Couple Polishing Questions..

K

Kn0x

New member
I am planning on buying an orbital polisher and have a few questions.



I recently (last week) clayed, polished (color-x) and waxed (NXT) my girlfriends car. Now, this was all by hand mind you and I removed only a tenth of the scratches and swirls that are on it.



Well, if I get this polisher and some pads, I imagine I could remove a lot more of the defects. What do I need to do to get rid of the NXT prior to attempting this? Or does it even need to be removed?



Also, will color-x work or will I need a stronger abrasiveness to my polish? Or is that handled primarily by the abrasiveness of the pad? Let's just assume all of the scratches are light-medium.



I would prefer to be able to just go to autozone, carquest, checker, etc to pick up my car detailing supplies.
 
Someone recommended a makita 9227, but I am still deciding on what to get.



I am going to Home Depot later today to look around.



Any thoughts would be much appreciated.



- Jason
 
If you are just learning how to polish your car by machine for the first time, I would highly suggest a learning on a PC before moving on to a rotary polisher.
 
More room for error?

Do they sell those at home depot? I keep asking about HD because I have a 200 gift card for there.
 
Kn0x said:
More room for error?

Do they sell those at home depot? I keep asking about HD because I have a 200 gift card for there.
Click to expand...



The PC is a dual action polisher - its much genetler owing to the fact the head "jiggles" rather than simply rotating, producing less heat and therefore is safer in use. Its ideal for those starting machine polishing as the tool is still capable of good paint correction (it just takes longer, espeically on harder paints) yet is safe (not fool proof) in use.



The Makita is a rotary which will require more care in use, but exercise common sense and the tool is safe. What is fairly easy is removing defects, but what really does take the practice is finishing down LSP ready with a rotary, something I have spent many many hours refining and perfecting my own techniques to better my finishes with a variety of products... If yuo go down this route, I'd get a junk panel and practice on that.
 
No, HD does not carry the PC 7336 which is the model number of the "Sander" version. Lowes used to carry them but looks like they had a big sell off of them when they stopped carrying them a few months back.
 
So I just went to Home Depot, and you were right, they don't carry it - but they can order it. So I had them order me the Porter Cable 7424, it should be in within about a week.



So what pads fit this model? I might as well order them online since I don't get the polisher for another week or so. :)
 
You'll need the Backing Plate as well as a range of pads for polishing and finishing. I prefer the Lake Country foam pads, but you should poke around a couple supplier sites and look throuigh the reviews section of this site for useful information. There is no "right or wrong", you just have to jump in and start learning your own preferences.

Nick
 
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