"grit" size used in HD Polish?

Grit size? No clue? Only Tunch Goren will know that answer & I'm pretty certain that he won't disclose it due to proprietary info. 


 


Is there a reason for your question? Maybe if I know more I can help further. 
 
I'd probably dismiss the practical import of the grit size anyhow...to me it's like that "removes XXXX- grit scratches" BS that ad-copy always mentions.  If I had a nickel for every product that "!removes 2000-grit scratches!" in the ad but in practical reality *DOES NOT DO IT* under any remotely realistic conditions..... :rolleyes:
 
Accumulator said:
I'd probably dismiss the practical import of the grit size anyhow...to me it's like that "removes XXXX- grit scratches" BS that ad-copy always mentions.  If I had a nickel for every product that "!removes 2000-grit scratches!" in the ad but in practical reality *DOES NOT DO IT* under any remotely realistic conditions..... :rolleyes:


 


I pretty much agree about ad copy, except BS is probably being diplomatic, in most cases.  At the same time, I've worked with one manufacturer who let me tell him what his polishes and cutters would do and in that case it was accurate.   Even in that case, there's a problem - I use a rotary for cutting - and the action of a rotary with a wool pad is significantly different from a random orbital with a foam pad, so some people might have thought I overstated the claim, even after I took that into account and went finer by one grit number on everything I told him.  That is Randy at Hi-Lustre.  I'm sure he's not the only one who would rather understate and have people be surprised with a better than expected result but he's the only one I've worked at this level. 


 


From my point of view, grit size isn't as important as how it breaks down.  Big soft particles that break down quickly become in practice what they break down too, not what they start out as.  Getting abrasives that start big enough to get real cutting done and break down small enough to finish well is, from my experience, an interesting problem requiring not only working with different abrasives but also different carriers and amounts of each.  


 


Robert
 
WhyteWizard- Yeah, I was being a bit diplomatic, in part because of the point you brought up- wool pad/rotary and maybe most things *could* do what is claimed.  Way back in the day some of us got a bit of correction out of "functionally nonabrasive" Meguiar's M07, though it probably wasn't the actual *product* that was doing the cutting.


 


Interesting about Randy at Hi-Lustre, that's the way to run a business and it's far too rare.
 
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<span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Is there a reason for your question?</blockquote>


To judge based on starting point. Scholls S40 is claimed to have a grit size of p7500.  Everyone else says shiniest, fastest, smoothest, dusts, doesn't dust, the list goes on ad nauseum; which is hardly a quantifiable description.  If a starting point and breakdown characteristics is revealed a buyer can make an informed decision.  Would you purchase a car without knowing the CID? Fuel consumption? Reliability? Automatic or manual? single stage. 2 stage, 3 stage paint? Power/manual brakes?


 


When was the last time anyone used HD Polish with a wool pad on a rotary?  Sheesh! Where did that come from?
 
There are lots of abrasives and some are very large but break down almost instantly while others start small but break down very slowly.  Shapes also vary and have an effect on the result.  Then there are the other components in the polish, some attenuate the cut and others can make the abrasives, by contrast, more effective.  Very importantly, there's the issue of how much of the abrasive is in the polish.  A polish with a lot of smaller abrasives will cut faster than a polish with less but very large abrasives because a more dense distribution of abrasive over the surface of the pad will put more abrasives in contact with the paint than a lesser concentration of larger abrasives and a higher concentration of smaller abrasives will also result in a more consistent cut.


 


In the end, if a manufacturer wants to say what size abrasive each of their polishes and cutters have as a way of indicating how aggressive each might be and what kind of shine might be expected relative to one another in their line, that could be of value but I doubt that information would be of much use in terms of comparing products across product lines.  


 


Putting a little polish on a thumbnail then rubbing it with your other thumbnail, nail to nail, will let you get a better feel for the abrasive than rubbing it between your finger and your thumb, skin to skin.  Picking up a bottle and feeling the weight or better yet weighing the polishes will tell you something about what you can expect.  In the end, the only thing that really matters is how it works, and that's why manufacturers provide the descriptions they do.


 


 


 


Robert 
 
GonzoBernelli- the "wool pad/rotary" probably comes from how so many "removes [whatever grit]-scratches" claims would require something like that to live up to their billing.
 
So many different kinds of abrasive powders used for polishing that it's really hard to categorize them to a point that wouldn't be overly complicated to everyone. Even though HD Polish is a finishing polish doesn't mean it can't cut out deep defects. During SEMA I played around with HD Speed (which is a little less aggressively than Polish) and totally removed 2000 grit sand scratches with a black foam pad. Took a bunch of slow/controlled passes, but it worked. Says alot about not just the abrasives used, but the carrier oils too.
 
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