 06:58 PM
Check out Mr. Phillips DVD.

Polishing dvd, how to use a Porter Cable 7424 XP, how to use a Cyclo polisher, DA polisher, orbital polisher howto (http://www.autogeek.net/mike-phillips-polishing-dvd.html)

Mike Phillips
07-08-2010, 03:23 PM
Hi 300mph,

Sorry I missed your post, from the time stamp it looks like you posted this on Saturday night at 7:12pm.

While I do my best to answer as many questions as I can on this forum and other forums there does come a time to call it a day. On this particular Saturday I went to a local car show and then shared the pictures from the event here,

Virtual Car Show - South East Rods & Customs in Jupiter, Florida! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/off-topic/26891-virtual-car-show-south-east-rods-customs-jupiter-florida.html)

Here's a few samples you might appreciate, more in the thread... I do my best to frame up cars so the entire car is in the profile picture and then hone in a few areas that are special to the car... then after cropping out the fluff, resize to 800 pixels wide for everyone's viewing enjoment...

Big Block 427 Corvette Sting Ray Roadster...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/889/SouthEastRC046.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/889/SouthEastRC047.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/889/SouthEastRC048.jpg





Then on Sunday, being 4th of July and the day I usually take off from the work week, by the time I returned to work on Monday your "post" dropped off the "Most Recent Threads" list and sometimes a post just flies under the radar.

Sorry about that... let me see if I can answer your questions...


:xyxthumbs:

Mike Phillips
07-08-2010, 03:52 PM
I posted this on CF for you too... :xyxthumbs:




I am getting ready to do some light buffing on my black C6 to remove some minor imperfections, water spots, etc., with my PC7424.


Is this a PC7424 or a PC7424XP?

There's an important difference and I like to ask because I find most people that have the XP model usually don't take the time to type in the "XP" letters to distinguish as to what they really have.

Here's why it's important, in order to remove defects you need to remove some paint in an effort to level the surface. Paint is removed, or if you like the kinder, gentler version, swirls, scratches and water spots are removed best when the pad is rotating.

The XP model is much more effective at keeping pads rotating than the older, first generation 7424 and 7336 versions.

Regardless, if you want to remove defects out of the paint then you really want to be using 5.5" pad as these will rotate easily with the XP model and you can get them to work with the older models too...






This is my first experience with buffing so I have watched many how-to videos on the subject. Sadly, all of the videos I can find only show examples of buffing on nice flat sections like the hood or door panels.


Time is the biggest limiting factor for making a video, you have to keep it short for all kinds of reasons and to reach the widest audience you also keep it simple...




I feel pretty good about doing these flat sections but I am very unsure just how to handle tight, concave or convex surfaces. For example the concave area on the upper part of the doors near the window and the sharp edges like you might find on the rear fascia.


For thin panels, it's really nice to have 4" Spot repair pads, this allows you to keep the face of the pad on the paint and not on any surrounding trim, components or body lines. If you don't have a Spot Repair pad Kit they are a real blessing.

Here's some examples...


Here's what the 3.5" backing plates look like mounted to DA Polishers with 4" pads, including CCS, Hydro-Tech and Surbuf and also I've included what the 3" Griot's Polishing Pad looks like for size comparison using the adapter and the rotary buffer backing plate to attach to a DA Polisher.



Pictured are the PC, GG and Megs DA style polishers... (Love this new cart)
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates001.jpg


Here you can see how these backing plates are a safer option...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates002.jpg


With pads attached...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates003.jpg



What it would look like in action...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates004.jpg



What it would look like in action...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates005.jpg


What it would look like in action...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates006.jpg



Here's the 3" Griot's Polishing Pad inside the groove of a 1964 Ford Falcon
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates007.jpg


4" pad and 3" pad
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates008.jpg


Backing plates on the above pads for reference...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates009.jpg


From an elevated point of view...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/804/spotrepairbackingplates010.jpg





I feel pretty good about doing these flat sections but I am very unsure just how to handle tight, concave or convex surfaces. For example the concave area on the upper part of the doors near the window and the sharp edges like you might find on the rear fascia.


You can use larger pads to buff the areas but you need to keep the pad as flat as possible to the surface. If you tilt a DA Polisher on edge, this will put more pressure and usually enough pressure to kick in the Free Floating Spindle Assembly and the pad will quit rotating and you'll stop removing swirls.

The Free Floating Spindle Assembly - The Story Behind The Story... (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/23995-free-rotating-spindle-assembly-story-behind-story.html)

Likewise, buffing on a raised area, anything that would put more pressure to a reduced area on the face of the pad can stop the pad from rotating.

So as long as you focus on the task at hand, you can use larger pads to buff concave and convex panels but you do become limited as to how effective you will be due to the safety feature provide by the Free Floating Spindle Assembly.

When first starting out people love the idea of the Free Floating Spindle Assembly because they understand how it will prevent them from burning or swirling their car's paint.

As they master the art of polishing paint with a DA Polisher they tend to forget about what a blessing the safety feature is and start to focus on the limitations of power provided by the same, nifty feature. LOL






Can you buff into concave areas using the edge of a 6 inch buffing pad on an orbital buffer or do the lateral oscillations make this impossible?


If you put pressure on only an edge of the working face of the pad it will tend to dramatically slow down and stop the rotating action of the pad.

I show people this all the time on a flat panel by simply tilting the polisher on edge and marking the backing plate with a black marker to make it easy to see if the pad is rotating or not and on an edge you will see it slow down and stop.

Again, that's the safety feature of the Free Floating Spindle Assembly. I also demonstrate that safety feature here,

Safe on skin, safe on paint...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et6Egpw-f-s]YouTube - Porter Cable Instructional Video as seen on the Speed Channel[/video]




Can you safely buff around sharp corners by just taking it easy and lightening up on the pressure?


If you lighten up on pressure you won't effectively engage the abrasive in whatever it is you're using to remove swirls to take little bites out of the paint or in other words, abrade the paint...

Also, if you bump the edge of the pad into anything it will ususally cause the buffing pad to stop.




It would be nice if there were some more advanced videos that show how to handle these types of topics that we will all surely encounter if we are attempting to buff out an entire vehicle.



I may have covered this in an older DVD I made called,

How-To Use the PC for Show Car Results...
It is 2.5 hours long and covers from top to bottom how to tackle removing swirls out of paint with lots of detail on how I actually approach buffing out a car.

http://www.showcargarage.com/gallery/files/1/DVDfrontcover1.jpg




I posted this over at Autogeek.net and only got one response and that was to buy the Mike Phillips DVD. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.


Yeah... again, sorry about that, that forum member was just trying to help in my absence and I was out being a "real car guy" by going to a car show and lining up a project car.

In the next few weeks I'll have a purple 1932 Ford Highboy with a blown 502 Big Block Chevy in our Show Car Garage Studio to remove swirls and sanding marks inflicted by the owner/painter.

The public will be welcome to attend this event and watch and possibly try their hand at machine polishing paint.


:)

Mike Phillips
07-12-2010, 09:40 AM
Moved from Wetsanding, Cutting and Polishing to "Tricks, Tips and Techniques"

Also given a blue clickable link for future sharing on the topic of machine polishing small, thin panels and convex and concave panels.


:)