Help: Rotary Buffer Use

[StephenK]

Detailgod, you have missed my point and people on here use foam just like you stated they use wool to make a bag of money, but are using aio's.

maybe i did miss your point. i took it as you were saying that justin said only hacks use wool. well all know that not only hacks but some very skilled people also use wool. as most if not all them skilled people will say wool will leave some type of marks that will have to be finished off with foam. i have heard of people finishing with wool and have done it 1 time about 10 years ago myself. i am sure i just got lucky when i did.

[CEE DOG]

I would love to hear some more tips and further education from those with a good deal of Rotary experience.

[LegacyGT]

I would love to hear some more tips and further education from those with a good deal of Rotary experience.

I wondered who bumped this old thread ...

I am still in the early phases of learning, but a minor tilt to the pad does make a huge difference IME. I just ordered some more kompressor pads, hopefully that in combination with the flexible backing plate (HD Flex Foam & Meguiars W66) will be a winning combination for learning.

[CEE DOG]

I wondered who bumped this old thread ...

I am still in the early phases of learning, but a minor tilt to the pad does make a huge difference IME. I just ordered some more kompressor pads, hopefully that in combination with the flexible backing plate (HD Flex Foam & Meguiars W66) will be a winning combination for learning.

Why both Bill? Dave was telling me to get one like this. He mentioned the HD specifically. So right now I'm leaning towards that one. I see its only 5". I have to ask around and learn more about which plate and pads I should invest in... Let me know if you know if you have more info. later buddy

[93fox]

My first purchase was a Makita and i have never regretted it. i now also have a PC but i only use it to spread waxes and sealants, ive never thought about doing correction work with the pc. What has always worked for me is 5.5 pads, i have found that the pad hoping comes from not having the pad perfectly aligned to the backing plate. with a rotary you have to have the pad 100% dead on perfect and trust me, it will never hop. its why you see the wool pads and bigger pads with a hole in the middle. this hole is for you to insert the PVC look alike pipe that comes with your rotary. you place the pipe in the pad and then onto the hole of the backing plate and press on it and you should have a 100% centered pad. like i said, when you have the pad perfectly centred, it will never hop on you. i also prefer buffing flat. it leaves an overall better finish in my opinion. i have never had the need to tilt the pad since it never hops on me. Personally all the best finishes ive achieved have comed from all rotary work. its a great machine and it corrects like a monster. i personally consider myself a begginer with a rotary since ive only had it in my hands for about 4 months. in the little time ive had it in my hands ive learned alot. such as throwing out the 8 inch pads. i just dont like them. here is a hood i did at school with just my makita,

Process:
1.Wetsand all the orange peel off. (1000g, 1200g, 1500g, 3000g)
2.wool pad - m105
3. orange pad - m105
4. white pad - m205
5. black pad - PO84RD

(sorry for not taking pictures before i finished)



(my friend trying out the 4'' pads)


my favorite shot!


sorry for the blurry pictures. i need to buy myself a camera!

[Dr Oldz]

I would love to hear some more tips and further education from those with a good deal of Rotary experience.

I learned on a rotary when I was 12....I still have an older Snap-On and use it faithfully. My best advice is to get a scrap panel with good paint and scuff it up to different degrees and then go to town. Practice, practice, practice! I do however find myself using a DA more and more as of lately but there is just no substitution for a rotaryin correction power. You can accomplish the same results with a DA but more time is needed. The main problem I find with people using a rotary is that they think they can do a vehicle in 20 min.....not the case.

[PorscheGuy997]

The easiest way that I find for most people to begin using a rotary is to have them use a glaze and a finishing (M03 Machine Glaze and whatever finishing pad come to mind). This will remove almost no defects, while allowing the user to polisher for an extended period.

Many others have suggested learning with a wool pad and heavy compound on a scrap panel. While it may be easy to center the pad, it's a little unnerving for some to use such a large pad.

Backing plates can also provide some extra cushion. A W66 or 3M plate will make things a bit easier.

Some polishers will have a slow pick-up speed, like the Makita 9227C. I learned on this machine and found it to be comfortable with the slow pick-up. However, it's is annoying now to wait for the speed. If you can, try a few polishers before purchasing. For example, I haven't used my $500 Fein polisher in over a year because it's 2x as loud as the old Flex rotary...

Oh yeah, be sure to tape off the cracks and cover up everything important. You will be amazed how far a rotary can sling polish.

[LegacyGT]

Why both Bill? Dave was telling me to get one like this. He mentioned the HD specifically. So right now I'm leaning towards that one. I see its only 5". I have to ask around and learn more about which plate and pads I should invest in... Let me know if you know if you have more info. later buddy

I got the W66 in addition to the HD so I would have a 6'' backing plate to use with 6.5'' pads that I already have. They had one at DF on the demo Flex and I thought it worked well, so I bought one. I'll post some pictures of them side by side.

[Mike Phillips]

Why both Bill? Dave was telling me to get one like this. He mentioned the HD specifically. So right now I'm leaning towards that one. I see its only 5". I have to ask around and learn more about which plate and pads I should invest in... Let me know if you know if you have more info. later buddy

Here are two backing plates that I really like and they enable you to use 5.5" pads up to 8" pads.

Flexible Backing Plates for Rotary Buffers


Flexible Backing Plates provide,

• An extra level of cushion when using a rotary buffer which helps you when buffing on curved panel and over body lines.

• The flexible foam interface heps to distribute pressure more evenly over the face of the buffing pad.

• They can also make the buffing process less aggressive as compared to using a stiff backing plate which can help to reduce swirls.

Currently we have two flexible backing plates besides the flexible backing plate in the 1-Pad system, which is specific to the 1-Pad buffing pads.

1. The Flex-Foam Heavy Duty Rotary Backing Plate, which has a 5" Diameter
2. The Meguiar's Easy-Buff Solo Backing Plate, which has a 6" Diameter

Below are some pictures to show the size of the backing plates relative to some popular buffing pads to help you get an idea of the fitment of the backing plate to the hook-n-loop interface on the back of the buffing pads.

Flex-Foam HD Rotary Backing Plate





Flex-Foam Backing Plate on a 5.5" CCS White Polishing Pad



Flex-Foam Backing Plate on a 5.5" Cyan Hydro-Tech Pad



Flex-Foam Backing Plate on a 5.5" Blue Finishing Flat Pad



Flex-Foam Backing Plate on a 5.5" on a Super Soft Gold Jewelling 6" Pad







Meguiar's W66 Solo Backing Plate








M66 Flexible Backing Plate on a 7.5" DuroWool 100% Twisted Wool Cutting Pad





M66 Flexible Backing Plate on a 7" Kompressor Orange Light Cutting Pad


M66 Backing Plate on a 6.5" CCS Red Ultrasoft Finishing Pad



Note in this picture and all the above pictures the extra backing and or foam that sticks out past the outer edge of the backing plate. You want this extra material as a safety margin to help prevent running the outer edge of the backing plate into any painted areas, or around trim or other components like side view mirrors, rear wing spoilers, etc.




Both of these flexible backing plates are excellent backing plates to have in your tool chest to go along with your rotary buffer.

All of the above backing plates and pads work great with all the rotary buffers on Autogeek.net

Rotary Buffers

[LegacyGT]

^Thanks Mike, perfect as always.