There's too many unknown factors for anyone with any wisdom to ever be able to give an accurate, factual answer let alone a definitive number.
Heck, just a few weeks ago we held a Detailing 101 class here for a Porsche club and after demonstrating how to use the PC style polisher 4-5 guy let me know they learned that they've been using their polisher for years but had been moving it over the surface
too fast.
When trying to remove defects out of the paint you're in essences trying to remove a little paint. If you move a DA style polisher
too quickly over the surface you are not
effectively removing any paint, thus you won't be effectively removing the swirls.
The above is just
one factor that relates the reason there cannot be a definitive answer, let a lone a general number as to,
How many times can you buff?
Correct. I've seen it, but it's pretty rare. From memory, it is something that is usually caused by someone trying to remove
each and every scratch out of the hood so they buff and buff and buff.
This is why I usually caution people to not try to turn a
daily driver into
show car, that is
don't try to remove each and every scratch out of a car that's just going to get scratched again. Instead, remove all the shallow scratches and stop. This practice will restore a swirl free finish with only the
RIDS remaining. This will help the paint job to last over the service life of the vehicle while still creating a beautiful finish.
RIDS = Random Isolated Deeper Scratches
RIDS show up after you do your initial buffing step where you remove the majority of the shallow scratches so now all that's left are the deeper scratches. These remaining deeper scratches are randomly dispersed throughout the finish because they are randomly inflicted into the paint through the normal course of day-in, day-out wear and tear. Because all the shallow scratches have been removed, the remaining deeper scratches now stand out like a
sore thumb as it's easier for your eyes to now see them whereas before they were camouflaged by all the lighter swirls and scratches surrounding them.
(RIDS are completely different than Tracers in the way in which they are inflicted and the direction in which they're in the paint)
You're opinion is correct. My answer wasn't a definitive answer and was never meant to be a definitive answer because there is no definitive answer.
I'm not going to skip over to MOL and do search for how many times this question has been asked and then I've answered it much the same way as in my first reply to this thread and now in this long version.
Suffice to say
a lot.
(Note
a lot is two words, not one word)
That is to say this is a very common question, usually by Newbies worried about buffing off too much paint. My answer was meant to
remove not just the OP's
fear but anyone that reads this into the future, both Lurkers and Forum Members alike. It's not the problem most newbies make it out to be
especially if you're starting out with a car in which the paint has all of it's integrity.
By saying,
especially if you're starting out with a car in which the paint has all of it's integrity
What I mean by this is a car in which most, if not all the factory paint is still intact, or in other words, most or all the original factory paint is still on the car.
Now if someone has buffed on the car over aggressively
before you the new owner obtains the car, and you the new owner don't know about the over aggressive buffing that's taken place, then chances are better you could burn through the clear coat but
not because you removed too much paint buffing in normal ways, but because you started out with a car that didn't have a lot of paint to start with because of the actions of someone who previously worked on the car. In other words, the car had thin paint to start with, that is the car had thin paint before you the new owner worked on it.
Does that make sense?
So here's what I've been typing for years on this subject, let me turn int into a dedicated thread next week.
In most cases,
the least of anyone's worries using a DA style polisher, is removing
too much paint. If you read forums enough and specifically posts related to removing swirls, it's more likely you'll find examples of people asking for help because they're
not getting the swirls out. What this means is they're
not removing enough paint.
That's because the way you remove swirls is to remove a little paint to flatten out the surface so that the surface is level with the lowest depth of the deepest defects. Most people struggle with removing
enough paint to remove swirls. The majority of people
don't have the problem of removing too much paint and exposing the coating under the top coat.
At least that' my observations...
Does that help?
Bookmarks