It snowed this weekend in So.Cal.

bigmikela

New member
Hehe not really, but this weekend I had some free time to try out my Flex with M105 on my black beast aka Chevy Tahoe. After washing and claying it was time to do some heavy polishing. I started off with M105/orange pad and man by the time I was done there was white dust everywhere. Is this normal? I used a M205/white pad after and there was no dusting to be found. Anyways I had to wash the beast before I could go any further. It seemed like I was only able to make 1 pass before the snow began to fall. I did prime the pad using M34 and product, but nothing seemed to help. Am I doing something wrong? Anyways long story kind of short the Beast came out beautiful for a hack like me. My wife loves her Tahoe again. I'll try to post pics for those of you that care to see.

Mike :biggrin:
 
I had some dusting problems with 105 when I first started using it.

Now I only use 6 pea-size dots on the pad and I prime the heck out of it, until it really soaks into the pad. It seems to work just as well as when I was using twice that much.
 
What works for me is to spray a fine mist of water of water on the pad first then work 105 into the pad. I find that the water seems to help spread the product a little more evenly into the pad and also helps to keep me from using too much product during the priming process. Once I start to work, I'll give the pad a light misting or mist the panel and continue to work. If the pad needs more product, then I'll just simply add some.
Since I don't have that many pads, I stop to clean them if I notice that they're starting to get clogged up.
 
I like to prime my pads first with a X or O and then put 3-4 pea size drops of compound (M105) and go at it. And yes there will be dusting sometimes alot ( Blizzard warning ) or Med. dusting ( Lite Snow). That's normal and should be expected always. I always wash off the vehicle before proceeding with M205. One should changed out your pads after every panel or two. Use a pad cleaning tool and have at least 4-8 pads for each step. This is my way....
 
TBH I don't really find the dusting to be all that bad with M105 when the pad is primed very well and done with the KBM.

If I really wanna cut down on dust, I'll add a few drops of Optimum Polish to the pad, but that increases the work time and slightly reduces the cut.
 
Well, here are the pics I said I would post. Not perfect but a lot better than it was. I had a great time working on my truck. One down many more to follow. The 56 Chevy in the garage is next. :thumbup:


Before:
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After:
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This is a picture of my neighbors car which he just got not to long ago.:eek:

IMG_6821b.jpg
 
Dusting can be annoying at times but I am not sure how it got such a bad reputation. I understand that in bodyshops and on the oem lines dusting can require precious time to clean up, but often the goals there are more orientated towards speed and efficency.

As we polish paint we are abrading away trace amounts of paint. This paint gets trapped in the pad and between the pad and the paint. This contamination can cause the abrasives to clumb together which makes them act more aggressive increasing the scouring or hazing left behind. As removed paint and polishing oils cling to the abrasives the force of the rotation can pull them out of the pad causing dusting.

In this case dusting is a good thing as the pad is cleaning itself by jettisoning the spent paint and contaminated abrasives.

Also polishing paint that has certain LSPs can cause dusting because of either a chemical reaction that dries up the lubricant or because the abrasives are becomming saturated with the existing product. This the same reason that polishing paint that is in rough shape and is weather beaten can cause dusting, as the top layer of paint is removed very quickly compared to the rest of the thickness of the paint that has greater integrity.

Since the layer or thickness of weathered paint has been removed from your Tahoe, I wouldn't be suprised if the dusting issue with m105 subsides subsantially.
 
Great Job Mike!

Those wheels on that Tahoe looks GREAT. Prolly the first time I've seen a good set of chrome wheels on a Tahoe :thumbup:
 
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