A guide to rotary polishing

35TH LE said:
Thank you!



One thing though... can you explain proper polish spreading? Ive seen it done many ways... lines of polish on the paint while working one line into paint move to next line, product on the pad then with rotary off and then spread on paint while the rotary is off, product on the pad then spread @ 600 and then move to 1000+... etc.



Personally.. I use the spread @ 600 then move up.
Click to expand...



Ultimately its what works best for you, theres no right or wrong. I have tried both methods.



The picking up lines from the paint 'looks cooler' ;) but given thta you may need to clean pad between polish applications it may cake up pad if you use too much - best suited to polishes like ssr2.5.



Menzerna ceramiclear 3.0x are bets suited to applying tiny amounts to the pad itself. If you applied lines to the paintwork it would literally take forever to work the polish!
 
Awesome tutorial/guide... I'm no longer scared of the rotary; time to go out and try it on some scrap panels from the junkyard!
 
I have to say, that after reading this - the light bulb went off, blinded everyone in a half mile of me and I'm feeling good about using the rotary again. I had a little boo-boo on my mom's old car with some plastic trim and kinda got a phobia about the rotary - I know, I'm "mental" - that's what happens when you get middle aged. Currently I'm using 6.5" LC pads, with the white one my first choice then if that doesn't cut it - I bump up to the orange one. I don't really like these pads, they're great on the PC but kinda suck on the rotary. I'm looking hard at the 8" Edge waffle pads.
 
I want to thank u for the EXCELLENT write-up..

I'm a real noob .. and that gave me a little push :)

Thanks a LOT for helping the community!
 
That write up gives me what I needed to hear to buy a Makita....:D



I've got an old pick up to practice on and am looking forward into seeing what it can do......
 
Great write-up...I didn't take the time to read every word, but everything I read I agreed with.



And GREAT point about the plastics...I learned this lession when I first used the rotary and was experimenting on my own vehicle and was determined to get out some deep scratches with a lambwool pad. Though I've never had any problems on plastic or carbon firber panels...you got me thinking that maybe I've been pushing the envelope a bit too much on these surfaces.
 
IMO dense pads work better on a PC and softer pads work better on a rotary. The softer pads on a rotary conform better to the vehicle surface and produce less sling.
 
Wow, I've seen much bigger and confusing writeups that weren't as simple and too the point like yours, awesome! Makes me less nervous about using the rotary after reading that.
 
OK, today I picked up the Makita, and went to work getting some cat scratches off my hood. I was using XMT#3. Started with LC white pad, after 3 passes and not much progress, I swapped the white for orange and it started working. I took my time, did 600-900-1200-900-600 and finished out fine. Topped with DG PBA and 105. Now, if I catch that damn cat again.............!!
 
You mentioned you have used other methods than the Zenith technique. Are you willing to share those with us? Thanks in advance.
 
Great write up, matter a fact I'm going to go pick up a rotary right now. Probably a Dwalt due to the fact that i don't know and local places that have Makitas.



Chris :xyxthumbs
 
HenrikP said:
You mentioned you have used other methods than the Zenith technique. Are you willing to share those with us? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...



When I first started I simply grinded with the rotary and then tidies up with the PC. Later my finishing tecnique involved slowing things down on the rotary wheich then change dto the zenith point tecnique.



Also have tried these two tecniques



The slow cut



The Slow Cut Tecnique (Rotary) - Detailing World



and later the lazy mans rotary tecnique



Lazy mans rotary polishing - Detailing World
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top