Jeweling with the Flex?

[Alexshimshimhae]

lol i get this feeling that by this time next year, I'm ganna have to do hobby detailing to make up for hte money spent on my collection of toys and prods =] lol it's a good thing it's become somewhat of therapy for me... lol

 

[lee@glosshaus]

Relatively few glazes work OK with sealants. DWG is the most notable exception and it does work fine with most anything. Until recently, glazes were strictly for use with waxes or by themselves.



But you could probably get by just fine without any glazes, especially if you have SRP on hand.



Only time I've used glazes since forever is on fresh repaints (traditional glazes are fresh-paint-friendly); got some DWG back before Bob went out of business, but so far it's just sat there on the shelf.



For that matter, you could probably forget about jeweling/burnishing and never have any worries. Not like "normal people" will ever notice it anyhow, and one "regular" or "normal" wash will more than undo any such effect. No reason to be concerned with microscopic issues when most people can't even notice or maintain macroscopic standards.

You are such a great resource here that I hesitate to say it, but I disagree with you on this one. Jeweling the paint is where the "pop" comes from, and while the heads that turn may not understand that it comes from the optical flatness that jeweling gives you, they turn! If you're talking about a daily-driver/ijustwantthecartolooknice, I get it, but for something you care about, something you want noticed, jeweling can't be beat.



It is also the most fun part of the process for me - the paint just seems to go deep right in front of you!



To make things extra confusing, I've seen many jeweling polishes called "Glaze" (including GlossHaus Glaze), but it seems like the industry has moved toward using the "glaze" label for a hiding/filling product.



I'd also hope anyone jeweling their paint is familiar with the art of two-bucket washing!

 

[Accumulator]

You are such a great resource here that I hesitate to say it, but I disagree with you on this one...

That's cool, I appreciate polite, honest discussions even when they amount to agreeing to disagree. Though this time, I sorta suspect that there's just a communication breakdown, probably my fault...

Jeweling the paint is where the "pop" comes from, and while the heads that turn may not understand that it comes from the optical flatness that jeweling gives you, they turn! If you're talking about a daily-driver/ijustwantthecartolooknice, I get it, but for something you care about, something you want noticed, jeweling can't be beat.

Maybe it's a matter of degree (what's jeweled as opposed to "just flawless"), and that I've failed to adequately express that my "normal" or "unjeweled" finishes are still a few steps beyond what many people might do :think:



Examples: after I'd fully corrected the Yukon (flawless in any light), I still did a few more passes with M205/finishing pad. Yet I do not consider that "jeweled". When I did my pal's '60 Jag, I stopped "one step short" in my mind, not wanting to give it what I considered a "period incorrect" level of gloss; everybody else said it was soooo glossy that they'd never seen anything like it.



When I burnish my vehicles, truly "going the extra mile" on 'em, nobody else can see it unless I provide a side-by-side comparison, which I can really only do with my S8 vs. my wife's A8 (same body, same color). Even then, only my wife really notices (well enough to verbalize it) and she says not to bother doing it to her car. To be honest, I often can't see any difference under most conditions and I have to ask if I'm seeing a diff just because I want to see it. Once you hit "flawless" any further improvements are pretty insignificant, at least to me. But then, the Yukon is my only "interesting color" vehicle; hard to see the diff on silver and white.



Also, I don't know anybody with an "Autopian mindset". Marring? Only my wife and I think it's an issue. Others let their concours cars look worse than my snowblower.



But hey, I have't polished any of my vehicles since forever, and as David Fermani has (good naturedly) teased me, they could all probably benefit from some polishing even if they aren't visibly in need of correction. Maybe I shouldn't even chime in on burnishing :nervous: But then, as I recall, I was one of the first people to make a big deal out of it so I guess I argue it both ways.

To make things extra confusing, I've seen many jeweling polishes called "Glaze" (including GlossHaus Glaze), but it seems like the industry has moved toward using the "glaze" label for a hiding/filling product.

Oh sheesh, get me going on that one! It gets so confusing. Yeah, I always think of "glaze" being a hiding/filling/etc. product, but that goes back to how such terms were used when I started doing this stuff, back before Meguiar's quit calling M07 "sealer and reseal glaze", M05 "new car glaze", etc. Maybe the industry has gone *back* to that definition :nixweiss



Speaking of terminology, I usually say "burnishing" as opposed to "jeweling" because "jeweling" means something completely different when it comes to finishing bare metal whereas "burnishing" is a more general term, used for this sort of thing in different contexts. Heh heh, I try to *not* be too pedantic about it though

I'd also hope anyone jeweling their paint is familiar with the art of two-bucket washing!

