Stokdgs- OK, thanks for explaining. I too do my measuring in microns, but limiting the removal to 0.5 still got my attention! Guess the seemingly aggressive correction you Pros often do made that surprising to me. You know...everybody here seems to hammer on the clear all the time, yielding those dramatic Before/After shots that *I* often see as "now-fragile, overthinned clear"
Accumulator --
I said I like to stop at 0.5 micron; and if the clarity and gloss level is at what is being paid for, within the limits I set for the amount of overall thickness of the paint there, and I can see that this level of correction will "Match" across the entire vehicle, I often stop there and the Client has much more paint left for the on-going relationship we are going to have..
And I like that next time I see it, I know what I did to it, and it is Always - in much better condition than the very first time I took all the awful stuff out of the paintwork..
Regarding people "seem to hammer on the clear all the time, yielding those dramatic Before/After shots", part of my job description is to bring the paintwork back to clarity and gloss that is very noticeable, yet keeping in mind that this is a a long-term project that goes years and I have to take care of number-1, the Client first...
Yes, on some vehicles, I recall a couple of 2002 BMW M5`s in Jet Black that were so neglected, the paint was all scratched up, hazed, dulled, so badly; the vehicles looked a sad shade of flat-gray when they came into the Shop..
I had permission to bring them back to the beautiful color they left Germany with, and it took a little aggressive compounding to get the paint back to normal, and then it was just using finer polishes to get the clarity and gloss really sharp.. They looked like rolling jet black mirrors when they left.. All light just got sucked up into the paintwork, they were so fine ! And since this was the FIRST time they had ever been corrected by anyone, I had plenty of paint to work with..
I try to use as much as possible something that will yield correction and great clarity and gloss in 1-2 steps, and that also helps save the paintwork from diminishing too fast..
The days of using multiple compounds, then multiple polishes should be long gone by now..
It all comes down to the product and a pad that is capable of correcting AND finishing down really good.. Then, it is possible to help save as much paintwork for future long term clean ups, etc...
Perhaps this is easier for me to say and do because I only use Rotary Power ?
I have studied over decades what people use to "Polish" things - all things - jewelry, metal, plastic, stone, glass, paint, gelcoat, everything, and it is always a pad with media on it connected to a direct drive motor..
Dan F
). A few years ago Ron Ketcham and I were about the only guys here ranting about clearcoat thickness and we came across like, uhm....Chicken Little...to most people.
