can somebody explain to me exactly what buffing is..

 

Basically, buffing to a shine.

 

hhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm thankx fro ur reply and your right very uninteresting answer. filled with so much detail and common sense. looking for the detail of buffing like if your taking a thin layer of paint off to make a shine then how is the clearcoat replaced. with a wax im guessing, but in opinion what do you think is the best and is buffing worth it. another question is can buffing take away chips and scratches..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaHero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm thankx fro ur reply and your right very uninteresting answer. filled with so much detail and common sense. looking for the detail of buffing like if your taking a thin layer of paint off to make a shine then how is the clearcoat replaced. with a wax im guessing, but in opinion what do you think is the best and is buffing worth it. another question is can buffing take away chips and scratches..</TD></TR></TABLE>

I not going to be one of those guys that tells you to search but atleast if you have not, don't be an ***.
If you wanted more detail then you should have ASKED for more detail originally

Taken from this thread that is "stickied" at the top of this sub forum
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1962364
In answer to your other questions:
Yes you are removing a small layer of CLEARCOAT
You do not replace the clearcoat if there is enough left.
It can take care of scratches if they are not too deep.
It does not for the most part take care of chips.
Is it worth it? if you want a mirror finish with no "orange peel", then yes it is.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by harmonator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
BUFFING/ POLISHING

Polishing involves using very fine compound to bring the paint up to full gloss. Many finishing systems recommend the use of different buffing and polishing pads. It is important to use a slow-speed machine to avoid static build-up and high surface temeratures. Do not push down on the buffer. Let the weight of the machine do the work.

Because the compoud has a tendency to dry out, do not try to do too large an area at one time. Always keep the machine moving to prevent cutting through or burning the topcoat. As the compound starts to dry out, lift up a little on the machine so pad speed increases. This will make the surface start to shine.

You can hand polish small or hard to reach areas. Machine polish larger areas to save time. Instead of a circular action buffer, you should use an orbital action machine for you final polishing. It will move the polishing compound in a random manner to prevent swirl makrs left from machine compounding. Final polishing should always be done with an extra fine polishing compound. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

thankyou... and i understand what your saying about asking more in detail, but that is why my question said exactly what buffing is. that guy was just being a dick and that was probally all he knew about buffing. So he just decided to put something smart *** in there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaHero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thankyou... and i understand what your saying about asking more in detail, but that is why my question said exactly what buffing is. that guy was just being a dick and that was probally all he knew about buffing. So he just decided to put something smart *** in there. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Well when you ask a open question like this...<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaHero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> can somebody explain to me exactly what buffing is..</TD></TR></TABLE>
Your going to get a open answer like this...<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vltnolia &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Basically, buffing to a shine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Either way good luck...and do lots of reading before you try buffing your car. The last you want to do is have to recoat your whole car.

 

I am a professional detailer and I spend all day buffing cars.
Basically with a buffer and the different aggressiveness of the polish that you are using you will remove different amounts of clear. Typically aggressive buffing will remove about 2-5 microns of clear. Typically you have about 17-20 microns depending on the location in your paint. Buffing helps remove small hairline scratches commonly known as "swirls" You can do a full buff down on a car about 5 or 6 times before you are getting into the danger area of removing clear. However you can only do a super aggressive polish typically called "compounding" 2 or 3 times in the life of the paint.
Hope this helps

 

when buffing use like 1500-2000 rpms on the buffer /sander??

 

A 100% adjustable buffer w/ a 0 to 2500 rpm is ideal. A separate polisher for finer polish compound is also ideal.

 

91ed9: Typically on a rotary buffer you don't really want to exceed 1500 rpm as you run a much higher risk of burning the paint and putting in rotary haze or "hologramming"
Usually the more correction you are trying to do the higher the rpm. 1200-1500 for heavy polishing/compounding 900-1200 for mild polishing. 900 and below for final polishing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">91ed9: Typically on a rotary buffer you don't really want to exceed 1500 rpm as you run a much higher risk of burning the paint and putting in rotary haze or "hologramming"
Usually the more correction you are trying to do the higher the rpm. 1200-1500 for heavy polishing/compounding 900-1200 for mild polishing. 900 and below for final polishing.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Good post!

 

what do bodyshops usually charge to buff or to compund a car?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">91ed9: Typically on a rotary buffer you don't really want to exceed 1500 rpm as you run a much higher risk of burning the paint and putting in rotary haze or "hologramming"
Usually the more correction you are trying to do the higher the rpm. 1200-1500 for heavy polishing/compounding 900-1200 for mild polishing. 900 and below for final polishing.</TD></TR></TABLE>


hey thanks alot!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95slomocivi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what do bodyshops usually charge to buff or to compund a car? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I have a detailing business, and it depends on what needs to be done. I do my pricing so it comes out to $50/hr, and compound + polish + wax usually takes close to 2 hours or more, plus the detailing of the rest of the car, etc. a full detail interior/exterior + compound, polish, wax usually comes out to about $250-300, obviously depending on size and severity.

 

95SloMocivi:
Usually body shops will only do buffing for a car they have done body work on, and to be perfectlyl frank 99% of the time they are not concerned with polishing paint to perfection but rather leaving a smooth finish. A good percentage of my work comes from people who have buffer burn and haze leftover after getting body work done.

