so what did I do wrong?!?!?

W

WordOfMouth

New member
I bought a Makita thinking if I used that, I could finish in a little less time, and get a better finish than my Griot's RO. I also bought Edge pads, yellow, white, green, blue. I picked up Meguiars 82 an 83, then NXT for finishing the job.



First thing- splattered polish all over the place. Couldn't keep it from spraying. I tried putting product on the pad, then tried on the car also. Either way it was all over. Then, when I had a nice layer on the car (99 TA anniversary edition Black convertible)



Here's what I got. I was horrified! First attempt was using M82

IMG_5496.jpg




Now- I did get it corrected, but had to use M83 to get it more respectable. Here's the final of the same area. This is with NXT on it.



IMG_5515.jpg




So- what should I have done? I'd like to learn how to use this, and not return, if I can, the $275 in Rotary and pads.
 
I can't answer you about the picture corrections as I'm no professional.



But as for the spraying of polish, you've either not put the polisher on the car BEFORE starting it up (which I done first time using the PC !!), or you're starting it at too high a speed.
 
Kriminal said:
I can't answer you about the picture corrections as I'm no professional.



But as for the spraying of polish, you've either not put the polisher on the car BEFORE starting it up (which I done first time using the PC !!), or you're starting it at too high a speed.
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You can also put a line of polish directly on the car, and "pick it up" with the polisher. This method is very effective if done correctly. The first time I saw it was on a Meguiar's instructional video.
 
JDookie said:
You can also put a line of polish directly on the car, and "pick it up" with the polisher. This method is very effective if done correctly. The first time I saw it was on a Meguiar's instructional video.
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Yeah, good point.



Here's a linky to that Meguiar's video :



YouTube - Wetsanding part 2 of 5



If you don't wanna watch it all, skip to the area time of 5 minutes - He's wetsanded the panel and as JDookie said "put a line of polish on the car to pick up". You'll see how he does it and what speed he recommends, etc.
 
I was also going to recommend the same video. Here is a link to just the section about picking up a bead. It is about a minute and a half or so. Don't feel bad though, I had the same problem the first time I used a rotary. I have not used this method yet but it looks promising.

Here is the link:YouTube - How to pick up a bead like a pro!

Grant
 
WordofMouth- There's a real learning curve to usng a rotary, and for most people it's not as steep as they'd like. After you have maybe a dozen (or two) hours with it you'll probably be much better. And after a *lot* of practice you'll be a *lot* better. Yeah, that's a real PIA for those of us who don't do it very often, but everybody gains proficiency at a different rate.



Heh heh, I still can't always "pick up the polish" with that method, and I've pretty much quit trying. But I've gradually gotten the sling under control. Will I ever "completely master" the rotary? Nah, probably not, if only because I don't use it enough; but at least I can do OK with it now, so all is well in my book. You can almost certainly do the same but it usually doesn't happen overnight.



FWIW, some people don't find the Meg's polishes all that user-friendly. I got the hang of the rotary by using products I was already familiar with from my PC/Cyclo use, then branched out and tried other stuff. If I were starting from scratch today, I'd do it with Menzerna.



Oh, and, heh heh, watching an expert use a rotary, you'd think it's a piece of cake. Same with a lot of difficult things...people who are very good often make it look easy. You can learn a lot by watching, but you won't become proficient without extensive hands-on experience.
 
and you tried first with 82?????? its a pure polish with little to no cut....



I get splatter if I put polish on the pad first, less splatter when i put it on the car in a straight line
 
the splatter was just part of the issue, and the pictures may not be clear enough, but the swirls got worse with the first pass at the rotary and M82. It was almost as if the pad were dry . Maybe I did fling too much off, and that created my problem.
 
If you didn't have enough polish on the pad you may have been "dry buffing" which caused more swirls. Too much polish and you won't be doing much good either. I'd just put a small X of product and then a couple dots for the following panel as the pad will become primed with product. You could also try "priming" your pad with a spritz of QD.
 
Man that could be so many things. Was your pad flat on the surface, even a little tilt can cause that at high speeds.



What speed were you running at? Did the polish break down completely? Did you "finish" the polish with a slower speed on the last pass?



There are many many things that could have happened. You just have to leave only 1 variable at a time to find what went wrong next time you use your machine.



Ive used mine maybe 20 hours now and I feel *much* more comfortable, I dont feel great on it yet, but at least I got the thing under control now (for the most part :-))



Jim
 
I apply polish directly on to my pad then either spread onto paint evenly with machine off or slow spread it around 600 rpms (for me I just feather the trigger). Once you get used to it you will hardly get any splatter if any and you will finish down nicely. Like stated in above comments. Each person has their own learning curve. I have MANY hours with the rotary and feel at home with it.
 
Thanks for the responses. I made the first mistake by trying to spread the polish on speed 3. I'll start with speed 1 next time, and try the feather technique. I think I'd be okay with the pickup method also.



As for breakdown, I think the product was broken down pretty well. I'll search for more info on that, but if someone has comments, I don't mind you saving me the search time. I guess I should practice this rotary on my cars until I get more comfortable, not on the customers cars. I can't afford the resprays.
 
FWIW, I tried to use Meg's #83 with a rotary, and let me just say that it was pretty scary, to say the least.
 
toyotaguy said:
and you tried first with 82?????? its a pure polish with little to no cut....
Click to expand...





What!?!?! It is not a pure polish at all. Its a finishing polish that works great for removing holograms, micro-marring and light swirls. As far as performance it performs equal to #80. Being his first time out he chose the right product to learn with.





Yeah, dont start at speed 3
 
JDookie said:
FWIW, I tried to use Meg's #83 with a rotary, and let me just say that it was pretty scary, to say the least.
Click to expand...





83 is a bit tricky to figure out but does a nice job once you get the hang of it. I like to use a little more rpm when using 83, like 1500ish. A little heat (warmth) really helps this polish work.
 
i pick up the polish on horizontal panels and load the pad itself on vertical. that megs video is pretty good it's nice to see they take time to show people. then sell them everything they got hahaha. i understand his comments on sanding factory paint but come on, youre either suppose to live with orange peel or respray your entire vehicle?
 
I should try with a light glaze or something; great idea. I can't do much harm with a glaze that I can't undo with a cutting pad and more aggressive product. I'll do the Ford, since that will be first out the door anyway when it comes to a new car.
 
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