#105 Ultra Cut Compound - Help Needed

[jamores23]

I just bought the m105 to use it on my bmw e46 m3. I used the product with a purple foam wool pad and for some reason it didnt budge the scratches that my less aggressive polish didn't touch. The product just left alot of holograming . I can take it off with the polishes i know that. Im scareed to keep going over the same spot with m105 i dont want to eat completely through the CC. Help please. The car is dark blue.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: #105 Ultra Cut Compound - Help Needed

I just bought the M105 to use it on my BMW e46 m3. I used the product with a purple foam wool pad and for some reason it didnt budge the scratches that my less aggressive polish didn't touch.

Hi jamores23,

I moved your post into it's own dedicated thread for you.

Just to clarify, you're using this pad with a rotary buffer?

http://www.lakecountrymfg.com/foamedwoolpads_feat.html

M105 when used correctly by machine or hand to date has left most people blown away by the kind of results it leaves for an aggressive cutting compound, chances are good all we need to do is tweak your technique a little or the paint on you car is so soft it will scratch just by wiping with a soft cloth...

• Are you experienced with a rotary buffer?
• How big an area are you working?

Have you watched these yet?

5 Video segments on wet-sanding and using a rotary buffer

[jamores23]

Re: #105 Ultra Cut Compound - Help Needed

yes mike thats the exact pad I h ave. Now the product seems to work in very quickly is this right? Also this step is going to leave me with new scratches? What speed do you recommend using the rotary?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: #105 Ultra Cut Compound - Help Needed

Just to double check as we want to tailor our replies to your skill level,

• Are you new to the rotary buffer?
• Have you watched these videos yet?

(They go over a lot of proper techniques)


5 Video segments on wet-sanding and using a rotary buffer

[Mike Phillips]

Re: #105 Ultra Cut Compound - Help Needed

If you're new to the rotary buffer, it's really a bad idea to learn how to use a rotary buffer on something that's important to you.

It's better to learn on a junker car or panel that no one is going to care about if a mistake is made plus it allows you to get some time under your belt getting use to how the tool works.

Besides that, read through both of the below threads...

M105 Tip

Using a wetting-agent with M105 and M205


A good base or general purpose speed for just about any product is 1400 rpm to 1500 rpm

You should definitely being doing a TEST SPOT before going over the entire car, that is test out ALL the products and steps to one small area and make sure your entire process, (that's chemicals, pads, tools), will make this one section look GREAT before going over the entire car.

If you can't make one small section look good you won't be able to make the entire car look good and you don't want to find out your process isn't working after compounding the entire car.

Generally speaking, you work an area about 2' square or smaller and never buff to a dry buff.

I'm not familiar with this exact wool pad but I've seen first hand M105 with a wool pad leave swirl-free and 99.9% swirl free finishes on paint. If you're unable to get these kinds of results then it has to be a problem with,

The paint itself
Some paints are not very polishable. This would show up by working on it in ANY way, by hand or DA Polisher. Paints that scratch easy will tend to scratch easy just wiping them wrong. If you have a paint like this then it's going to be hard to make it look good with any product or process. The most recent car I worked on personally that had horrible paint was this 2006 Mosler. Not only was the body style a challenge to work on the paint scratched just by looking at it the wrong way.

Test Spot on a Mosler


Paint Hardness
Some paints, both factory paint and re-paint can be extremely hard, this will make removing defect out of the very difficult because it will be difficult to remove small particles of paint due to the physical hardness. See this article on what it means to remove scratches and other defects.

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...


Pad Choice
Pad choice is as important as product choice and technique. If you find you're having problems with a wool pad, try switching to a foam pad and see if you get better results.


Technique
Polishing paint, or in this specific case, removing defects out of a clear coat using a rotary buffer is an art form, not a mere step-by-step mechanical process like replacing a starter motor on a car. It requires skill, knowledge and experience as well as the human elements of care and passion. These are all things that come from time spend behind both the rotary buffer and even hand applicator pads. People that are experts at polishing paint to show car quality have invested many hours in the garage gaining these things and it's pretty hard to master all these things your first time out and even your second, third, forth etc. time out.

It's 3:47 am where I'm at and I have to leave for a full day class at Meguiar's.

Pictures from February 21st, 2009 - Saturday Open Class!


I'll check for your answers to the above questions and try to help more after the class at 3:00pm and/or sometime late tonight or Sunday.