How Should I Polish For My First Time Ever?

[sasson]

Hello Mike and Every forum member here,
For the last couple of months I started learning how to detail a car to get to a Professional level.
I offer services to customer and come to their house to detail their cars.
The one thing I DON'T Do is polish cars, I didn't think I need to because you don't have to... I thought "This is to remove scratches only", So I didn't care about it until a couple of weeks ago.
I saw what swirls are and how nice cars look after a good final polish and said I have to do that as well.
I Went to the big league and bought myself a FLEX 3401, and some Polish Angel pads, and some lake county pads.
Now I am getting my machine this week and I want to know what should I do for my first time polish in order not to harm the paint and cause damage.
I watched videos of polishing hours and days, and went to special places with seminars and places that offer polishing services so I general know what to do when I start.

I saw mikes advice to go over about 6 times on panels and etc... :xyxthumbs:

Now My questions to you is:
*how should I work for the first time that I won't cause damage to cars I polish?
*I heard that flex 3401 DA polisher is so good that It's almost impossible to harm the paint with it, Is that true?

Any tips for the first time would be HIGHLY appreciated! Thank you guys! :dblthumb2:

[Vegas Transplant]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step:idea:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/50162-how-do-test-spot.html One of many articles to acclimate to.

How to do a "Section Pass" with a Porter Cable 7424XP - YouTube (http://youtu.be/Q70g83mnTn4) One of many videos to begin your journey.


A Test Spot is where you take the products, pads, tools and your best technique and buff one small section, usually on a horizontal panel, to test out these things to see if they'll create the results you want, hope for and dream about in some cases.

If your choice of products, pads, tools and technique works to remove the defects and restore the finish to your expectations, then theoretically you should be able to duplicate the same process to the rest of the vehicle and create the same results.

[sasson]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step:idea:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/50162-how-do-test-spot.html One of many articles to acclimate to.

How to do a "Section Pass" with a Porter Cable 7424XP - YouTube (http://youtu.be/Q70g83mnTn4) One of many videos to begin your journey.

But still, I saw the videos, how would I KNOW I won't do any harm to the paint while doing that, Pressure and everything? any tips ? Thanks for the comment !

[swanicyouth]

If your nervous , or mainly to build confidence, work on something painted that isn't so important first. This could be a toolbox , a junk yard panel, etc... As long as you use common sense and pay attention, your likely to get excellent results. Burning paint can only come from heat or over polishing one spot. So, keep the polisher moving, use medium downward pressure (~15 lbs), and don't hit any trim with the backing plate. You'll do great!

[sasson]

If your nervous , or mainly to build confidence, work on something painted that isn't so important first. This could be a toolbox , a junk yard panel, etc... As long as you use common sense and pay attention, your likely to get excellent results. Burning paint can only come from heat or over polishing one spot. So, keep the polisher moving, use medium downward pressure (~15 lbs), and don't hit any trim with the backing plate. You'll do great!

Great! that's great info, I have a "Test" Car, with MANY swirls and scratches, that even if I harm the paint it won't really matter.
But I read a LOT about the flex 3401, I see people saying it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to burn or harm the paint with that polisher because it's really unique and a great polisher, Is that true?

[Espyone]

If your nervous , or mainly to build confidence, work on something painted that isn't so important first. This could be a toolbox , a junk yard panel, etc... As long as you use common sense and pay attention, your likely to get excellent results. Burning paint can only come from heat or over polishing one spot. So, keep the polisher moving, use medium downward pressure (~15 lbs), and don't hit any trim with the backing plate. You'll do great!:

:iagree: Keep it moving and you should not have a problem. Follow all the information you have gathered and you will be fine. Practice makes perfect.

[Mike Phillips]

If your nervous , or mainly to build confidence, work on something painted that isn't so important first.

!


Great advice and something I always recommend too...

Don't start out "learning" on something that's important to you, or to your customer.

Break in on something that no one cares about. Like you're own car, a family member's car, a company delivery car, truck or van, etc.

A panel from the junk yard or a body shop is good but if you're going to be buffing out entire cars for money then practice on an entire car as there's a lot that goes into buffing out an entire car.


I'm posting pictures right now of all the steps we did in my last detailing bootcamp class and many of these guys were brand new to machine polishing. This thread covers all the basics,

Wash and dry car
Decontaminate paint
Do a TEST SPOT
Tape-off and cover up
Do the first step, the major correction step
Do the second step, the polishing step
Apply your wax, sealant or coating


I've put pictures up all the way to the major correction step and now I'm working on the polishing step pictures but check it out here...


Pics start on page 2

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-saturday-detailing-101/59908-pictures-comments-january-26th-27th-2013-detailing-boot-camp-class-2.html


Read this article, make it something you do for every car you work on if you've never worked on the paint before.



