Rotary Usage

Anthony Orosco said:
Rotary rookies....

If you are kinda short you may need to get a step stool so that you are over and above the buffer as much as possible. This is very important. If you are right handed then your left hand will grab the handle WHICH by the way is NOT what you steer the buffer with. The handle should only be used to assist in guidance and balance. Far too many newbies PULL the buffer or PUSH the buffer with the handle which results in swirls. It will be natural your first few times to have a death grip on the buffer and your body will let you know this the next day by a sore wrist and/or forearm. Beads of sweat are also a clue:eek:

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Best advice about "handling" IMO... I have a hard time putting this technique into words... but it's very true... The first time I practiced with a rotary I tried to "steer" the buffer head with the handle... it never worked out... after a while, using the whole buffer body to steer the head is much more effective, efficient and less tiring.



I also hold the buffer head itself and not the handle when working on vertical or tighter places, it gives me much better control... (Note that I have small hands and they fit in between the "C" handle of the Makita and the buffer head itself, so I'm pretty anchored).
 
ok, so i have light swirls, scratches on my dark green civic....my friend is going to loan my his rotary 8 or 9 inch he sed, dont know which model.



i was going to use



yellow polishing pads



1. dacp then

2. smr

3. glaze

4. #26 wax



and i am going to go really slow:nixweiss



or



could i use 3M smr (dark) by hand and be ok?

i read that dacp needs to be used with a rotary...

and i am not built like scottwax!!!! but i have all day to do this....
 
Thanks Anthony Orosco for the advice. :xyxthumbs



I already have a few old cars lined up to practice on, so I don't have to worry so much and one of them is a dark brown Subrau which will help me see what I am doing. :cool:
 
Ok which pad is the easiest to used or which do you suggest us to use?



classic-motoring_1729_4566248
CMA Finger Pads



classic-motoring_1727_3337277
CMA Advance Pads



taxi.jpg
The 3M Waffle Pad



Thanks again. :wavey
 
Morning folks,



Glad to see ya'll didn't mind the long read.



Flyby,



If the swirls and/or scratches are truly "light" then I would skip the DACP and go straight to the SMR and a polishing pad. Work an area and then see how it looks. Remember as long as the paint is warm to the touch then you are safe and can repeat the application if the first one did not do the trick.



If you feel you still need more bite then use the polishing pad and the DACP.



GreenMonster,



I like the "finger" and the "waffle" pads over the Advanced pads if I am cutting or doing a mid-polishing step because they can work the product longer and one can control the heat build up better.



The Finger pads do tend to shed their fingers though if caught on an edge or molding piece. I personally prefer the Advanced Finishing pad for my last and final rotary pass using #9 or #3 or the sealant of my choice. I just get a better feel for the paint with one of these pads over the Finger and Waffle pads.



Also the combo of a rotary and PC or Cyclo is a good idea because one may only need to use the rotary on certain areas of the car, for instance the top sections, and finish out the rest of the car with the PC.



Good Luck folks



Anthony
 
Anthony - Great info, I was reading somewhere that it is better to hold the head of the buffer rather than the handle. It will allow the weight to be spread out in a more efficent manner and you can control it.



I found out on my own about the "move your body with the buffer" trick. Looks like I'm in soul train, I'm grooving! .......... until the machine starts hopping everywhere like a frog. I just purchased a spur and 4 more pads so I should be all set.



All I am worried about is inducing swirls and splatter. If I am not getting rid of that many swirls up front I can always learn better ways, if I am creating swirls and sending splatter everywhere customers are never going to come back.
 
joed,



Thanks. The introduction of swirls at first is a given because you must program your mind and body to get into "buffer mode" and this takes some time.



In other words when people first begin using a high speed rotary they are hyper focused on one aspect. Either keeping the pad flat, keeping the splatter down, not burning the paint, to much or to little pressure, etc. What should and will happen over time is you will begin to become "all inclusive" and just automatically become aware of each aspect. I jokingly refer to this as "Zen Detailing" and one reaches it when one becomes one with the buffer, product and paint:D



Seriously though you will soon no longer focus or be distracted by those things and the funny thing is you will hardly notice when your buffing becomes second nature.



Just remember that no finish is 100% flawless because one can only work with the paint finish one is given. You cannot work out paint problems if the pigmented paint underneath the clear is flawed and each detailer needs to learn and know his or her limits.



