Orbital Buffer
Its very simple.....If you want to correct your paint, as in remove swirls, get a Porter Cable 7424, GG NV, or a HF DA. With all of these you can also polish, wax, seal, glaze, etc.... You need the correct pads to compliment what you want to do. Once again to keep it simple, get Lake Country Orange (cut) white (Polish) and black (wax)
Stay away from auto zone type "buffers". Unless you just want a big paperweight.
Stay away from auto zone type "buffers". Unless you just want a big paperweight.
Its very simple.....If you want to correct your paint, as in remove swirls, get a Porter Cable 7424, GG NV, or a HF DA. With all of these you can also polish, wax, seal, glaze, etc.... You need the correct pads to compliment what you want to do. Once again to keep it simple, get Lake Country Orange (cut) white (Polish) and black (wax)
Stay away from auto zone type "buffers". Unless you just want a big paperweight.
Stay away from auto zone type "buffers". Unless you just want a big paperweight.
For someone starting out I would recommend the orange, white, black and possibly some megs MF pads. Even on a PC, Groits, HF DA you can get a lot of defects out with a MF pad. I wouldn't jump into something like M101, M100 or FG400 starting out but that's just my .02 on it.
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http://www.autogeek.net/new-griots-polisher.html
Get the Griot's Garage GG6 3rd Gen. Compared to the PC and HF DA's it has a lifetime warranty, more power, and smoother operation. You'll be able to keep the pad spinning easier and your hands and wrists will thank you after a day of using it over the PC or HF. I've used both the PC 7424XP and the GG6 so I'm speaking from experience.
Get the Griot's Garage GG6 3rd Gen. Compared to the PC and HF DA's it has a lifetime warranty, more power, and smoother operation. You'll be able to keep the pad spinning easier and your hands and wrists will thank you after a day of using it over the PC or HF. I've used both the PC 7424XP and the GG6 so I'm speaking from experience.
I'm not sure but I will probably just get the backing plate/pads from Adam's when I order the rest of my supplies... They are a sponsor and it keeps it simple.
I will be ordering my products and stuff before the weekend, can't wait until I get the first panel done!
I'm going to buy products with your recommendation heavily in mind.
I can't comment on it really because I have no experience with anything else.
It is a tad heavy but I don't see it being an "issue" once I use it for a bit.
I'm not using anything but the machine itself, not even the backing plate.
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: The Houndstooth
He was probably referring to the adam's microfiber pads... and microfiber pads do typically require cleaning after a panel or two. Foam pads will usually do the whole car before needing to be cleaned. You can get either from almost every supplier.
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Joined: Jan 2010
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From: Bay Area
I'd clean out foam pads every few panels or atleast be checking them because they cake up. There's a few different ways to clean them out on the go. Since Jeff showed me I've been using the MF towel balled up to clean out foam pads while using them
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: The Houndstooth
That's not true. You should be cleaning foam pads after every panel if not a little sooner. Depending on what type of compound or polish and how many defects you are removing will dictate how often you clean it.
There are several reasons for keeping your pad clean. One being you want to remove the old/used compound or polish from the pad and apply fresh product. You want to remove the abraded paint you have removed. If you have a bunch of old caked on product the abrasives are going to be clumped up, stacked on top of each other and uneven which will result in a non uniform finish; micro marring, D/A pigtails in extreme cases.
You want one layer of abrasives across the face of the pad. This allows for even pressure on the abrasives from the pad. Use this low quality MS paint pic for example.
The left side shows the pad properly primed(the solid red line)and one layer of abrasives under that(the red dots). This is what you want. Each abrasive particle has the same amount of uniform pressure from the pad as the others. This will yield a uniform finish on the paint.
The right shows the pad properly primed but after working a section or panel. The abrasives no longer have uniformity. There is abraded paint on the pad. Some of the abrasives have started to soak into the pad. Some are stacked on top of each other. If this isn't cleaned and you just put more compound on top of that the finish isn't going to be uniform. There will be some areas on the pad that cut more than others because there are abrasives stacked on top of each other. The pressure will also be higher in the areas where the abrasives are soaked in.
Pad saturation is unenviable however if the pad is primed correctly it slows down the absorption of the compound into the pad . Priming the pad uniformly creates a layer or barrier of compound/polish across the face and stops the added compound from soaking in. It sounds crazy but its legit. Proper pad priming also helps heavy cut compounds like M105 dust less but that's for another post at another time.
Imagine the left side of the pad going over your paint at 3000 OPM's. Now imagine the right side going over your paint. I think when you look at it like that it makes a little more sense. At least it does in my mind
As you can probably see uniformity is key here. It's at the utmost importance when polishing. You will see MUCH better results from your polishing step if you clean your pad on the fly.
For pad cleaning a combination of a pad brush, compressed air and a MF towel should be used for both foam and MF discs. Compressed air probably being my favorite. However compressed air should be used with caution when cleaning softer pads such a black LC pad because its so soft. Using a high PSI of compressed air and in some cases being too aggressive with the pad brush can damage the foam.
