Benny771

Hi :
Just looking for some pointers, or a place that has pointers. Such as speeds to be used and what the different pads are used for and when? Where i can get some (i have some swirl marks).
Just picked one up but it came with no help.
Has 2 buffer heads and no applicator heads.....

Cosmin

post a picture with your tool . if u never polish a car i wouldn`t start with a makita , a DA would be better

Benny771

Attachment 477304

Too late to not start with it. Ive polished before but with junk polishers...

Cosmin

it will be difficult for you to finish with rotary and don`t have holograms.
for correction rotary is great it has a lot of power. u start with speed 1 , spread the paste you are working with 2ftx2ft , kick the speed to 3 do 2-3 passes , drop the speed on 2 and do 2-3 more passes.
i found that meguiar`s products dry a bit faster.it will be better if you prime the pad first.
optimum has some new spray compound and polisher.
i don`t use mezerna so i can`t get any words on it , but from what i see are good products.

now about pads .. depends what you are dealing with , what kind of defects what kind of paint you have, the best is before u mess with the whole car do a test spot. start with less aggressive pad and polish.
get 6 pads kit Lake county, that way you can handle more paint defects.

with rotary you have to have the pad flat on the paint. also you may get some splater so be aware, also masking tape is a must if u use rotary.
take your time and don`t rush
Cosmin

andy928

I put this on the 911 turbo thread this morning.

Good evening,

I have just bought the same one about two weeks ago.

My mate has one and the results he gets are fantastic.

He uses the 3M pads, #2 for polishing and the #1 for an aggressive cut.

He has told me that when he clay bars there is no difference in the end result....... someone may comment on this, but his end results that I have seen are great.

He only uses speed number 1, it takes two days to do a car from start to finish, but they look new.

Have not used it myself yet, and with work it may be a while, but I can’t wait.

I thought I was pretty good, however seeing the work done on here I am in awe of the masters.

I hope with the new machine I can pick up my game.

Good luck and really keen to hear how you go and what you find.

Andrew

MoeMistry

IMHO, I'd say return the rotary and get a PC or flex. The rotary takes years to master and that's with using the tool several times a week. Most of today's polishes are designed to be used at speeds above 1200 rpm when used with a rotary. 1200-1500 is the "danger zone". If you have to use this tool, get some old body panels and practice-practice-practice. I'm not sure if you're an aspiring DIYer that want to go pro, or just a DIYer that wants great results with a machine. If the latter, do yourself a favor, and return the makita. There are much better options out there that have a fraction of the risk.

As for pads and polishes, IMHO, Lake Country makes the best pads in the world. Polishes, I've used Meguiar's, 3M, and Menzerna. The most dependable, consistent, and wide-ranged polish is Menzerna. The two polishes that'll take care of most imperfections are Super Intensive Polish, PO83, and Super Finish, PO106FA. Those two polishes and the right pads, with a flex or PC, will take care of any situation you could possibly have. Just my 2 cents.

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...rna/Categories

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...2C-dual/Detail

detailersdomain

i agree with Moe do yourself and favor and return the machine, pick up a PC or a Flex.

Much safer for a beginner.

Here are a couple videos with a PC and the correct polishes.

Click here

andy928

Well i finally tried my Makita and i have to say i am very very happy with the results, i was worried to give it a go after the comments posted, however its great.

I used it on my red 1978 mini, done 78,000ks, owned by one lady owner, not Mrs Hertz but my grandma from new, always garaged.

The red had become dull but i still got a lot of comments about how well the paint had lasted, now it is almost like new.

Thanks for your post WILLTEL, it gave me the confidence to give it a go. (911 turbo forum)

BENNY771, have you tried yours yet?

TOGWT

Experience will teach you how your polish/pad combination ‘feels’ as it goes through the various stages; i.e. cutting, to polishing stage and finishing stages, where the polish lubrication has dried up, this is where you stop, wipe off the polished area, inspect the paint surface and either clean the pad, apply more polish or change it for a clean fresh one.

