considering upgrading to rotary...

Q

qbmurderer13

New member
Hey guys I'm currently using a porter cable for details with 4" pads and its working out good so far. Although of course the level of correction I want isn't there. Now I'm considering purchasing a makita and using 6.5" pads. Although even with my 4" pads there's some spots I can't polish well due to size (top of bumpers, fenders, etc...).



Now I've read that using 4" pads will reduce cut on a rotary and be more likely to burn through the paint. Do most of you guys use 6.5" for the whole car or just the big panels? Then switch to 4" for bumpers and fenders? Will the cut be similiar? Thanks!
 
You'll know exactly how it's going to cut within the first 30 seconds of using it. I can go through and try to explain the micro diffrences and such but if you're just stepping up to a rotary get yourself a couple of test panels. (junkyards are great for this if you don't have anything lying around) And play around with them. Start with a light to mid grade polish and see how that works for you and then start getting more and more aggressive on your test panels until you get a real feel about the machine and the pad/product combo your using. And then once you're really set on something try to burn through the paint with it and see how long or what process you had to use to make that happen and keep that real clear when your working on customer cars. But jsut like with everything the more you actually do it the better you're going to be at it.
 
Right, but do most of you guys step down to 4" pads to detail tight areas such as top of bumpers and some cars with fender flares or just stick with the 6.5" pad your using? Ill definately be getting some practice panels though.
 
The smaller pads do come in extreamly useful in tighter areas. Most of the time I'll stick with my 6.5" pad though. I have a wide variety of pads to choose from So i just use what is most useful without really thinking about the size. If there's something I really need to break out the 4" pads for I do. But most of the time I can get it all done in one size.
 
qbmurderer13 said:
Right, but do most of you guys step down to 4" pads to detail tight areas such as top of bumpers and some cars with fender flares or just stick with the 6.5" pad your using?
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I know this is a crappy answer but "it just depends". Often the overhanging portion of the pad (the part that sticks out beyond the bakcking plate) or even the edge of the pad (gotta be *very* careful doing that one!) will reach tight spots the best. Or you can tape off surfaces you don't want to abrade and then use the large pad.



But yeah, 4" pads *are* very handy for certain areas and are great for aggressive spot-correction too.



Burning paint isn't all *that* big a risk as long as you're careful and approach the whole thing with the proper mindset (know what you're doing and why). Since there are good cutting products like M105 on the market, it's usually not that hard to do serious work without using risky techniques that're likely to lead to an "oops". I honestly think the bigger risk is the "just a little more" temptation where you end up taking off too much paint because perfection is just around the corner.



Just my $0.02, but I'd also consider a Flex 3401. I bought the Flex even though I already had two rotaries and I like it so much I doubt those rotaries will be getting much use. But again, that's just me and a lot of people do love the rotaries.
 
ramtough said:
I just can't get the hang of the rotary I have burnt through all my test panels. Thats why I use a pc.:hairpull
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Huh...wonder what you're doing wrong :think:



I'm no rotary-Meister like some people here, but burning paint just doesn't happen for me unless I do something very unusual. IIRC I've done it *twice* in my life (and that's not banging my own drum..I still prefer the Flex, and I can't finish out 100% hologram-free via rotary, but I can't help but think that if I can avoid burning paint then so can most people).



I *absolutely* do not intend for this to sound like some :nono but rather, I think that if you can figure out what you're doing wrong you should be able to get the paint burning issue sorted out. Then you can start struggling with holograms and other issues :D
 
ramtough said:
I think on certain angles I just tilt pad and rotary to much.:thx
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That may be your issue. If you tilt the pad, the corner can burn quite easily. I always keep my pad flat, never use more than the weight of the rotary while polishing, and when I an near edges, corners or other non flat surfaces, I actually lift up on the rotary so less than the weight of the rotary is on the pad. Lifting up on the rotary may require me to go over an area another time but I am OK with that because I know edges can be a little risky.
 
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