Up Close & Personal: Lake Country HD Orbital Pads for Rupes Polishers

[Nick McKees37]

Last weekend I detailed a 2001-ish Ford F150 with the help of Bryan@Autogeek and FrankS.

Re-Painted F150 vs. Optimum Hyper Polish & Opti-Coat 2.0

Lake Country sent me a handful of their new 6 and 7 inch HD Orbital Pads to test out. There has been a lot of interest in these pads and for good reason - they're fantastic.



While Bryan was taping all the plastic trim on the F150, I spent a couple minutes poking and prodding at the new Lake Country HD pads. Lake Country developed these pads with large-orbit/stroke DA polishers in mind. The quality and construction of each pad is superb.

The pads are available in 2 sizes (6 and 7 inch, respectively) and 3 levels of cut.

• Blue = Cutting
• Orange = Polishing
• Red = Finishing

We experimented with BLUE and ORANGE and they both performed flawlessly. The foam composition of the blue pad is surprising, considering its intended application (cutting). It actually feels more like a polishing pad.

It's safe to say that Lake Country had the Rupes 21ES, 15ES, and 12ES in mind for their new HD pads. The 7 inch pad is for the 21ES, while the 6 inch is for the 15ES and the 12ES. The backing plate fits perfectly for each size.





Lake Country HD Orbital Pads tech specs:

Cooling Features
Cool Running - Runs 10% COOLER on Long Stroke machines than comparable pads

Cooling Chamber
Prevents center of pad from concaving

Construction of Pad
Dual-Density – Multi-Density design maintains optimum surface contact eliminating a “concaving effect” which extends use on Long Stroke machines

Engineered bevel - Engineered angle design prevents pad “rolling”,allowing pad to stay flat on the surface.

What to expect from the HD Orbital Pads

• Perfectly balanced pad for optimum control
• Increased stability from Dual Density design allows
  improved control on curved panels
• Less foam movement minimizes haze and micro
  marring
• Pad design allows for quick cleaning and drying

Here's a test spot I did on the hood using a Lake Country ORANGE HD polishing pad on the Rupes LHR 21ES. My polish of choice was the new formula Optimum Hyper Polish Spray.




Finished product:







I will say that the new Lake Country HD pads performed flawlessly for this detail. They are very smooth on the Rupes polishers, and they provide a respectable amount of cut and a great finish. Two thumbs up Lake Country!

Coming soon to Autogeek.net!

[refreshauto]

great review Nick, cant wait for these to come out. im ready to give these a try

[99C5Coupe]

Any chance of seeing these in 4" for the 75E?

[David at LC Pads]

Thanks for the review! We're glad you like them and can't wait for them to be ready!

[David at LC Pads]

Any chance of seeing these in 4" for the 75E?

Smaller pads have been on the list, but we focused our attention to the larger machines to begin with.

The 75E does have a longer through like the other polishers, but the way it is designed will most likely play into the development of smaller pads.

We'll keep you updated as we get farther along!

[10secdream]

Awesome review Nick. Definitely excited to give these a shot.

[Radarryan]

Great review! Do these pads have roughly the same cut/finish properties as the HydroTech pads? I ask only because the same color combos and descriptions are used for both.

[David at LC Pads]

Great review! Do these pads have roughly the same cut/finish properties as the HydroTech pads? I ask only because the same color combos and descriptions are used for both.

They actually are not Hydrotech foams, but do use the same color combos. These are all open cell foams unlike the Hydrotech pads.

[Mike Phillips]

These are all open cell foams unlike the Hydrotech pads.

Hi David,

Is there a reason you chose to use an open cell foam for these long orbit stroke machines versus a closed cell foam?

(Without sharing any proprietary information of course)

[Goldcaddy]

LC has always been at the forefront of pad tech and quality, with that being said the REAL question is...

How do these perform next to the RUPES foam pads? Is the dual density material cost savings (less foam material) or will it perform/outperform the RUPES pads?

If they can perform on par with the Rupes with any type of cost savings then I'm sold. Although I must say the Rupes are some pretty darn good pads...solid, "cushiony", dense at rolled into one.