Warning: Always use ground fault protection interruption (GFPI) when using any electrical device around water

1. ALWAYS stay focused on the job while using a rotary polisher.
2. Nearly every rotary on the US market today uses a 5/8 - inch / 11pi arbour spindle for backing plates. (non-US M14) I would recommend getting a hook and loop (Velcro™) backing plate and a 5.5-inch pad to start with as they are more easily controlled.
3. Practice control of the rotary polisher, on different panels, different orientations (i.e. flat –hood roof and trunk, vertical - doors and fenders) as differing techniques of machine movement must be adopted.
4. Clean your pads before you use them, or start out with a new pad; use a soft toothbrush for foam, and a spur for wool. As a general rule, the more aggressive the polish, the more often you'll need to clean out your pads. I clean out my pad after every panel when compounding.
5. Clean (or replace) you pads frequently – a clean or fresh pad will restore the intended abrasive ability, were as a saturated foam pads abrasive ability will decrease (note dried or caked on polish will increase risk of surface scratches) clean often with a soft fairly stiff brush or pad spur (Duospur). It is very important that you keep your working pad clean; as you go over the surface the removed polish and oxidation is being absorbed, which will become large abrasive fragments and will interfere with the cutting ability of the diminishing abrasives as the old polish debris will not breakdown a will affect the desired surface and may also be the cause of surface hazing.
6. Practice cantering the pad on the rotary; spin it at a low speed to ensure it is properly centred. Higher RPM speeds can give the illusion that it is centred as the centrifugal forces push the foam out slightly making it appear more centralized
7. Before commencing polishing do a test panel on the car, once you have achieved the desired results with the chosen polish / pad combination proceed
8. Diminishing abrasives- you need to allow the abrasives to break down (become progressively smaller) to create a great finish or you may impart surface marring, holograms or worse. When a polish "flashes" from a liquid paste to a light semi-dry haze; its colour changes from the polish colour to almost transparent; the polish has then broken down and is ready for removal. It is important to know when a polish has broken down because if you take it too far you (dry polishing) will re-introduce surface marring.
9. Conversely if you don’t work diminishing abrasives sufficiently they will cause surface marring; this is due to the size of the abrasive and its cutting ability, once an abrasive has broken down it becomes very fine and will burnish the surface as opposed to cutting it
10. Ensure a ‘wet’ polishing film is always present between your pad and the surface. Swirls are usually caused by using an aggressive polish without breaking down the diminishing abrasives properly, or you may have used too much polish or it may have dried. To remove, spritz the pad with distilled water (un-primed pads can cause marring) do not add further polish) and re-polish using the polish left on the pad.
11. Holograms - A pattern of small scratches left in a finished paint surface by the pad or sander during the sanding compounding and/or polishing operation;
12. Are caused by not allowing a diminishing polish to fully break-down i.e. insufficient work time, the product should become somewhat transparent (i.e. looks like thin cover of Vaseline)
13. Dry buffing
Using too much polish
Not working a product long enough
Using an overly aggressive pad
RPM speed too high
Pad angle (keep the foam pads flat) etc.
14. A finishing foam pad and polish should remove them
15. Some professionals prefer to polish the surface first in a side-to-side motion and then in an up-and-down motion. I was taught (many years ago) to polish in a firgure-8 movement and it's now second nature to me. Side-to-side and up-and-down motions seem awkward to me now. Try both motions and stick with the method that is comfortable for you.
16. Edge (spin off) – a light sensitive approach is essential, using only the weight of the machine, on vertical panels just enough pressure to maintain contact with the surface (without applied pressure) tilt the contact edge of the pad a few degrees so that only the leading edge of the pad is in contact with the paint surface.

