Using a Rotary
- Thread starter DetailsIM
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ZoranC said:
For many reasons.
A panel you can/cant do and wont teach you:
you can put it on any angle you want
put it on any elevation you want
You can control the rotary anyway you want becuase you can move the panel or your self
panel is 1 size and shape with no suprises
Is 1 color/paint system
The only thing a scrap panel can do is give you some idea how the rotary works.
As long as you use polishing/finishing pads and moderately abbrasive polishes and finishing polishes you wont hurt anything or burn paint.
imported_Ivan Rajic
New member
Coupe said:
While I do agree with your post here, wouldn't a smart person who actually wants to learn make it hard and realistic??
imported_Ivan Rajic
New member
Coupe said:
True dat haha
Coupe said:
That's what I did today and worked fine until I had to deal with some really nasty swirls. In the end I found myself working with Menzerna Power Gloss and M84 on cutting pad on 1500 rpm. Good news is I did not damage anything (even though that panel was getting hot fast). Bad news is that nothing was working, not even that (you can read more about that in thread I will start in a moment).
ATTN ALL ROTARY ROOKIES (LIKE MYSELF), AVOID PLASTIC PARTS LIKE BUMPERS, GROUND EFFECTS, ETC.
They say the 3rd time's a charm, but whomever said that is full of it! Today was the 3rd time I used the rotary and I absolutely demolished a customers sideskirt on his TSX:sadpace:
He had major swirls everywhere on the car so I was using my rotary with an orange CCS pad and HTHC/IP. I had my rotary set to it's slowest speed, 1, but apparently I was moving the pad too slow and I burned the crap out of it.
I didn't stop when I first noticed it cause it looked like polish build up, but it kept coming so I pulled the machine and went to wipe the polish away with my finger to confirm that's what it was and that's when reality kicked me in the face.
The owner is a buddy of mine and I called him immediately, he took it alot better than I thought he would. Once the car was finished and he came to pick it up, he was telling me not to worry about it, said it's not that big of a deal......he said the car is almost paid off anyway and once it is he was gonna trade it in and get a Honda Ridgeline anyways. I still felt bad though, I was returning his car to him with damage that wasn't there when he left it with me, so I didn't take his money for the detail. I told him to get a couple estimates to get that skirt repainted and I'd take care of it but he insisted it wasn't necessary and told me not to worry about it. It's a good thing this didn't upset him cause this guy is a boxer so i'm not too sure how long I would've been able to hold my own.
They say the 3rd time's a charm, but whomever said that is full of it! Today was the 3rd time I used the rotary and I absolutely demolished a customers sideskirt on his TSX:sadpace:
He had major swirls everywhere on the car so I was using my rotary with an orange CCS pad and HTHC/IP. I had my rotary set to it's slowest speed, 1, but apparently I was moving the pad too slow and I burned the crap out of it.
I didn't stop when I first noticed it cause it looked like polish build up, but it kept coming so I pulled the machine and went to wipe the polish away with my finger to confirm that's what it was and that's when reality kicked me in the face.
The owner is a buddy of mine and I called him immediately, he took it alot better than I thought he would. Once the car was finished and he came to pick it up, he was telling me not to worry about it, said it's not that big of a deal......he said the car is almost paid off anyway and once it is he was gonna trade it in and get a Honda Ridgeline anyways. I still felt bad though, I was returning his car to him with damage that wasn't there when he left it with me, so I didn't take his money for the detail. I told him to get a couple estimates to get that skirt repainted and I'd take care of it but he insisted it wasn't necessary and told me not to worry about it. It's a good thing this didn't upset him cause this guy is a boxer so i'm not too sure how long I would've been able to hold my own.
Junebug
JAFO
I feel your pain, that's why I said avoid plastic - bumpers and trim. I'm sure they's guys that can do them, but I ain't one and I'll be damned if I ever try that again! Thankfully my OMYGOD moment was on an old beater with more battle scars than a 40 year old hooker & the owner was just happy I got it clean.
imported_Ivan Rajic
New member
^^ tape tape tape... looks like a painted side skirt right?? For all the people just starting out with rotaries, it's been said in many threads i've read, TAPE OFF ALL EDGES... edges are very sensitive and like in this case, paint can come off pretty fast...
rkf.. seems like you simply rubbed off the paint with the edge of your pad while doing the lower part of the door.. .is that what happened or were you actually polishing the sideskirt??
rkf.. seems like you simply rubbed off the paint with the edge of your pad while doing the lower part of the door.. .is that what happened or were you actually polishing the sideskirt??
imported_Ivan Rajic
New member
Coupe said:
I've practiced with a rotary a while back before actually charging for detailing...
I tried to ruin the paint in every way possible just to see how everything works, and from my experience, it's mostly the heat created by the pad on the edges that causes the paint to come off... not a polish/pad combo... Unless different pads produce significantly different amounts of heat, I doubt a pad/polish combo is the culprit here..
imported_Ivan Rajic
New member
Coupe said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm in agreement with you here haha
I've been doing the same thing as you, and never burned off the edges...
I do however think that if you catch the edge at the wrong angle with the pad, you have a higher chance of screwing up... I don't know the science of it so I won't disagree with you... as I stated, from my experience, it didn't matter whether I used a yellow LC pad and meg's #4 or white pad and #80, I burned the edge...
I dont think it is the pad product combination.
I has to do with movement, how quickly or not and how much pressure is put on the machine itself.
I think the natural instinct for a lot of people is that "the PC works in this way, so I will work the rotary in the same way," when in reality, it's apples and oranges.
I has to do with movement, how quickly or not and how much pressure is put on the machine itself.
I think the natural instinct for a lot of people is that "the PC works in this way, so I will work the rotary in the same way," when in reality, it's apples and oranges.