MF vs Foam comparison

[gofastman]

I've seen quite a few charts showing the various levels of cut from foam pads, I'm wondering if there is a clear point where microfiber pads would fit for comparison purposes.
I primarily use LC hybrid pads and OPT MF pads
Would a OPT polishing pad be roughly equal to the white hybrid pad in terms of cut and finish?

[dschia]

Cant help with LC hybrid and OPT polishing pad as I dont use them side by side.

Some thoughts though on MF and foam. I seriously doubt it will be easy to do a clear comparison of cut between foam pad and microfiber pads as there are just too many variables. Microfiber will hold more abrasive (cutting variable) than a pad could before it gets too saturated and 'float' on the working surface, thus reducing cut. More abrasive generally means more cut in a single pass with all variables keep constant. So denser microfiber holds more abrasive and thinner microfiber (pressure variable) pushes abrasive harder into the surface. Having said that, most microfiber doesnt rubbed in abrasive as hard as stiff foam do.

IMO, What primary cuts is the abrasive so it really depends how that abrasive like to be rubbed in for optimal effect. For example, griot garage boss microfiber pad is market as a heavy cutter than their grey stiff foam, yet when we polish with similar pressure using different brands of compound, we get more cut with foam than microfiber. It is only when you prime a microfiber and use the same amount of compound to prime the foam pad, then microfiber cuts more. Then again, priming with some compounds imo will make polishing ineffecient (lengthen polishing cycle unnecessary) .

Another example- Scholl concept s0 is an extremely gritty compound market to remove 1000gr, I can get more cut when use with a fairly stiff light cutting pad than a dense heavy cutting pad or a microfiber pad. I also get more consistent cut with a low orbit machine than a long throw. If you read the product instruction, you will see they recommend rotary/small orbit and their light cutting pad for this compound.

In retrospect, abrasive, pad and technique all go hand in hand as a whole. Remove the abrasive and technique variables and simply compared pad cut level is too much a simplification especially when pad is of different material. ie wool/ microfiber/ close cell foam/ open cell foam...

[gofastman]

That didn't directly answer my question, but it was very good information. Thanks!

[dlc95]

No.

There are too many variables.

In general, fiber pads (wool, microfiber, etc) will be more aggressive than most foam pads - again, in general.