A smaller pad surface contact area will increase friction heat so adjust machine speed accordingly As far as the edging goes; normally you aren't going to find excess marring and scratching over the edges. So if you machine in steps (and you definitely should be) save the edges for you last stage of polishing. This way you’re using a least aggressive product and pad with less pressure.
17. Knowing when a polish is fully broken down comes with experience but a good yard stick is when the polish has gone clear and is very easy to wipe off. Holograms or micro marring are again imparted due to polish that hasn’t been properly broken down or too high speeds. Following the advice above or below should cure these.
18. Intermediate polishing horizontally, final polishing vertically, so if there are buffer trails, they will be able to tell which process created them.
19. ‘Buffer hop’ is when the rotary jumps across the paints surface usually due to insufficient polish/lubrication and as the foam pad grips the paint it jumps. Try spreading the polish more evenly across the pad, add more polish, distilled water or quick detailer (QD) This can also be caused by a bogged down pad – clean / spur / replace pads often.
20. For the neophyte user I would suggest starting out by using a smaller pad, 6.5 – inch I have even found 4- inch pads to be very useful for polishing small tight spaces and smaller panels.
21. Speed – With a rotary, as you move away from the centre the pad is moving faster to complete a revolution as it is covering a greater distance towards the edge of the pad, and therefore producing for friction, the higher the RPM the friction increases along with the abrasive power. Reducing the size of the pad reduces the faster moving area, reducing these factors, so the speed needs to be raised to make up for this.
You can see this in action if you drop the pad size from 6inch to 4inch, but keep the speed the same you'll always see a drop in cut, where before you may have been getting perfect correction it'll drop off. Up the speed and the previous results return.
High RPM i.e. >1700 will cause high surface temperatures (should be limited to 1000F / 300 C)
22. 115.0F / 45.0 C < will damage clear coat to the point that it requires repainting.
23. A rotary requires no more pressure than that required to ‘hold’ it on the paint surface
24. Always tape pinstripes; it doesn't take much to wipe them right off the paint, or thin them out
25. Inspect your work under full sun (or use a 3M Sun Gun®) Holograms, fine marring hooks, etc. are very difficult to see under man made light. There's nothing more frustrating than having to strip off your LSP and re-do.
26. Remove all polish residue and oils before applying your LSP. This is a general rule of thumb for best results across all product lines, and you will notice an overall improvement in the clarity, gloss, and overall 'look' of your finish.
27. If you're new to rotary polishing start off by only using finishing pads and do not exceed 1500 RPM < faster is not better and it may cause you problems. Let the rotary do the work, you'll be surprised at what you can correct with a finishing pad and a mildly abrasive polish.
28. When you shut down the machine never let the pad stop on the surface. Bring the machine to the closest edge of the panel and slowly let it roll off with an angle facing inward to the panel, this will help prevent marring.
29. One of the biggest problems when using a rotary is product sling. However when using highly lubricated polishes sling is a sign that you’ve used too much polish or you have turned the speed up to too fast, too soon. No matter how much you try and avoid it you’re still going to see it. Cover areas you don’t want covered in product and mask off trim with blue painter’s tape if necessary and cover windshields or other vehicle parts with towels. Be careful around mouldings, antennas (aerial’s to us Brits ) and other trim pieces
30. Do not to put the chemical on the pad as the product will sling. The rotary should be in constant motion, if you're putting the chemical on the pad, then that means you are starting from a standstill. That also means that the rotary isn't spinning when it touches the paint, rather you are accelerating up to speed while already on the paint. Another reason you want to put the chemical on the paint, is that the chemical is acting as a lubricant between the pad and the paint.
31. Do not remove compound or polish grit / dust with a dry towel; as this will cause surface marring. Use a damp Micro fibre towel with minimum downward pressure and a no-rinse type product (Optimum No Rinse) that contains surfactants to encapsulate the debris
32. Moisten the pad with distilled water as it stops the pad absorbing to much product and provides a longer ‘working’ time.
33. A smaller pad on the PC has more cutting power than a smaller pad on the rotary An 8- inch pad on the rotary will have more cut than a 6- inch

andy928

I polished my work car, which is a gloss black Holden SV6, and the machine worked wonders, slow speed and a little at a time and I am very happy to get the swill marks out.

Andrew