Tippy - Using small pads on comparatively large tools
The term tippy comes up from time to time as it relates to using polishers to buff out car paint so here's a short article to explain what the word tippy means.
Footprint size of the face of the pad
Here's a 3" pad on a Griot's 3" Mini Polisher. The tools size as compared to the footprint size of the face of the pad is not extreme and the tool is is easy to use without the tool being tippy on horizontal surfaces.
Here's the same pad on the same backing plate on a Porter Cable 7424XP. The size of the polisher is much larger and heavier than the 3" Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher and now with this smaller footprint size of the face of the pad, the tool becomes tippy when working on horizontal surfaces.
Here's the same Porter Cable with a 5.5" CCS foam cutting pad. Now with a larger footprint to the face of the buffing pad the tool is less tippy when working on horizontal surfaces.
Using small footprint pads on vertical surfaces is less of a tippy issue because with a vertical surface you're already supporting the weight of the polisher. (5.5 pounds).
When working on horizontal surfaces, people tend to use the weight of the tool as part of the "pressure" being applied for working on the paint.
Here's the Cyclo ProGuard Orbital Backing Plate attached to the PC since they use the same 5/16" threads arbor. With the Cyclo ProGuard Orbital Backing Plate you can now use the 4" Cyclo Pads on a DA Polisher like the PC, Megs or Griot's.
Here's a shot of some various backing plates to show comparative size.
From left to right starting in the back row,
Cyclo 4" pad, Cyclo ProGuard Backing Plate
Meguiar's S3BP 3” Professional Backing Plate, 3" Griot's Backing Plate, 3.5" LC Backing Plate, 5.5" LC Backing Plate
On Autogeek.net
3" Lake Country Backing Plate
3.5" Lake Country Backing Plate
5" Lake Country Backing Plate
Meguiars Unigrit 3 Inch Professional Backing Plate and Adaptor Kit
Cyclo ProGuard Orbital Backing Plate
Hope that helps explain the term tippy as it relates to polishing by machine.
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