Orbital Buffer?

[SkinnyJ012]

As of right now i don't want to spend the money on a PC, nor do i detail enough cars that it would pay off, i only do my car, just to keep it nice looking. Since i've kept it pretty well maintained there aren't enough defects in it that i'd buy the PC. With that said, i do have some minor marks on my car here and there and i've used scratch-x which works like a charm, but i was wondering if they make any products specifically for orbitals that might take any swirling out. Can scratch x be used with an orbital? Any help or suggestions would help??? Thanks!!

[SkinnyJ012]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

oh yea, could i use megs speed glaze with the orby??

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

Most of our paint care products can be applied with a traditional orbital buffer but that doesn't mean you'll get the results you're looking for.

Just today your same topic has come up and all of the relevant links have been posted to it if you want to learn more about the tool you're talking about.

Click this link,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29779

The type of polisher you're talking about is basically a "Wax Spreader", it's good for spreading out a coat of wax to a finish ALREADY in great condition.

If you want to remove swirls, it will be faster and more effective in most cases when working on a clear coat paint to work by hand using any of these,

M105 Ultra Cut Compound
Ultimate Compound
ScratchX 2.0

The last two products listed are just now showing up in stores.

The reason you can remove swirl by hand better than you can with a traditional orbital polisher is because your hand pushing down on a wax applicator pad can exert more force than the entire surface of the buffing pad for the polisher you're talking about.

Removing swirls means removing paint. Traditional Orbital Buffers are not effective at removing paint thus they are not good at removing swirls.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

With that said, i do have some minor marks on my car here and there and i've used scratch-x which works like a charm, but i was wondering if they make any products specifically for orbitals that might take any swirling out. Can scratch x be used with an orbital? Any help or suggestions would help??? Thanks!!

All three of these can be used with an orbital buffer, the most aggressive is the Ultimate Compound and it would be the best choice to "try" to remove swirls out of a clear coat finish using an orbital polisher.

You would want to do a test spot to make sure it's giving your the results you want before going over the entire car.

Click on the images to go to their dedicated threads...

Swirl and Scratch Removers

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

Read these and you'll be up to speed on the capabilities of the different tools on the market and know more than most people about these different types of tools.

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Please explain Pros/Cons between Rotary and Orbital Buffers


This explains what it means to remove swirls out of a clear coat finish

This is also as "Sticky" in our Hot Topics forum because we share this information so often on this forum to help people understand what it is they're trying to do.

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

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

What are you working on? Car type, year?

[SkinnyJ012]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

The cars that i do work on....2003 Kia Rio, 2003 Mazda Protege, and 2008 Mazda3Speed

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

The cars that i do work on....2003 Kia Rio, 2003 Mazda Protege, and 2008 Mazda3Speed

Those are all relatively small cars, at least compared to a full size truck or s.u.v.

Small cars often times have small thin panels and lots of curves, this doesn't work well for large bonnets. Also, you usually want to avoid running a buffer over any kind of plastic or rubber trim as some paint cleaners, polishes and waxes will stain the trim.

If you want to remove the swirls out of these cars a known way to do this would be to use either M105 or Ultimate Compound, (as UC becomes available), and just do the work by hand. Maybe only tackle a panel or two a day or weekend.

Then apply your favorite wax.

[SkinnyJ012]

Re: Orbital Buffer?

Thanks for all the useful info!