For the "jumping frog" syndrome make sure you are not over buffing the product. Many times a water based cleaner/polish will not buff as long as say a solvent (mineral spirits) based cleaner/polish will. Work the product good at first but then cut back on the rpm's as it breaks down and begins to haze up. If not you will have a gummy residue build up on the pad and also on the paint, especially around contours and raised body lines.



Happy Detailing

Anthony
 
Anthony Orosco said:
Many times a water based cleaner/polish will not buff as long as say a solvent (mineral spirits) based cleaner/polish will. Work the product good at first but then cut back on the rpm's as it breaks down and begins to haze up. If not you will have a gummy residue build up on the pad and also on the paint, especially around contours and raised body lines.
Click to expand...



If that works I owe you a coffee or something man! It would be nice to use a pad for more than half of a hood.
 
Great advice Orosco. The skipping pad is very bad to us. When it happens normally causes by the pad being off centered. There are new pads available and can be purchsed with a center "lock" for a perfect line everytime. I believe 3m makes them and the backing plate. I tried it today and saves much time and headaches.
 
Thanks Ryan :)



I was reading over this thread and figured I need to mention that buffer "splatter", at least for me, is the last thing I am concerned about. I always, after a serious buffing, wash the car down anyways and remove the splatter.



Here is a trick that also helps to ease splatter clean up. Take an old pair of tube socks and cut out the toe end, you may need several of them since it's hard to find the "knee high" tube socks, unless your still living in the 80's!! You can then place these socks over the windshield wipers and arms. I also go through lots of painters masking tape. It looks like I am painting the car more so than polishing it.



You can also stuff newspaper into body seams and RUBBER CEMENT is a great masking agent. You can fill emblems and such with the rubber cement and when all done just peel it away.



Lastly, if a pad continues to hop and skip try buffing with it at a slight angle and this should eliminate or greatly reduce the skipping.



Anthony
 
I like the waffle pads, the waffles don't allow you to keep one side of the pad on the car as long as the other because for every bump on the pad that touches the paint there is a open space where the pad doesn't make contact.



I "heard" it's for the guys that use rotaries at very high speeds and we wouldn't really notice the difference but I like knowing I have a little bit of extra insurance.
 
Here is a tidbit of info that may save you rotary (and orbital) users out there some headaches, heartburn and ulcers.



While running my rotary over the rear fender of a red BMW the other day I noticed some drips of water coming out of the seam where the lower rear bumper meets the rear quarter panel. After finishing the area I was working on I bent down to inspect the area and looking down at the now evaporated water run I noticed small particles of dirt dried to the paint.



I thought for a moment of the horrible results if I had buffed over that water drip, picked up those small dirt particles and buffed them into the finish (shock and awe!). What had happened was that I did not remove the standing water in this area during the drying process and the vibrations to the panel from my rotary caused some scratch causing grit to be dislodged and carried out by a run of water.



Haste makes waste and trying to hurry up and get this car done caused me to overlook a very important step in the detailing process, which is to throughly dry all the nooks and crannies. So be careful folks that you do not dislodge any debris that was not removed in the washing step but is dislodge in the polishing steps. Never run your buffer over a lower panel area until you have inspected it. I always wipe the lower panels, along where the body seams meet, out with a MF and some QD just before I pass my buffer over that area. Good habit to form.



I am also documenting a detail on a BMW this coming week and will take some photos of the process, from claying to cutting to polishing and finishing. I hope to post them and I am going to try.....key word here is "TRY" to video a few steps and somehow offer this to anyone interested.



I am not doing this because I think I am better than everyone or anything like that but that I might be able to demonstrate technique visually better than I might do so in text.



Anthony
 
Hey thanks Greg,



But actually I will offer it as a video file "IF" I can 1) Find someone to video it and 2) Figure out how to make it a file! LOL



If the video deal doesn't work out I will at least be able to post some pictures.



Also I am working on a little invention of sorts that will assist detailers, both pro and weekend warriors, while using buffers.



Happy Resurrection Day!

Anthony
 
Sometimes I think it would be advantageous for me to take a weekend trip down to Texas to see Scott and Anthony in action.

Maybe later this summer, assuming business is going well, I might bite the bullet and get a rotary, but for now, PC works and is paid for.



Anthony- can't wait to see this invention.
 
The "invention" is still in the testing mode and is coming along rather slowly because it is made of fabric and I am horrible at sewing, in fact I flunked home ec in school....now that is sad!



We are "trying" to get a video of sorts done, hopefully by Christmas of this year. Keep yer fingers crossed. :)



Anthony
 
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