ok, im in the process of cuttin and buffin my new paint. light orange peel overall, i started with 1500, and went to 2000. now am i doin something wrong? i buffed with 3m perfetct it compound with a variable speed buffer on about a 2.5 settin and worked up to a 3. i can still see sand marks on my hood, roof, and trunk lid. ive gone over it twice now and i still see them. is this normal?

 

What buffer are you using? What speed does 2.5 equate to on it? What pad are you using?

 

its a matkita buffer, i forget wat the 2.5 = in rpms, and im using a wool pad

 

keep on compounding sir. some clears are harder to get polished out than others.

 

I would reccommend using a foam pad...I did mine two days ago with the foam pad and 3M imperial rubbing compound, went over it twice and took out all of the scratches. then I finished with some glaze. Looks great.

 

i was told to stay away from the foam pads with the rubbin compound. the guy didnt say why tho...just said no you dont wanna use this with rubbin compound

 

Probably because its a bit rougher and more likely to burn through the paint if youre not careful.

You should be ok using a foam pad though as long as you know what to be careful of.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Genuine Rolla &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would reccommend using a foam pad...I did mine two days ago with the foam pad and 3M imperial rubbing compound, went over it twice and took out all of the scratches. then I finished with some glaze. Looks great. </TD></TR></TABLE>

What the hell is with you people and following compounding with just glaze?

And a wool pad will yield faster results and if properly used, wont leave marring.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danteisme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i was told to stay away from the foam pads with the rubbin compound. the guy didnt say why tho...just said no you dont wanna use this with rubbin compound</TD></TR></TABLE>

that guy doesnt know what he is talking about.

 

what do you reccomend after the glaze? cuz i also glazed after wards.

and think i should stick with the wool pad then? i'm not sure which would work better up against 2000 grit marks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danteisme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what do you reccomend after the glaze? cuz i also glazed after wards.

and think i should stick with the wool pad then? i'm not sure which would work better up against 2000 grit marks</TD></TR></TABLE>


polish before glaze. bodyshop "detailers" love to compound a car and then just glaze it thinking its great, but you are simply just masking any marring etc left behind.

even the compounds themselves say to follow with polish, not just glaze.

I alternate between my foam pads, wool, and foamed wool pads depending on the vehicle and condition of paint.

 

good advice, this next time around i'm gonna use the compound, then polish and then glaze and see if it turns out better

 

oh, one last question.... what is the optimal speeds for the buffer for rubbing compound, polishing, and glaze? if it matters for different colors, mine is the stock cypress green pearl color


i'm still tryin to find out wat each level on the buffer is. it just has numbers 1 - 6, and says it maxes out at 3300 rpm.

i just grow tired of buffin, i wanna get it right this time

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danteisme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">oh, one last question.... what is the optimal speeds for the buffer for rubbing compound, polishing, and glaze? if it matters for different colors, mine is the stock cypress green pearl color


i'm still tryin to find out wat each level on the buffer is. it just has numbers 1 - 6, and says it maxes out at 3300 rpm.

i just grow tired of buffin, i wanna get it right this time</TD></TR></TABLE>

1800RPM is a good speed

 

compound with a wool pad and polish with a foam pad. foam pads remove swirls much better than wool pads.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedworks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">compound with a wool pad and polish with a foam pad. foam pads remove swirls much better than wool pads.</TD></TR></TABLE>

foamed wool pad &gt; wool or foam

 

see, I thought the rubbing compound was also known as an aggressive polisher...thats why I ended with glaze. Thanks for correcting me bro..!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Genuine Rolla &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">see, I thought the rubbing compound was also known as an aggressive polisher...thats why I ended with glaze. Thanks for correcting me bro..!</TD></TR></TABLE>

its aggressive but not really a "polish". while honestly most of the time you can probably get away with glaze after compounding (depending on brand of compound and vehicle), I wouldnt do that to someone elses vehicle. I wont lie I'm lazy with my dually and I compounded it and then went straight to wax

But I would never do that to a customers car.

