Pictures from November 21, 2009 - Saturday Advanced Class

[switerajaya]

Re: Pictures from November 21, 2009 - Saturday Advanced Class

Interesting! Wish I could be there.
But there're some question i'd like to ask, what is the masking tape for in above photos? As a newbie to machine polishing, i understand that masking tape is used to cover plastic trims or regions that we don't want to be accidentally buffed by the machine (i did once, my washer nozzle housing ruined by a soft buff 2.0 finishing pad running on 1200 RPM). But from above picture, is it right that the masking tape is used to sections based on curviness of the panel, since i found that bit tricky to buff non flat panels. And please, i really need advice on buffing on non flat panels, like buffing a suzuki swift, thanks.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Pictures from November 21, 2009 - Saturday Advanced Class

But there're some question i'd like to ask, what is the masking tape for in above photos?

There are several reasons for masking off when rotary buffing, chief among them being to protect vulnerable areas. That could be things like lights, trim, washer nozzles, etc but also an adjacent panel that sits a tiny bit higher than the panel you're working on. Brushing the pad against the edge of this slightly higher panel can quickly and easily burn the paint off the edge.

As this was a teaching situation we taped off a lot of things just to play it safe.