How To Do a Test Spot (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/50162-how-do-test-spot.html)
(and why it's so important)




:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

Read this too...

Look at how big of a section of paint you can tackle at one time with a tool like the Flex 3401. Keep in mind it also requires a little experience to tackle large sections at one time...

How To Use The Flex 3401 (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/55570-how-use-flex-3401-a.html)


Here I've turned the polisher on and spread my working product evenly over the entire surface I'm going to work.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1551/Flex3401BeforeAfter005.jpg


I work the section using overlapping passes and a crosshatch pattern...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1551/Flex3401BeforeAfter006.jpg



:)

[sasson]

Great advice and something I always recommend too...

Don't start out "learning" on something that's important to you, or to your customer.

Break in on something that no one cares about. Like you're own car, a family member's car, a company delivery car, truck or van, etc.

A panel from the junk yard or a body shop is good but if you're going to be buffing out entire cars for money then practice on an entire car as there's a lot that goes into buffing out an entire car.


I'm posting pictures right now of all the steps we did in my last detailing bootcamp class and many of these guys were brand new to machine polishing. This thread covers all the basics,

Wash and dry car
Decontaminate paint
Do a TEST SPOT
Tape-off and cover up
Do the first step, the major correction step
Do the second step, the polishing step
Apply your wax, sealant or coating


I've put pictures up all the way to the major correction step and now I'm working on the polishing step pictures but check it out here...


Pics start on page 2

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-saturday-detailing-101/59908-pictures-comments-january-26th-27th-2013-detailing-boot-camp-class-2.html


Read this article, make it something you do for every car you work on if you've never worked on the paint before.



How To Do a Test Spot (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/50162-how-do-test-spot.html)
(and why it's so important)




:xyxthumbs:

Thank you Very much mike! I Appreciate your comment very much, I saw all the videos and I am quite sure I understand how to polish a car :xyxthumbs:
Hope one day I will get to one of your boot camps, While I visit the US, or come back and live in the US again...
Is there any boot camp that Lasts over a week? Something Advanced?
Thank you mike! And thank you all for your great comments!

[Vegas Transplant]

...*I heard that flex 3401 DA polisher is so good that It's almost impossible to harm the paint with it, Is that true?

Any tips for the first time would be HIGHLY appreciated! Thank you guys! :dblthumb2:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/flex-polishers/31795-you-too-can-burn-paint-your-3401-follow-these-easy-steps.html

[neat e34]

Yes, not to knock your confidence but don't get too carried away with the idea that it's "impossible" to cause damage with the 3401.

IMO in the wrong situation almost anything can damage paint.
Polishing edges, etc is a good example.

The first time I ever polished paint I used a normal DA, basically Australias equivalant to the Griots DA.
With no forced rotation these should be even safer than a Flex.
I only worked on one panel & started out fine but after a while, just as I was starting to get the results I wanted, my pad started turning black (black car)
Luckily this car was mine & not important to me (I was wrecking it anyway) but I cursed & questioned myself for a long time. A real downer for your first time!
A few months later, just before I got rid of the car I noticed that several panels (not just the boot-lid I had polished) were starting to suffer from clearcoat failure.
I realised I had gone through the clearcoat, not because of user error, but because it had already been compromised.
Regardless, I couldn't pick it before I started polishing & had it been someone elses car I would have been paying for a respray.

Anyway, sorry for such a long story...
The moral is DAs are safe but nothing is impossible.
You can still get caught out...

For the small price it is probably worth you investing in a paint depth gauge & maybe even pricing insurance?

Good luck with your new adventure! :xyxthumbs:

[h83d]

A little advise, use less aggressive products & tools first .. ;-)

[Mike Phillips]

Just to comment...

You can burn or "rubb" through thin paint by hand. That's a fact. You can't always know where the thin spots are but raised body lines, edges, corners etc are likely places if "anyone" has buffed the car in the past including the in-house detailer at a dealership.

So use the least aggressive approach and don't hammer on raised body lines, edges or corners.

I practice what I preach. Look at this picture from last weekend's bootcamp class. Even though I think this truck has a great custom paint job and pleny of clear, I still practiced, and taught my students to practice taping off raised body lines, edges and corners. It's just a good safe and best practice.


See the blue line on the hood? That is not a pin stripe, that's 3M Blue Vinyl Tape protecting a raised body line that is part of the design of the hood on this classic truck. Besides protecting it, it acts as a strong visual indicator as to where the body line is so you can see where to buff up to.

Pictures and Comments - January 26th & 27th 2013 Detailing Boot Camp Class (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-saturday-detailing-101/59908-pictures-comments-january-26th-27th-2013-detailing-boot-camp-class.html)

Here's Pablo working the hood over...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1723/2013_Jan_Detail_Class_164.jpg


Just focus on the task at hand and take the precautions you can take.

:)