one question before taking the rotary plunge

jason rawls

Weekend Warrior
Well, I just received my Chicago Electric rotary, it took forever but I can't complain for $35 with shipping:mohawk . Plus it came with a 7" backing plate although all of my pads that I've been using with my PC are 6". I plan on ordering the Edge quick connect system and a couple of double sided pads, then I will be off to practice on my wife's white 96 Chevy Corsica that is wrecked and does nothing but collect dust.

Anyway,I'm not going to ask "how do I use a rotary" as I know there have been plenty of threads on this topic, but I do have one specific question. When I was thumbing through some of the old posts about rotary usage I came across this picture here, and was curious as to what specific improper technique caused this.

Was this caused by too much pressure, wrong pads, wrong speed, pad not being flat, or perhaps something else?
 
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It could be all of the above as well as not taking the time to work the product long enough or not stepping down to a less abrasive polish.
That is a great picture of what you don't want your work to look like.
I know it will take some time but start on one panel and buff it until you have it looking like you want even if iot means using different polishes and different pads, etc. Then move on to doing the entire car.
That way if you mess up with the wrong polish or pad, you won't have to correct the entire car.
Good luck ... I am sure you will be getting great results in no time!
 
kimwallace said:
It could be all of the above as well as not taking the time to work the product long enough or not stepping down to a less abrasive polish.

So your saying that if you work the product long enough and step down to a lesser polish, this can be avoided? I know that you should step down on your polishes to remove buffer swirls from compounding, but this looks a little more severe than just left over micro marring (correct me if I'm wrong).

Are you sure that this clearcoat isn't burned from improperly handling the machine, or is it not quite that big of a deal? How would you repair something like this?
 
I'm learning the rotary and I put in some holograms on the surface I was working. When you look at it, it looks nasty but it isn't as hard to take out as it seems.
 
kimwallace said:
It could be all of the above as well as not taking the time to work the product long enough or not stepping down to a less abrasive polish.
That is a great picture of what you don't want your work to look like.



I agree. It could also be if your pad is too dry and this is what I found could also cause this. To aggressive products, not stepping down products, and not keeping the pad flat is what I found usually causes that.
 
What would be considered too aggressive of a product? I plan on using SSR2.5 to remove micro scratches, then finish with SSR1. Would using a PC for the SSR1 be the preferred method?
 
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Looks like it was done with a woolpad and SSR3!!

I used SSR2 with no step down (rotary with Edge 2000 white pad), topped with EX (hand) on a black 1994 Saab Aero just today. This is the second car I have rotaried in my life, takes too long at the moment (maybe it shows I care ;)) but I will get quicker with practice. It's a hell of a lot quicker than PC and works minor blemishes away nicely no fuss.

I sat on the fence over the rotary decision for 3months - now I regret all that wasted time :wall

It's a piece of p*ss to use - keep it moving, work OFF edges, not onto them, very slight (2-3deg) working angle on the leading edge does the work. Prepare to get a bit of fling until you get the hang of product loading and working. Keep the speed LOW 1200-1800rpm gets most things done. Oh yeah, KEEP IT MOVING!

Enjoy.

P.S. The pics was taken to highlight the unpolished and the SSR2 area of the hood. I'm running low on this miracle product too :(
 
jason rawls said:
Well, I just received my Chicago Electric rotary, it took forever but I can't complain for $35 with shipping:mohawk . Plus it came with a 7" backing plate although all of my pads that I've been using with my PC are 6". I plan on ordering the Edge quick connect system and a couple of double sided pads, then I will be off to practice on my wife's white 96 Chevy Corsica that is wrecked and does nothing but collect dust.

Anyway,I'm not going to ask "how do I use a rotary" as I know there have been plenty of threads on this topic, but I do have one specific question. When I was thumbing through some of the old posts about rotary usage I came across this picture here, and was curious as to what specific improper technique caused this.

Was this caused by too much pressure, wrong pads, wrong speed, pad not being flat, or perhaps something else?

Looks like the user was moving too fast with the buffer, and did not work in small sections with overlapping strokes.
 
:wha Aren't Black vehicles suposed to look like that ??:wha

'Cause I was begining to think that this was becoming the newest trend in "Bling-Bling" customizing :lmfao :rolling
 
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