For the type of buffing that I was referring to in my post you would want to hire a professional detailer who has experience compounding and polishing cars. Typically for a full buff out (usually 3 stage polishing) I charge between $250 and $400 depending on the size of the car, extent of damage that needs to be corrected, and time (which is conditional on the hardness of the clear coat and amount of painted surface). For a full car this can take anywhere from 10-15 hours.

However this is not a difficult process, it is simply labor intensive and time consuming and can very easily be done yourself. For the money that you would pay for a full detail you can purchase your own buffer, pads and chemicals and do it many times over the lifetime of your car. If you want I can recommend a couple websites where you can find detailed instructions on the process of detailing your car and what products to buy and where.

Hope this answers your question.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">95SloMocivi:
Usually body shops will only do buffing for a car they have done body work on, and to be perfectlyl frank 99% of the time they are not concerned with polishing paint to perfection but rather leaving a smooth finish. A good percentage of my work comes from people who have buffer burn and haze leftover after getting body work done.

For the type of buffing that I was referring to in my post you would want to hire a professional detailer who has experience compounding and polishing cars. Typically for a full buff out (usually 3 stage polishing) I charge between $250 and $400 depending on the size of the car, extent of damage that needs to be corrected, and time (which is conditional on the hardness of the clear coat and amount of painted surface). For a full car this can take anywhere from 10-15 hours.

However this is not a difficult process, it is simply labor intensive and time consuming and can very easily be done yourself. For the money that you would pay for a full detail you can purchase your own buffer, pads and chemicals and do it many times over the lifetime of your car. If you want I can recommend a couple websites where you can find detailed instructions on the process of detailing your car and what products to buy and where.

Hope this answers your question.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea, it takes forever to buff a car. i wouldnt do an SUV for less than $350

do you use foam pads?

 

Acutally I buff everyday biatch. If you do a search you will find what your looking for. If you were looking for a detailed answer then ask for adetailed answer. Dickhoe.

 

E-Rok: Yea I use foam pads, but I also have some wool and twisted wool for heavy correction. I don't find myself using the wool too often though as I would rather take off as little clear as possible to get the job done. For example I would rather take 2 passes with a medium coat foam pad than 1 with wool. Plus with all the hazing from the wool it's hard to tell if you even corrected the scratch you are trying to remove.
But every so often I come across a problem that only wool will fix and I am glad I have them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">E-Rok: Yea I use foam pads, but I also have some wool and twisted wool for heavy correction. I don't find myself using the wool too often though as I would rather take off as little clear as possible to get the job done. For example I would rather take 2 passes with a medium coat foam pad than 1 with wool. Plus with all the hazing from the wool it's hard to tell if you even corrected the scratch you are trying to remove.
But every so often I come across a problem that only wool will fix and I am glad I have them. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I never use wool. The can mess things up fast. I just stick with my foam pads....I know what your saying though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">E-Rok: Yea I use foam pads, but I also have some wool and twisted wool for heavy correction. I don't find myself using the wool too often though as I would rather take off as little clear as possible to get the job done. For example I would rather take 2 passes with a medium coat foam pad than 1 with wool. Plus with all the hazing from the wool it's hard to tell if you even corrected the scratch you are trying to remove.
But every so often I come across a problem that only wool will fix and I am glad I have them. </TD></TR></TABLE>

yea I pretty much only use my wool pads on boats, usually just use a yellow or orange pad for compounding.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">95SloMocivi:
Usually body shops will only do buffing for a car they have done body work on, and to be perfectlyl frank 99% of the time they are not concerned with polishing paint to perfection but rather leaving a smooth finish. A good percentage of my work comes from people who have buffer burn and haze leftover after getting body work done.

For the type of buffing that I was referring to in my post you would want to hire a professional detailer who has experience compounding and polishing cars. Typically for a full buff out (usually 3 stage polishing) I charge between $250 and $400 depending on the size of the car, extent of damage that needs to be corrected, and time (which is conditional on the hardness of the clear coat and amount of painted surface). For a full car this can take anywhere from 10-15 hours.

However this is not a difficult process, it is simply labor intensive and time consuming and can very easily be done yourself. For the money that you would pay for a full detail you can purchase your own buffer, pads and chemicals and do it many times over the lifetime of your car. If you want I can recommend a couple websites where you can find detailed instructions on the process of detailing your car and what products to buy and where.

Hope this answers your question.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was curious about the price. I bought a claybar , conditioning shampoo, cleaner wax, and some meguires wax. It took me 3 hrs to detail the outside, but it turned out pretty good. pm me those websites if you don't mind . I want to do a better job. thx again.

 

I think since I am still such a new member I don't have the ability to PM. However I might just be a moron and not see how to do it. If this breaks any rules, i.e. listing other sites, please either delete or alter my post.
The websites I was referring to are
http://www.autopia.org By far and away the most members of any detailing board
http://www.detailcity.org A goodish amount of members and many good tips
http://www.showcardetailing The personal website and forum of one of the greatest detailers of all time, Richard Lin, AKA OctaneGuy.
Check those out, I post under the same name on all of them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think since I am still such a new member I don't have the ability to PM. However I might just be a moron and not see how to do it. If this breaks any rules, i.e. listing other sites, please either delete or alter my post.
The websites I was referring to are
http://www.autopia.org By far and away the most members of any detailing board
http://www.detailcity.org A goodish amount of members and many good tips
http://www.showcardetailing The personal website and forum of one of the greatest detailers of all time, Richard Lin, AKA OctaneGuy.
Check those out, I post under the same name on all of them. </TD></TR></TABLE>

thx