Let's talk about "Total Cut"

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

This is indeed a fantastic artical and people should really give it a once over, especially when they are correcting paint.

[rmatamorz]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

Wooowww your articles are just a great guide.... to bad that in my country we don't have all of Meguiars products. but I do have what I need to make my car shine..

[npj]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

can you feel any of these deeper scratches with your fingernail? If so, then the best you can generally expect is to perhaps minimize their appearance but you most likely won't get rid of them.

Hi

This is a really informative article and I must thank you for taking the time to write it, this has helped answer many questions. I am a big fan of maguiars and only use meguiars products. I have a few deep scratches on one side that I need to try and remove. I have read your aforementioned comments that if you can feel the scratch that you are only likly to minimise the scratch rather than remove it.

I will buy some UC and use with my Meguiars DA and 8207 pad, then use progressivly less aggressive proucts/pads. This should hopfully minimise these deep scratches.

Once again thank you Michael Stoops for this excellent article that has helped me answer a number of questions.

[SoCalAnt]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

My mind just got blown. Excellent post. Thank you for this.

[DYNAMIC]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

thanks mike just by reading all this now i understand! now how do u now what kind of cut to use on what paint .:

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

thanks mike just by reading all this now i understand! now how do u now what kind of cut to use on what paint .:

That's what your test spots are for - you don't know for sure if the paint on a car you're working on for the first time is hard, soft or otherwise until you do a test spot or two.

We can give you a great starting point for the vast majority of paints - Ultimate Compound, W8207 Soft Buff 2.0 polishing pad, G110v2 set at speed 5, moderate pressure - but from there your test spot will tell you how long you need to work a given area, how much more or less pressure you need, or if UC is either too aggressive (very delicate paint) or not aggressive enough (very hard paint). That's where your constantly developing skills come into play. Look through the threads from pictures from our Saturday classes and you'll see that this is what we've used exclusively since UC was introduced. And you'll see it's success on a wide variety of cars, most of them black, most of them in pretty rough shape to begin with. And keep in mind that the results are from doing a pretty quick test spot at that - spend a bit more time and the results can still be better. All depends on what you want to achieve.

[marley]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

nice one thanks, very helpful

[AUS]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

this article helped alot, thanks michael...


as a note:

You would then follow with the foam finishing pad to remove any holograms or light marring, and then finish off with the foam finishing pad at a speed as low as perhaps 900 rpm to obtain a flawless finish. The very same liquid used to pull out sanding marks will also provide a flawless, highly reflective finish? Because of the variables involved and their impact on total cut, yes.

should it be polishing or finishing??

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

as a note:

You would then follow with the foam finishing pad to remove any holograms or light marring, and then finish off with the foam finishing pad at a speed as low as perhaps 900 rpm to obtain a flawless finish. The very same liquid used to pull out sanding marks will also provide a flawless, highly reflective finish? Because of the variables involved and their impact on total cut, yes.

should it be polishing or finishing??

Keep in mind that very few compounds can be used to both remove sanding marks and finish out to a very nice, clear and glossy finish. M105 can, under certain conditions, but that's pretty rare for almost any compound, and darn near impossible for most.

The intent of this article is to describe the varying levels of cut that can be achieved with a given liquid, not necessarily how far you can stretch that liquid. M86 So1o was engineered to be a one liquid system with the cut dramatically varied by pad selection, tool speed, etc. That is simply not the case with most compounds however - their total range is not that broad. Try finishing out with M84, for example, or removing sanding marks effectively with M09, and you'll see what we mean.

[AUS]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

ahaaa...thanks for the clarification Michael

[pistonslap8814]

This is an excellent and incredibly educational read.

[Slidder]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

Mark: As you stated: "This is the type of guide that is worth getting printed out at Kinkos, laminated, and stuck in your detailing bag to stay with you where ever you go to detail. . . . . . . .

As with the article Mike printed on the DA buffing 101 and now this article, I just finished printing it off and it's in a plastic liner, in my Detailing Information book that hangs on the wall of my shop. I'm not an expert with this "disease" of buffing so when I create a problem or need help in solving one, I always pull my book off the wall and with articles such as Mike writes, I can always count on finding a solution. IF the solution is not in my book then in my shop I also have a laptop that is extremely useful so I can log onto the forum/s and look for solutions that way also. Great information is a wealth of knowledge.

[FFP10]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

It's all clear to me now! Excellent article

[grldjns]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

Great job putting this together Mike. This here really does give a good idea of how many variables there are.

I just bought an rv it has a fiberglass. can I use that on my rv its an 06 and has oxidation on the front and back. I bought the med cut cleaner and polish you think that will work on my problem

[mark o]

Re: Let's talk about "Total Cut"

I have a truck I hunt in. the truck is pretty scratched up, so I figure I can kind of practice on it to see what

I can and cant do. would you start with the 105. thanks