How to remove tiny pinhole pits in glass windows using a rotary buffer

Mike Phillips · 09-02-2011, 09:38 AM

How to remove tiny pinhole pits in glass windows using a rotary buffer

Here's a project I tackled this last Monday morning. In order to see the tiny pinhole pits in the glass you have to inspect for them early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun is out and low in the sky to expose the defects on the surface of the glass.

I used the finger technique explained here to capture the pinhole pits...

How-To capture swirls, scratches, etchings and other surface defects with your camera

Not sure how the tiny pinhole pits got into the glass but using my finger to enable the camera to focus on the glass surface you can see them here...

Tiny tiny tiny pinhole pits in the glass

Glass Polishing is VERY MESSY

All the glass polishes I've used are water based and best results are achieved when you use a rotary buffer. Rotary buffers tend to throw splatter dots via inertia with any liquid, especially if you over use the product but it's even more of a problem with a very liquid product and that applies to glass polishes.

One of the reasons is that since glass polishes are water based and rotary buffers generate heat, the water evaporates fairly quickly while you still have good abrasives still on the glass. To get more use out of the abrasives I mist on some water and continue buffing and the addition of the water re-liquefies the polish but also causes splatter dots to sling off the glass polishing pads and discs.

Take my word for it, if you ever do any glass polishing with a rotary buffer you want and need to cover all adjacent panels or you'll be wiping abrasive glass polish off all these surfaces when you're finished.

Soft Autogeek Cover Up Towels with painters tape used to cover and protect the paint

To remove the pits out of the glass I used some of my personal stock of Diamondite Glass Resurfacing Creme, which we're currently out of stock. To apply the Glass Resurfacing Creme I used

Lake Country 5.5" Glass Polishing Pad
Lake Country 5 Inch Glass Cutting Pads 3 Pack
Flex PE14 Rotary Buffer
Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate

Note: The Glass Cutting discs are hard and thin, that's their characteristic, just an observation, not a negative or positive comment. The point is they are thin and hard and glass is hard so one thing that helps a lot when buffing glass is to use the glass cutting discs with a flexible backing plate which helps make the buffing process smoother.

I buffed the glass twice, the first time with the thin class cutting discs on around 1800 RPM and lots of firm downward pressure. The wiped the glass clean and re-buffed using the foam glass polishing pad at 1500 RPM starting with firm downward pressure and then lessening the downward pressure for the last have of the polishing process.

Clarity restored

After removing all the protective toweling I wiped the car down with Pinnacle Souveran Liquid Spray Wax

Don't learn the hard way... anytime you do any glass polishing, cover and protect the paint on the car you're working on and any car parked next to the car you're working on.

**Larry A** · 09-02-2011, 09:42 AM

Did most of the pits go away.

Mike Phillips · 09-02-2011, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by Larry A

Did most of the pits go away.

Ha ha...

Max just walked by and I hadn't asked him about it since I did the polishing work on Monday so I asked him and he said "yes", that fixed the problem.

**embolism** · 09-02-2011, 10:07 AM

no 50/50's Mike?

just kidding. I think this is the first such writeup on glass I've seen.

Thanks!

**Perfections** · 09-02-2011, 10:08 AM

Mike great work! With those pads/Bp how large of a section of glass were you buffing out? I've noticed if you try and stick with the normal 2x2ft the polish tends to dry out a bit to fast causing the pad to get real grabby and jump off the glass, this is with the griots kit though. Just wondering since I've never gotten to use the lc setup yet. Thanks for any info

**ChrisGT** · 09-02-2011, 10:11 AM

Nice work! I love a flawless windshield. Mercedes did such an incredible job on the CLS.. That thing is jaw dropping.

Mike Phillips · 09-02-2011, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Perfections

Mike great work! With those pads/Bp how large of a section of glass were you buffing out?

You are wise grasshopper...

I broke the windshield into 4 quadrants, two on each side, upper and lower sections.

Originally Posted by Perfections

I've noticed if you try and stick with the normal 2x2ft the polish tends to dry out a bit to fast causing the pad to get real grabby and jump off the glass,

Correct. Because of the heat generated by a rotating pad against the glass the water evaporates and the buffing cycle is short. For this reason you've better off to shrink the size of your work area downward.

Just for anyone that might work in warm temperatures on glass or paint, I cover this issue here,

Tips for working in warm/hot weather or direct sunlight

Excerpt...

Originally Posted by Mike Phillips

Shrink your work area down to a smaller size...
Anytime a product becomes difficult to work with, one tip you can try is to shrink down the size of your work area. This means you spread the product out over a smaller area and because you're engaging the working film of product over the area more quickly as you move the polisher there's less time for the product to dry.

Originally Posted by Perfections

this is with the Griot's kit though. Just wondering since I've never gotten to use the LC setup yet. Thanks for any info

The LC and GG glass cutting discs look to be similar types of products. Next time I do some glass polishing I use the Griot's and take some pictures and post some feedback.

**Perfections** · 09-02-2011, 10:43 AM

Thanks Mike, as usual great info and thanks for tips

I'm out of glass polishing disc, guess I could try some lc's. I've found other uses for these disc but that's for another thread

**rwright** · 09-02-2011, 10:51 AM

Great job and great thread Mike! As stated before I'm not sure anyone has a thread like this? Do you cover glass polishing in either of your classes? I guess it would fall more in line with your 102 class.

Originally Posted by Perfections

Thanks Mike, as usual great info and thanks for tips

I'm out of glass polishing disc, guess I could try some lc's. I've found other uses for these disc but that's for another thread

Do tell

**Excessive Detail** · 09-02-2011, 11:38 AM

Thank YOU!!!! Finally a post answering the question I have been struggling with, the final hurtle in my detailing quest to master. I just recently purchased all three, before this post. I've used the glass polishing pad with the creme on some very very very I mean very hard water spotted windows, unfortunately it didn't do much, I was tempted to use the hard disc, but I wasn't sure how to go about using them plus it was a customers car and Id rather try it on my own first. One question, any worries or precaution when using the hard disc with warping the window due to excessive heat buildup, I understand the need to keep the buffer moving, but just wonder if there's anything else to be noted on this process. THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN!!!!!