Tips on buffer trail prevention

D

Downgear

New member
I have gotten quite good at using my rotary however I am looking for some further tips to avoid buffer trails. I have been polishing with menzerna 85RD and 106ff using a Grey lake country pad at around 1200rpms. With this process I can get all the swirls and imperfections out of most moderate cars however on some soft paint black cars i sometimes notice new micro buffer trails and holograms. I keep my pads my pads moist and make 3 passes or so over the panel i am working on. Could it be that i am not working in the product enough or not making enough passes? I know these polishes break down as you work them in, eventually resulting in the least abrasive and subsequent smoothest finish.



I guess my main question is after your done polishing a section and you see some minor buffer trails do you re-apply the polish to the pad and do the panel again or do you just spray a little water on the existing pad and keep working the product in further until imperfections are gone? I just wanted fellow autopians opinions on how to prevent and remove these imperfections.



Thanks for any insight!
 
Downgear said:
I have gotten quite good at using my rotary however I am looking for some further tips to avoid buffer trails. I have been polishing with menzerna 85RD and 106ff using a Grey lake country pad at around 1200rpms. With this process I can get all the swirls and imperfections out of most moderate cars however on some soft paint black cars i sometimes notice new micro buffer trails and holograms. I keep my pads my pads moist and make 3 passes or so over the panel i am working on. Could it be that i am not working in the product enough or not making enough passes? I know these polishes break down as you work them in, eventually resulting in the least abrasive and subsequent smoothest finish.



I guess my main question is after your done polishing a section and you see some minor buffer trails do you re-apply the polish to the pad and do the panel again or do you just spray a little water on the existing pad and keep working the product in further until imperfections are gone? I just wanted fellow autopians opinions on how to prevent and remove these imperfections.



Thanks for any insight!
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Lower speed for an extra 2-3 passes @ 800-1000 rpms.
 
Try it without the pad moistening. Menzerna uses parafin based lubricants in PO106FF and PO85RD that typically don't play well with most QD's or water. They are very well lubricated products, even though they seem thicker and drier than most others. That's just the nature of the lubes they use. Using a new, dry pad, put a circle of polish on your pad, spread it evenly over the surface to be worked, then work it until the polish goes completely clear and very oily looking. This takes a while with a rotary, and even longer with a PC. I normally work 106 or 85RD for two minutes with a rotary. The time is just a SWAG, though, go by how the polish looks.



Edit: Also note that on the bottle of PO85RD, Menzerna recommends 1500-2000 RPM. I spread at low speed for two to three passes, bump it up to 1500 til it starts to clear out, then do two more at 1k.
 
106ff or RD should be worked for at least a minute. 3 passes over the area sounds like you are not breaking it down all the way.
 
TH0001 said:
106ff or RD should be worked for at least a minute. 3 passes over the area sounds like you are not breaking it down all the way.
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About what size is the area you polish?
 
afsbfa20a_buff_out.jpg




afsbfa18a_buff_out.jpg
 
Thanks for the tips guys. From the sounds of things i was doing many things wrong that may have been leading to the odd buffer trail. I seem to notice them the most on the hood under the halogens and on a black s2000s LONG hood, its a pretty big area to see trails.



Firstly i am gonna try it on a completely dry pad with much longer work in times as i suspected could be the problem. I hope I didn't shave too much clear off during my last polish. I would see buffer trails and then reapply the polish to the pad and try again until they were mostly gone.
 
Downgear said:
Thanks for the tips guys. From the sounds of things i was doing many things wrong that may have been leading to the odd buffer trail. I seem to notice them the most on the hood under the halogens and on a black s2000s LONG hood, its a pretty big area to see trails.



Firstly i am gonna try it on a completely dry pad with much longer work in times as i suspected could be the problem. I hope I didn't shave too much clear off during my last polish. I would see buffer trails and then reapply the polish to the pad and try again until they were mostly gone.
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I'm pretty sure you have pleny of clear coat on the car and I wouldn't sweat it. Just work the polish much longer (I probably make 10-15 passes over a 2.5 x 2.5 area, then throttle back and make a couple more).
 
Scott and/or Todd, what backing plate are you guys using for the eight inch 3M blue waffle pad? Megs W66? My largest backing plate is too small for it.
 
Accumulator said:
Huh, those must be some pretty severe ones; I usually have to inspect in natural sunlight to see 'em :think:
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Me too. I sometimes can see them (or any marring at all) at work under the parking lot lights. They are the pinkish orange colored and they will actually show stuff that you CANNOT see in the sun. That is the worst lighting ever :angry





Every now and then a low watttage incansent will show marring too, but its hard to get the angles just right.
 
scary bill- Yeah, I'm a big fan of incandescents. I'd like to figure out which of those outdoor lights is just right and where to get some...Too late to install them in my shop's ceiling, but maybe I could mount them on one of my halogen's tripods or something.
 
Accumulator said:
scary bill- Yeah, I'm a big fan of incandescents. I'd like to figure out which of those outdoor lights is just right and where to get some...Too late to install them in my shop's ceiling, but maybe I could mount them on one of my halogen's tripods or something.
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After thinking about it, :idea maybe they are mercury-vapor bulbs with a colored lens. The lens is probably to inhibit flying bugs from gathering.
 
Buffer trails are mostly caused by overworking a polish and the foam pad thus runs out of lubrication and marrs the finish



I don't recommend the ceramiclear Menzerna polishes on soft paint, the abrasives are too sharp for them and will leave marring or scratches



Go back to PO91L and PO87MC-MF instead
 
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