I dont get how some of you use 8" pads on the rotary

coupe

New member
I seriously dont get how you do it. Most vehicles dont have panels that are even that big. Last night i was lookin at my brother Jeep Cherokee and i dont see anywhere you could use pads that are 8", except maybe the hood. Then i was lookin at my grand am, 8" pads would work on the doors and hood, but thats it. Then i start noticing cars that i drive by or walk by and i dont see many that 8" pads would work on except maybe the hood and doors.



Only thing i can figure is that you must be using only the edge of the pad and even then that wont work in all situations.
 
I recently did a friend's '88 911. Used only 8inch pads on my rotory. Not quite sure why you would be having trouble. All the panels on that car were no problem, roof, doors, hood, rear..And honestly, I don't see how using a pad half inch smaller would alleviate any problems one might have. And whether the pad was 8inches or 7.5 inches, to me the danger is when buffing close to an edge that goes out into another direction.. For example, coming down off those front headlight extensions (don't know what u call them) you are coming down at a completely vertical angle, only to meet the completely horizontal hood. So there you have to watch the leading edge of your pad.
 
Right now im only using 6" edge2k pads, never used 8", i want to, thats why im curious.

My brothers jeep is a good example, his front fenders are TINY, im guessing they arent much bigger than 5".... 6" at very most. If i where to use 8" pads it would be hangin off the fender by almost 3". Not sure if that would cause a problem though.

The roof on my grand am has a sunroof and between the sunroof and front/rear windshield there isnt much more than 5" of paint. Dont see how it would work in that spot.
 
Absolutely my pad is half up in the air or off an edge all the time. On the 911, most of the time my pad is up at a slight angle. As far as the roof between the sunroof and the window, I would turn the rotory as if I were standing on the hood. Not from the side. In other words, instead of having the handle of the rotory to my right and the wheel on the left side, the wheel would be on the top and the handle would be into my chest. I would turn it 90 degrees to do that small part of the roof between the sunroof and the windshield.

And the action of the rotory would be... I would move it from the sunroof to the windshield, not pull it down towards me. As if you were on the hood pulling it towards you.
 
I guess im worried about causing holograms by only using the edge or not keeping the pad flat to the paint.



Im trying to picture in my head how you explained how to do the paint around the sunroof, its hard to explain with words :lol
 
Coupe said:
I guess im worried about causing holograms by only using the edge or not keeping the pad flat to the paint.



Im trying to picture in my head how you explained how to do the paint around the sunroof, its hard to explain with words :lol



I know sorry...its hard to visualize.



If you lift the rotory at a pretty steep angle the pad touching the paint will be (assuming an 8in pad) roughly 8 inches by lets say,... 3 inches.. You lifted the pad with the 12 oclock position (top of the pad)is on the car and the 6 oclock position closest to up, up in the air. So in that position the pad is 8 inches wide, by 3 inches high. Like a rectangle. So if you take that rectangle and put it over the 5 inch wide area between your sunroof and windshield, it won't fit because its 8 inches wide. So what I'm saying is turn the rectangle 90 degrees so its now 3inches wide by 8 inches long. So the 12 oclock position the part touching your car is now turned to 3 oclock posiition .. and the part up in the air is at 9oclock.



To remove the holograms you use different, softer pads, with finer polishes, and you use less pressure on the rotory.



And of course the higher the angle the more chances of burning the paint, etc... So you need hours and hours of rotory time to feel what you are doing... This is why i say you can't learn using a rotory simply by practicing using a rotory to buff a few junkyard hoods.
 
Honestly I have no trouble with the eurotech and CCS 8.5 inch pads on the majority of cars. only the bottom of the doors and c pillar area are done with smaller pads.
 
Coupe said:
I guess im worried about causing holograms by only using the edge or not keeping the pad flat to the paint.



Im trying to picture in my head how you explained how to do the paint around the sunroof, its hard to explain with words :lol



Keep your pad flat and you won't get holograms. You can do this by properly positioning your pad on the area you're buffing. You don't need the entire pad surface to be on the panel to buff properly. In all actuality, you could buff with a 12 inch pad if you needed to. Does this make sence?
 
I know what cuases holograms and how to fix them when they happen.



But with an 8"+ pad you cant keep it totaly flat, there would be no way to.
 
Coupe said:
I know what cuases holograms and how to fix them when they happen.



But with an 8"+ pad you cant keep it totaly flat, there would be no way to.





Maybe not on every part of the vehicle, like around mirrors or on molding/pillars, but on 95% of the rest you can. You shouldn't be buffing directly(agressively) on an edge anyways. Just a lick and a kiss. Holograms won't be seen on these small areas anyways.
 
David Fermani said:
Just a lick and a kiss. Holograms won't be seen on these small areas anyways.



"Just a lick and a kiss"- i like that :lol





Wont be seen by who? I would see them.
 
Coupe said:
Wont be seen by who? I would see them.



You won't see a hologram on a 2 inch a piller or 3 inches around the edge of a door near the mirror *if* there is any. Buff it slow, make sure not to buff it dry and you'll be just fine. It's pretty hard, if not impossible to see swirls on these parts of a panel from the way the light reflects off of them.
 
I've done plenty of cars with that small space between sunroof and windshield. No holograms. And if you really are worried, then PC them out after you use the rotory.
 
yes it can. I haven't encountered a car that has made keeping the big pads flat impossible yet.
 
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