Oops...I ordered a pad that's too big...

[dfoxengr]

Ok, for some reason I thought I had a 6" backing plate and placed an order for a single 6.5" LC CCS yellow cutting pad with a bigger order of stuff online. I just wanted one because I don't plan on heavy compounding often and this is just one step heavier than my current medium cutting pad. I actually have 5.5" pads and in hoping to make lemonade from my lemons I remembered that in some tutorial I saw the guy cutting the pads into a flower shape so they weren't a circle anymore.



The theory was to make the pad cut in a more random pattern and induce less swirls. I figure this would be most important with your most aggressive pad and I was going to go ahead with trimming the pad but wanted to get your opinions first.



Anyone know what I'm talking about? It's just not worth it to exchange it and I feel like I'd be throwing $ down the drain if I just cut it into a 5.5" circle

 

[Dan]

The cutting pads are stiff enough that it may not matter. I wouldn't cut up a new pad for some hocus pocus theory.

 

[Accumulator]

The cutting pads are stiff enough that it may not matter. I wouldn't cut up a new pad for some hocus pocus theory.

I wouldn't cut it either...what about the velcro backing? I can't help but think that if the "petal design" were viable somebody would sell pads made that way.



But FWIW, I wouldn't be using a Yellow foam LC Cutting Pad anyhow. Well, OK...I'll use it for a backing pad for MF bonnets, but I sure wouldn't compound paint with it unless I had some *VERY* compelling (and highly unusual!) reason. Yuck...and I've used enough of 'em to know

 

[Nth Degree]

I wouldn't bother cutting it either. It will work fine in the open spaces. Be cautious near edges because it might flap around and potentially damage the pad or something else. In the long run the velcro backing might start coming off. Simply use your other pads (orange I presume) for the edges.



I don't quite understand how the flower pattern would prevent swirls. The physics don't change. FWIW I rarely use my yellow pads unless the paint is really hard and it's a large, flat surface.

 

[dfoxengr]

But FWIW, I wouldn't be using a Yellow foam LC Cutting Pad anyhow. Well, OK...I'll use it for a backing pad for MF bonnets, but I sure wouldn't compound paint with it unless I had some *VERY* compelling (and highly unusual!) reason. Yuck...and I've used enough of 'em to know

Can you explain why not? you think it's too aggressive or what? I wanted something more aggressive than my orange Uber pad to keep in my arsenal.

I wouldn't bother cutting it either. It will work fine in the open spaces. Be cautious near edges because it might flap around and potentially damage the pad or something else. In the long run the velcro backing might start coming off. Simply use your other pads (orange I presume) for the edges.



I don't quite understand how the flower pattern would prevent swirls. The physics don't change. FWIW I rarely use my yellow pads unless the paint is really hard and it's a large, flat surface.

Thanks, from what I remember his theory was that since it is not a circle, and the pad shape is more random, there was less chance of circular swirls.

 

[dfoxengr]

I wouldn't bother cutting it either. It will work fine in the open spaces. Be cautious near edges because it might flap around and potentially damage the pad or something else. In the long run the velcro backing might start coming off. Simply use your other pads (orange I presume) for the edges.



I don't quite understand how the flower pattern would prevent swirls. The physics don't change. FWIW I rarely use my yellow pads unless the paint is really hard and it's a large, flat surface.

Thanks, from what I remember his theory was that since it is not a circle, and the pad shape is more random, there was less chance of circular swirls.

 

[Accumulator]

Can you explain why not? you think it's too aggressive or what? I wanted something more aggressive than my orange Uber pad to keep in my arsenal..

IME the yellow foam cutting pads offer a poor trade-off between cut and the finish they leave...they leave a crappy finish but don't correct all that aggressively. I get *MUCH* better results using Meguiar's MF Cutting Disks or Meguiar's Maroon Foam Cutting pads (either the old 7006 or the newer-tech version). Or I'll use a wool pad, either the Purple Foamed Wool ("PFW") or certain "regular" wool pads (yeah, even on a PC-type machine). For that matter, I'd rather just do more passes with an orange light-cut pad than use a yellow one.



I've used yellow foam cutting pads a lot, back before MF pads and when the Meguiar's maroon only came in large sizes, so I do have a fair amount of experience with them upon which to base my opinion. But it is just *my* opinion.

 

[Ron Ketcham]

Cutting of the pad may create a serious "balance" concern that might create premature failure of the drive bearings in the gear head of either a rotary or a dual action.

Would be very careful.

Grumpy