Flex PE-08 owners... hologram worries?

[kwwhite1]

I second wanting a lower speed setting I rarely go above speed two except for maybe a single pass while doing heavy correction ona tight area. Speed 1 and the black finishing pad with sf4500 or v38 and no obvious holograms even after several washes with my own vehicle.

[Mike Phillips]

Just to chime in...

You can use a finishing pad and a finishing polish to eliminate holograms/buffer trails that could have been leftover from a more aggressive correction approach.

I agree, the above is correct. Like any type of polishing by hand or machine, after any correction work you want to do a follow-up polishing step with a less aggressive pad and product.

I have the PE-08 and it will (like all rotary's) leave holograms.

I would tend to agree with the above with the exception I'll include below after this comment.

Rotary buffers or rotary polishers will tend to impart their own scratch pattern we call holograms. You may not see it on light colored paints or on thin panels. My guess is that if you were to take a large flat black panel and polish it to perfection. Then re-polish using only a rotary buffer (any rotary buffer be it a PE8 or a DeWALT), and only buff right down the center for a pass or two.

Then chemically strip the panel or wash it a few times with soap, with bright overhead sunlight shining directly down on the panel my guess is you could see where the polisher was used in comparison to the perfect paint surrounding where the polisher was used.


Here's the deal though...

First - No one does this. That is no one chemically strips the paint just for the purpose of stripping the paint. Most people after buffing out a car move on to the next step of sealing the paint with a wax, sealant or coating. The application of the wax, sealant or coating will act to mask any faint holograms left by a professional finishing buff using a rotary buffer.

Second - If used for thin panels and tight areas you really wouldn't see holograms in the normal course of looking at the paint. Big panels ? Yes. Small or thin panels? No.

So to me it's is a non issue. The primary importance is correcting and perfecting the paint. That's what I call the BIG PICTURE.

It doesn't do it 100% of the time or anything,

And that is the exception I referenced above.

but depending on:
-Compound I'm using
-Me
-Pad
-How much compound
-Moon's gravitational pull

I would agree with all of the above except I think you left out the MOST important factor and that's the paint itself.

Paints are different. Some paints polish out better than others. I think we've all experienced paint that scratches if you LOOK at it the wrong way let alone buff on it.

That's why when possible it's always a safe bet to use any dual action polisher for your last machine polishing step to ensure you remove any residual or potential holograms so they are never an issue.

For thin panels or tight areas where it's simply faster and easier to knock them out using the PE8 with a small foam pad then by the time you do the sealing step you will have blended all the correction and polishing work together for a hologram-free uniform finish.

That's my take and my experience.

People can invest tons of time perfecting every square millimeter of paint but at some point you have to find BALANCE between what your time is worth in context of th car you're working on (daily driver or true show car), and also factor in if you're doing it for the love or passion of the craft you're detailing for dollars.


I would also add that now days it's easier than ever to finish out hologram free or as close to it as possible simply due to the abrasive technology available in top brand compounds, polishes and cleaner/waxes. That and gold jeweling pads.

[Mike Phillips]

I second wanting a lower speed setting I rarely go above speed two

Same here unless I'm doing some major chopping.


I'll be working with Bob Eichelberg this Monday when we shoot the next episode of our TV Show and I'll ask him what it would take to get a lower RPM option in the PE8.


I think it has to do with the cooling of the tool. That is if the tool was run at lower speeds for to long a time then there would be a heat problem. During operation the motor that drives the buffing pad also drives the fan that pulls air through the tool to keep it cool and thus keep it safe. Running the tool at lower RPMs might not be safely possible for a compact tool of this size.

It is possible for the larger frame PE14 which has a low RPM of 400 and there's even another Flex rotary with a low RPM of 200 but it's for working on plastics and not needed or available in the U.S. - at least that's what I remember hearing.