Rotary wool pad skipping?

jrock645

jrock645

New member
I was thinking about this and thought id ask some of you... I have had great experiences in my limited rotary usage with foam pads- smooth as silk! However, when ive tried foamed wool and microfiber, i find it much more difficult to control. Skipping and running on me. What technique flaw would cause this? And what technique change is there between foam pads or nappy type pads?
 
Wool cuts much faster than foam and does so by the fact that it drags harder across the surface. Therefore as you see, it tends to "skip" or unevenly grab. The perfect combo finds the mix between pad speed/density, polish/compound lubricity, and paint condition. Rotaries will get much better results than the best of DA's and do it much faster, but it really truly is an art form. What DA's essentially did was take away the fact that it takes practice. Go buy a junkyard trunk lid and practice, seriously. Polish it out. Scuff it with sandpaper, scratch it, have fun. You'll see how much pressure to use and best way to attack a problem without it having to count.

Oh, and you'll get arm muscles. Good rotary and all day you'll notice no matter how old you are. They aren't light for an extended period

Didn't, or don't you have a Flex 3403? Too much speed for what you're trying to do or need a bigger pad?
 
Are you using enough material? Are you applying enough pressure? You can't just let the pad float on the top.
 
Might be that im not using enough pressure. Ill try that.

weve got a utility truck here at work i can practice on. I have tried my 5.5" foamed wool pads, but not the larger(7.5) twisted wool. Ill give them both a shot.

And yes, im looking to sell both my 3401 and 3403 and get a PE14. I was using the 3403 at about 1100, i think.

Thanks for the advice!
 
I didn't like using a microfiber pad on a rotary. Just too hard to control. I have some lake country lambs wool pads and they are very easy to control. The microfiber was just too grabby for me and the amount of heat was insane (yes it started smoking)
 
ShaneB said:
I didn't like using a microfiber pad on a rotary. Just too hard to control. I have some lake country lambs wool pads and they are very easy to control. The microfiber was just too grabby for me and the amount of heat was insane (yes it started smoking)
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+ 1 with this above --- Shane is absolutely correct !

A Rotary - especially at 1,100 rpm, and a microfiber pad is just too much heat being generated to do what you want..

Perhaps if the Rotary did 600 rpm like the Makita, Dewalt, machines do you might get more time, but I think its just the wrong media..

Now, maybe you can use a lot of moisture and more product and it might work but I have never seen it work great, like the traditional german foam pad (Lake Country Hydro-Tech-Cyan Pad), or the Lake Country Purple Foam Wool Pad - which will need additional moisture because this combo generates heat fast too but not as fast as the microfiber does...

I know that there are microfiber pads being sold that are supposed to work with a Rotary, but I have not tried to use them since my process using german foam pads works super great for my needs..
Dan F
 
Ccrew said:
Wool cuts much faster than foam and does so by the fact that it drags harder across the surface. Therefore as you see, it tends to "skip" or unevenly grab. The perfect combo finds the mix between pad speed/density, polish/compound lubricity, and paint condition. Rotaries will get much better results than the best of DA's and do it much faster, but it really truly is an art form. What DA's essentially did was take away the fact that it takes practice. Go buy a junkyard trunk lid and practice, seriously. Polish it out. Scuff it with sandpaper, scratch it, have fun. You'll see how much pressure to use and best way to attack a problem without it having to count.

Oh, and you'll get arm muscles. Good rotary and all day you'll notice no matter how old you are. They aren't light for an extended period

Didn't, or don't you have a Flex 3403? Too much speed for what you're trying to do or need a bigger pad?
Click to expand...

I want something that runs at some lower speeds, yes.
 
i have a Makita 9227c. it is a big, heavy workhorse, but has saved my behind many times on heavily oxidized finishes. the large wool pads are definitely harder to control, but for me, the slower 600 speed makes a big difference. even some distilled spray water may help. if you don't have a cleaning spur, get one.
 
Microfibre is not really meant for rotary but you can do it
i find keeping the speed at 900 or lower works fine

Wool doesn't skip for me, it could be that your going beyond the paints abrasion and heat resistance level and then it will cause skipping
it becomes like dry on dry, way too much friction

If you want 600 or lower rpm, makita, dewalt, fein and flex are best

Some say wool doesn't work on a da. To me it works great
 
at the start I would move the machine around quicker on the car and keep your arms and shoulders locked with the machine then adjust the pressure on the head of the machine to find the sweet spot,you have to be able to catch the rotary when she throughs out on you ,like when the panel pops with the heat,she will bite you in the blink of an eye,30 years on rotary and still learning,
 
jerry r said:
at the start I would move the machine around quicker on the car and keep your arms and shoulders locked with the machine then adjust the pressure on the head of the machine to find the sweet spot,you have to be able to catch the rotary when she throughs out on you ,like when the panel pops with the heat,she will bite you in the blink of an eye,30 years on rotary and still learning,
Click to expand...

Jerry,
You are so right !
Merry Christmas, my friend !
Dan F
 
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