The Edge Buffing Pads

[Setec Astronomy]

All this talk in some other threads about Flex backing plate sizes triggered a memory of me trying to get an adapter for my Flex so I could use The Edge buffing pads on it. Does anybody else remember this?

Instead of a velcro backing plate, The Edge system had a hex drive adapter that screwed into/onto your polisher, and the pads were dual-sided with a plastic plate laminated in the middle with the female hex, which snapped onto the adapter the way a socket snaps onto a ratchet. They had adapters for PC's, rotary, and were going to make one for the Flex, I can't remember if I ever got mine, I couldn't find it when I just took a quick look. 3M bought the line and the patents in 2008, and discontinued all but the rotary application.

The inventor of this was Aaron Krause, who continued making some other detailing products under a new company, but later dropped that as he achieved fame and fortune as the father of the Scrub Daddy, which you may have seen on Shark Tank or in your local supermarket.

PS Looks like I never got that Flex adapter, found some old emails, that whatever Edge had got sent to 3M when the company was sold, and 3M wasn't interested in selling that product. I'm not sure if Edge ever actually sold any of them or if it was in process at the time of the sale to 3M.

[craigdt]

I bought one of those for my Megs G110v1 (is that right? Long time ago) when they were on clearance from Autogeek about 15 years ago.

It was a good idea but just seemed... a solution in search of a problem.

[Setec Astronomy]

It was a good idea but just seemed... a solution in search of a problem.

I guess that's about right. 3M still makes the system for rotary, it would have been interesting to see what happened if they hadn't bought it; Aaron seems to think in this interview from a few years ago he would have taken the buffing pad market away from 3M: An Interview With Aaron Krause, The Inventor of the Ion Belt and the Scrub Daddy From ABC's 'Shark Tank' | Tech Times

[dlc95]

I never used the adapter system, but I did have some hook and loop pads under the "Edge" name.

I used the blue and green.

Very similar if not identical to the Buff and Shine / Hex Logic green and blue foams.

[Setec Astronomy]

All this talk in some other threads about Flex backing plate sizes triggered a memory of me trying to get an adapter for my Flex so I could use The Edge buffing pads on it. Does anybody else remember this?

PS Looks like I never got that Flex adapter, found some old emails, that whatever Edge had got sent to 3M when the company was sold, and 3M wasn't interested in selling that product. I'm not sure if Edge ever actually sold any of them or if it was in process at the time of the sale to 3M.

Ha ha, I was pretty sure I had bought the smaller backing plate for my Flex but I couldn't find it, so I looked in the box (I tend to keep boxes for stuff like this as a way to organize instruction manuals, special wrenches, etc.), and not only was the smaller backing plate in there--so was the Edge adapter! So I may get to use those Edge pads after all.