Noting that I'm an absolute nut about wash-induce marring, I don't see how even the conventional two-bucket method is even remotely safe enough! And/but yeah...after just a little "normal treatment" any burnished finish is right back to square one; if somebody needs to polish out noticeable marring annually I wonder why they'd even bother with stuff like this. Gee, it'll look super until the first wash



Cynical ol' me...see, yesterday was the Glenmoor Gathering of Significant Autos, big hoo-hah concours, and IMO all but maybe two of those vehicles needed serious correction, let alone bunishing. There was a little sprinkle of rain, and I watched everybody mar their paint wiping it off

 

[lee@glosshaus]

First of all, your wife sounds awesome (or tortured, or both ). My wife looks upon my labors and gives the half-grunt "looks nice" and asks me to clean the dryer vent!



Secondly, I've been absent from here for a few months, and I'd forgotten the level at which you think and work, so my apologies. I completely see what you're saying. [edit: That said, I love the jeweling/ultrafine step - it is a lot of fun]



BTW - your story about the "gathering" wipe-down reminds me of several cars I've seen with "wash me" or similar etched into the clear by fun-loving friends and neighbors... :hairpull:help:

 

[Alexshimshimhae]

:LOLOL:spit::funnypost:chuckle: you two crack me up

 

[Accumulator]

.. you two crack me up

Heh heh, sometimes the [stuff] I post here can crack *me* up



Been thinking about this thread.....



(Sheesh, I said "all my cars are white or silver" but the beater-Audi is pearl blue and the '84 RX-7 is also blue. But then I don't even think of burnishing either of those, for very different reasons. Still, it's a sad commentary when I have vehicles that absolutely slip my mind I'm polishing up the RX-7, probably for sale, and now I'm wondering if my process would qualify as "burnishing" after all :think: )



After I'd done the (Byzanz Metallic) M3 all nice and finished with M205 it just didn't wow me the way I thought it should. So yeah...I burnished it with BF/Menzerna finishing polish (one of the 106's forget which it is :confused). Now *that* was worth doing! Even after I got all the oils off it was a real improvement. But normally....I dunno.



Oh, and yeah, Accumulatorette is great! She shares my values about this stuff (and most everything else) and wants her cars to look great. Never touches the paint, never does anything that'd make an Autopian cringe. Highly trained driver too; she's lapped sportscars while track-daying her luxury car.

 

[Alexshimshimhae]

WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?!?!??! Sometimes I swear you're like some kind like detail mogul or something in disguise



BTW Rx-7, good call sir =] may I assume you left it stock and all that?

 

[Accumulator]

BTW Rx-7, good call sir =] may I assume you left it stock and all that?

'84 RX-7 GSL-SE. 100% stock and original except for tires and battery (have the original battery for display/show purposes), ~24K one-owner miles, every wash/fillup/etc. documented since new, very very nice (concours, my pal who simply loves it won't buy it because it's "too nice to drive" and he'd feel guilty putting miles on it). Still smells brand-new inside.



I had an '81 (new) in college and I'm a sucker for time-capsule cars anyhow. But now I think it's time to clear out that corner of the shop.

 

[Alexshimshimhae]

oh man...i'm drooling...

 

[Accumulator]

oh man...i'm drooling...

Heh heh..you could always buy it off me



I'm currently correcting it to about ~85-90%, afraid to really hammer it lest I mess up that old paint. I doubt the next owner will see/care about the flaws I'm leaving anyhow and I'm not gonna be the guy who precipitated a repaint. You *never* see those things with original paint...

 

[Alexshimshimhae]

I hear ya there lol if I wasn't unemployed and broke right now I think I'd give it serious consideration (especially knowing how you must maintain your darlings)

 

[Accumulator]

I hear ya there lol if I wasn't unemployed and broke right now I think I'd give it serious consideration (especially knowing how you must maintain your darlings)

Actually, I just bought the RX-7 a few years ago and mothballed it.



OK OK, enough of this thread-jack...sorry folks

 

[Alexshimshimhae]

sorry =[ lol got carried away lol