This is where pushing the pad into a MF towel is beneficial. Pushing the pad into a towel pulls moisture out of the pad and helps brings the old compound and abraded paint to the top of the pad. Again this is more critical with the polishing step.
You should be cleaning your MF pad after each section, 1x1 or 2x2 or what ever you are doing. MF discs remove a lot more defects a lot faster than foam. You need to get that abraded paint off the pad so its not rolling around with the abrasives causing more harm than good. You also want to fluff up the fibers. After you do a section look at the pad. The fibers are laid over flat. The face of the pad almost becomes smooth. If you just put more compound on top of that those fingers aren't helping you removed defects because they are flattened down. Cleaning MF discs on the fly is VERY important. If you don't you will quickly see a loss of performance from the disc. Clean MF discs often, I can't stress that enough.
I really apologize this post was so long but once I started typing the whole thing just kinda took off.
There are several reasons for keeping your pad clean. One being you want to remove the old/used compound or polish from the pad and apply fresh product. You want to remove the abraded paint you have removed. If you have a bunch of old caked on product the abrasives are going to be clumped up, stacked on top of each other and uneven which will result in a non uniform finish; micro marring, D/A pigtails in extreme cases.
You want one layer of abrasives across the face of the pad. This allows for even pressure on the abrasives from the pad. Use this low quality MS paint pic for example.
The left side shows the pad properly primed(the solid red line)and one layer of abrasives under that(the red dots). This is what you want. Each abrasive particle has the same amount of uniform pressure from the pad as the others. This will yield a uniform finish on the paint.
The right shows the pad properly primed but after working a section or panel. The abrasives no longer have uniformity. There is abraded paint on the pad. Some of the abrasives have started to soak into the pad. Some are stacked on top of each other. If this isn't cleaned and you just put more compound on top of that the finish isn't going to be uniform. There will be some areas on the pad that cut more than others because there are abrasives stacked on top of each other. The pressure will also be higher in the areas where the abrasives are soaked in.
Pad saturation is unenviable however if the pad is primed correctly it slows down the absorption of the compound into the pad . Priming the pad uniformly creates a layer or barrier of compound/polish across the face and stops the added compound from soaking in. It sounds crazy but its legit. Proper pad priming also helps heavy cut compounds like M105 dust less but that's for another post at another time.
Imagine the left side of the pad going over your paint at 3000 OPM's. Now imagine the right side going over your paint. I think when you look at it like that it makes a little more sense. At least it does in my mind
As you can probably see uniformity is key here. It's at the utmost importance when polishing. You will see MUCH better results from your polishing step if you clean your pad on the fly.
For pad cleaning a combination of a pad brush, compressed air and a MF towel should be used for both foam and MF discs. Compressed air probably being my favorite. However compressed air should be used with caution when cleaning softer pads such a black LC pad because its so soft. Using a high PSI of compressed air and in some cases being too aggressive with the pad brush can damage the foam.
This is where pushing the pad into a MF towel is beneficial. Pushing the pad into a towel pulls moisture out of the pad and helps brings the old compound and abraded paint to the top of the pad. Again this is more critical with the polishing step.
You should be cleaning your MF pad after each section, 1x1 or 2x2 or what ever you are doing. MF discs remove a lot more defects a lot faster than foam. You need to get that abraded paint off the pad so its not rolling around with the abrasives causing more harm than good. You also want to fluff up the fibers. After you do a section look at the pad. The fibers are laid over flat. The face of the pad almost becomes smooth. If you just put more compound on top of that those fingers aren't helping you removed defects because they are flattened down. Cleaning MF discs on the fly is VERY important. If you don't you will quickly see a loss of performance from the disc. Clean MF discs often, I can't stress that enough.
I really apologize this post was so long but once I started typing the whole thing just kinda took off.
If you guys go watch their (read Adam's) videos they agree with me.
Some of you guys make this stuff MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than it actually is.
I was specifically talking about doing it with adam's foam pads versus their microfiber pads... I have two of each of their foam pads and never have to clean any of the four during the process on small cars. That is my personal experience... sure if you want to be super **** you could make an argument to clean ANY PAD after each panel, but I have good results and that is really all its about.
If you guys go watch their (read Adam's) videos they agree with me.
Some of you guys make this stuff MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than it actually is.
If you guys go watch their (read Adam's) videos they agree with me.
Some of you guys make this stuff MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than it actually is.
TECH Regular
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 449
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area
I was specifically talking about doing it with adam's foam pads versus their microfiber pads... I have two of each of their foam pads and never have to clean any of the four during the process on small cars. That is my personal experience... sure if you want to be super **** you could make an argument to clean ANY PAD after each panel, but I have good results and that is really all its about.
If you guys go watch their (read Adam's) videos they agree with me.
Some of you guys make this stuff MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than it actually is.
If you guys go watch their (read Adam's) videos they agree with me.
Some of you guys make this stuff MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than it actually is.
Liljay is just trying to help people out on here so they get the same level correction with the first panel as the last