Long day of trials & tribulations

[Radar09]

First off I’d like to say WOW there is a lot of information out there for us all to view and take what we need to make our projects work out the way we want.
‘I was a weekend warrior 15+ years ago, now my kids are 13 & 17, so I actually have some time to work on detailing again (cause they don’t want to hang with boring dad anymore). I can tell you that re-entering the detailing world, the learning curve is providing me with a lot more experience and products and some really great new stuff on the market.
I decided to start with something simple😂, my wife’s black 2016 Yukon that she just sold (delivering tomorrow) had a nice surprise on Friday when the wind blew our garbage can into and left scratches and marring down the drivers side. “AWESOME” I thought to myself, there goes $1k off the selling price at least. Lucky for us we are in quarantine and I have nothing better to do so here went my experience.

I currently have the original PC 7424 and I have several different pads from foam to wool & microfiber (glad I do I used them all). I’ve been doing lots of research and watching videos. I enjoy Brian from Apex and of course the videos on AutoGeek. After completing one side of her vehicle with a lake country low lint wool pad and Sonax Ultimate Cut with my polisher on top speed 6 and a large amount of pressure and slow arm speed just to get the paint looking 80% clear of defects. Then I watched a video on clear coat depth that night. Well that scared the crap out of me and the next day I fought with different pad/compound/polish combos that I’ve accumulated over the years, I reduced the speed on the PC because Brian uses speed 3 on his Rupes, I reduced my pressure to a “firm handshake” or what I thought may be 15lbs of pressure. Well, what a day of trials and tribulations. I switched between 3D one, Wolfgang Uber compound, Sonax, I used yellow foam pads, purple foams pads (worked really well) Maguires microfibre pads, Uro Pads, and wool pads. None of the combinations was making much of a correction on the black paint. This paint has never been worked on, it was super hard to get the scratching and swirls out.
In the end (after a couple of hours or monkeying around) I cranked the speed back up to 6, put some weight behind the polisher, put on a purple foam pad with Sonax Ultimate Cut and got back to business.

All of this goes against everything I’ve been reading and watching.
Did I make a mistake on that vehicle? It looks great. I followed it up with 3D one with a white pad and some Klasse sealant.
The lake country wool pad was hazing on day 2, so maybe I didn’t clean it properly, or wore it out with my pressure on day 1?
When trying the different combinations the residue was very difficult to remove even using the same compound. When I hit the sweet spot it was easy to remove, is that normal?
If I didn’t have the PC on high speed it would stop spinning when I went over contours on the vehicle, so I left the speed up on it.

Okay, so I’m looking for someone to let me know how I should have handled that situation. Did I make a mistake about cranking up the speed and putting so much pressure on my polisher? Is that normal with the old PC7424? Did I expect too much by pushing it until the paint was defect free?

Don’t forget, the vehicle is sold so you won’t be hurting my feelings if you blast me for my way of that polishing job. I’d just like to know for the future how I should have handled that situation.

TIA

[psnt1ol]

You are comparing apples to oranges. What you were seeing is the difference between the two machines....

Rupes is a long throw machine and its correction power is in the throw so light pressure is all you need. The porter cable is a free spinning 8mm DA and doing correction with it sometimes can be a long process. To me, the porter cable has its place but for correction work.. its a bit underpower. It can be done but your arm speed needs to be almost at snail pace with a smaller work area plus moderate pressure.

Pad stalls will happen for either machine if the pad is not flat to the paint. With enough hours behind either machine, one would learn how to tilt the pad slightly to keep it from stalling.

The only way one can estimate how much paint you have left is by using a paint depth gauge. Most reputable detailer would measure before any correction work since this would dictate the approach he would take to get the job done while taking the minimum amount of materials off the vehicle.

[Texchappy]

Welcome and sorry for the tribulations. As was said, the PC and Rupes are very different.

[Radar09]

Thanks for your reply, I was assuming the same as what you pointed out. I felt like correction with my polisher was a lot more work than others in their video’s. That made me wonder what level of correction I should be trying to achieve. I like to see as close to a scratch/swirl free finish as possible. Wasn’t sure if that what everyone else does.

[Mike Phillips]

First off I’d like to say WOW there is a lot of information out there for us all to view and take what we need to make our projects work out the way we want.

And that my friend is the power of a well-run forum. Unlike Facebook or Instagram - you kind find meaty information in a format that's easy to read and most important - understand and then do something with it.





Much good info deleted to get down to this,

I currently have the original PC 7424

Click the below link, watch the video. Put into practice the techniques I share.


Best video ever on how to machine buff a car from start to finish


I coined many of the terms everyone uses in our industry today, for example the term,

Test Spot

That is a Mike Phillips term. Section Pass is another. So when you watch other sources of information and see the words and terms they are using - there is in fact an original sources for these things.

[Mike Phillips]

Also...

The original Porter Cable, both the 7424 and the 7336 are one of the weakest orbital polishers on the market today - by today's standards. Don't get me wrong, it's a TANK of a tool. The modern updated version, which was updated back in 2009, I know because Meghan, our COO sent me one while I was still at Meguiar's in Irvine, California and after I had announced I was leaving Meguiar's to come to Autogeek.

And while the improvements to the Porter Cable 7424XP are nominal - they do make it a more effective tool than the original models.


MOST IMPORTANT for whichever version of the PC you own is to have and use a 5" backing plate so you can turn and churn smaller and thinner 5.5" pads. If you have a 6" backing plate on your old PC you are forced into using larger 6.5" pads and most 6.5" pads are also THICK and the thick foam for these larger pads absorbs and dissipates the energy or power coming out of the tool.

This shows up to your eyes as pad stalling or simply no pad rotation.

Here's the deal, on ANY brand or type of free spinning random orbital polisher, from the cheapest to the most expensive - if the pad is not rotating it is also not oscillating and you are simply WASTING TIME.

So if you don't have a 5" backing plate and you plan to continue to use this tool - do your self a favor and get a 5" backing plate and some thinner pads.


Here's my article on this topic from 11 years ago as I type today on March 6th, 2021 - time stamp for when I posted this is

July 15th, 2010

How to MAXIMIZE your DA Polisher

[PaulMys]

Welcome to AGO!

To learn the "WHY's" behind machine polishing, you really need to read/watch Mike Phillips' articles/video's.

The other guys on YT will show you the processes, tools, etc. that they use or even prefer, but Mike breaks things down so that you can understand WHY this or that works and WHY this or that does not work.

Sometimes Mike's video's aren't the "flashiest", but they are 100% no BS real world info. The info you need to learn not only how, but WHY.

And........ Where are all of the YT guys Articles and Books??

Just sayin'.........

[Radar09]

Thanks for the info Mike. I spent some time going through the great video and the maximizing the DA article, great stuff.
I’m happy to see the technique used on the car is virtually the same as what I did, crank it up and giver!
I’m looking at upgrading to a Rupes with a 15mm throw (they are on sale up here at Canadian tire $100 off this month). Not sure I need the 21mm. I’m actually thinking of turning my PC into a 3” polisher by getting a new backing plate and pads, would that be a good idea? I need a smaller unit as well for the tight areas on my vehicles. Or would that not be the best combination?

[Radar09]

Yep, I agree. I’ve been taking in Mike’s video’s for years. So much great info. I come to this site for the (dumbed down version) of everything detailing. I love the info here and the responsiveness and understanding/patient responses of the forums. Some forums can get pretty intimidating to ask questions.

[DUBL0WS6]

When it comes to cutting, a microfiber pad will cut and correct faster than foam on a PC.