 

oh i just thought of one more question. a body shop told me to make sure after i compound the car that i wash it so i dont end up smearin glaze in with it(when i was told to go straight from compound to glaze) should you wash between the compound and polish and between the polish and glaze or what is the best way to do this?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danteisme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">oh i just thought of one more question. a body shop told me to make sure after i compound the car that i wash it so i dont end up smearin glaze in with it(when i was told to go straight from compound to glaze) should you wash between the compound and polish and between the polish and glaze or what is the best way to do this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

LMAO! this is why you dont take detailing advice from bodyshops. if anything you can wipe each area you are polishing with some quick detailer, but it isnt needed.

 

ah, so no washing in between then

 

I will usually wash a car when I am done compounding before moving on to sealant or glaze, but this is just the easiest way I have found to get rid of all the polishing dust.
Don't worry you aren't going to hurt anything by glazing after compounding, but like E-Rok said why not go that extra mile and do a round of polishing before glazing?
And +1 on not listening to body shops about proper detailing techniques.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LastDetail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...And +1 on not listening to body shops about proper detailing techniques. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You guys are way too hard on body shops...lay the blame on a lazy paint prepper I used to prep for a body shop and the method that I used for buffing worked out fine, and I never had any problems or complaints. What it really comes down to is the guy who gets the car after it's been painted. If he's lazy, it's not going to be done right.

Every body shop I've ever worked in has gone from a compound to a finishing glaze, because we are in fact not "detailers". Of course your method is going to be different from a body shop. You guys are also buffing cars that have had months or even years of exposure to the elements, body shops are buffing freshly painted panels with no scratches, no acid rain, sap, fading, snow, salt etc... Give the body shops a break.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WihaSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You guys are way too hard on body shops...lay the blame on a lazy paint prepper I used to prep for a body shop and the method that I used for buffing worked out fine, and I never had any problems or complaints. What it really comes down to is the guy who gets the car after it's been painted. If he's lazy, it's not going to be done right.

Every body shop I've ever worked in has gone from a compound to a finishing glaze, because we are in fact not "detailers". Of course your method is going to be different from a body shop. You guys are also buffing cars that have had months or even years of exposure to the elements, body shops are buffing freshly painted panels with no scratches, no acid rain, sap, fading, snow, salt etc... Give the body shops a break.</TD></TR></TABLE>
While I agree as a regular detailer I am going to have more experience with removing pollutants, contamination and imperfections since that is just the name of the game. But we are not talking about body shops making recomendations on those techniques. Rather this discussion has been focused on cutting and buffing fresh paint.

All due respect WihaSi, from what I have read in your other posts you are a man who knows his ****, sadly though you are the exception rather than the rule in my own experience. I have never seen a car come from the body shop in what I would call "acceptable" condition. More often than not it comes out shitty. One of my most often heard complaints is that there are rotary holograms all over the car from the body shop. That is just sloppy workmanship, mistakes made in an effort to hurry through the process. But since almost all body shops do it they don't have to worry about losing business to other shops who do finer finish work.

But hey, I'm not complaining, I get a lot of business from the mistakes that body shops make. The reason though that I made the comment about not listening to body shops is that a lot of times they make commentary on things for which they have no knowledge, making suggestions about wax/sealant, washing techniques, etc etc.

and of course this is limited solely to my own experience. Personally speaking though I would never listen to a body shop on how to care for my cars finish.

 

i hate to bump this back up again but i went the other day to a body/paint supply shop(who will remain unamed) and told them i wanted to polish between the compound and glaze, and i asked them what they reccomended. first they said, dont need to do it. i said i understand that but i would like to. so then they said they werent sure what kind to get because nobody cuts and buffs cars like that. they said maybe a hand polish. sooooooo what kind do you guys reccomend? i'm assuming a machine one?