Help! I am Frustrated!

[prbrianpr]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

What you recommend? buy a hood from a junker and practice a lot?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

It really isn't a bad idea, especially if you aren't real sure about your ability with this sort of thing. But even that doesn't prepare you for everything - junk yard panels usually don't have things like lights, trim, etc that can be easily damaged with a foam cutting pad. They don't necessarily set you up for dealing with intricate curves.

The best thing you can do is pay attention to what's going on and use your head. If you get a junk panel, get a feel for what it takes to actually damage something. This is the time to experiment without fear of inflicting costly damage. See what it takes so you aren't surprised.

Just remember, burning through the middle of a panel takes a bit of effort, but taking paint off an edge can happen in the blink of an eye. Things you can do with a D/A almost blindfolded should not be done at all with a rotary.

[prbrianpr]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

I heard that, that rotary machine can remove the paint from edges, I saw in a short tutorial that you need to use tape in trim and places with sharp edges. Internt helps a lot, forums like this helps. Still I want to know if there exist a book for rotary polishing?

Thanks

[TrekInCR]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

Thanks for all the help and advice! I really appreciated.

I'm going to try and get some pictures so you guys can see what I am working with.

About 2 weeks ago, there was a Meguiar's Demo at a shopping mall near my house, I almost end up buying a DA but then I thought I wasn't ready for it!

[Selectchoice]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

^ I don't get where this belief that a rotary will somehow kick the arse out of paint, I really don't. I went straight to a rotary, didn't even do a scrap panel, went straight to my own cars panels.

The results I got were nothing less than 110% positive.

Congratulations on your success with the rotary. It's great you've had some good success. But in my experience your situation isn't repeated by the majority and I'd exercise some caution in recommending it to the masses so freely.

When I detailed professionally I saw my fair share of amateur's (and some "professionals" too) misuse of the rotary polisher. Correcting the problems wasn't always easy let alone possible. My mind is drawn to the memory of a certain Porsche 911 whose owner's son had detailed dad's prized ride with a rotary and burnt right through edges of panels, and yes, even through paint smack in the middle of flat panels. Not to mention trim burnt and scuffed from the machine. The look on dad's face when I explained what couldn't be corrected will stay with me forever! This sadly wasn't a one off experience...

It should be remembered also that not all rotary polishers are created equally and, like DA's, come in a wide variety of types, price ranges, quality and ease of user friendliness. Some great, some not so great.

Even in skilled hands a rotary polisher is a powerful machine which requires concentration and respect- even when you're confident in its correct use. In my experience, it isn't the tool you can just unpack from the box, plug in and away you go.

IMO the "belief somehow that a rotary will kick the arse out of paint" is firmly planted in my experiences detailed above. Don't get me wrong I love the rotary and all it can do, but I have been using one for almost 20 years, and I sure wasn't gifted enough to be able to pick up a rotary and be talented on the first attempt, let alone the second or third...

[Blazebro]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

^ I think Michael sums it up. Most accidents are caused by the user being too aggressive, and I did say that the skill isn't about using the most aggressive solution, but in fact the least aggressive solution. The majority of polishing (I think you'll agree) will be done with a finishing pad and finishing polish.

I stand by my comments, as long as someone does their homework, chooses the right products and gets their head around the technique, they've got nothing to fear.

I'm a big advocate of diminishing abrasives, because that right there is a safety feature.

Again I'll point to Michaels comments about going too aggressive being at the heart of any damage. Talk to a pro and they'll thell you they work up through the aggressiveness (starting with the least) options, until they find the one that works on any particular paint.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

Congratulations on your success with the rotary. It's great you've had some good success. But in my experience your situation isn't repeated by the majority and I'd exercise some caution in recommending it to the masses so freely.

^ I think Michael sums it up. Most accidents are caused by the user being too aggressive, and I did say that the skill isn't about using the most aggressive solution, but in fact the least aggressive solution. The majority of polishing (I think you'll agree) will be done with a finishing pad and finishing polish.

I stand by my comments, as long as someone does their homework, chooses the right products and gets their head around the technique, they've got nothing to fear.

The truth of the matter is, you both are correct!

The rotary is not rocket science, but so many people don't bother to heed the advice given by Blazebro, which is why Selectchoice has seen so many problems in the past. And we've seen them too. Waaay to many of them!!!

But we've also seen people damage their paint with a D/A after reading countless times that "it's impossible to damage your paint with a D/A". While not impossible, you do have to do something kind of crazy to cause real damage but people do crazy things! And if an individual can do something crazy enough to damage paint with a D/A, we'd hate to put a rotary in that persons hands and leave them unattended!! These same people will say "but I saw a video on YouTube and it looked easy!". Well, sure, if you see a professional do anything it looks easy!

But again, you're both right - we just wish more people would listen to both of you!

[Selectchoice]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

...as long as someone does their homework, chooses the right products and gets their head around the technique, they've got nothing to fear.

I agree, however in my experience all too often new users just pick up the tool and away they go. Even watching a youtube video is too much for many first time users, in fact I would say many generally seek advice AFTER the problems have arisen, not before. And as many rotary polishers are boxed with a wool pad of varying/unknown levels of cutting ability, I doubt too many first time users start off with a mild polish and foam finishing pad. They probably assume because it came with a wool pad then that is what "the pros" must use and away they go.

As Michael mentioned, I too have seen DA damage. True it's harder to do, but if you have no clue, sometimes anything is possible... That's why this forum is so valuable and cost saving. A little advice and a question or three before beginning can save a whole lot of time and expense (not to mention tears...) later on.

Long live the MOL forum!

[sonicview]

Re: Help! I am Frustrated!

Hello guys!

I've been using Meguiar's products for about 4-5 years. The shampoos and waxes always have worked like a charm, however I feel frustrated when using other products such as ScracthX, Rubbing Compound, Bug & Tar Remover.

A couple of weeks ago I bought Rubbing Compound to try and remove light swirls from the black paint of my car (VW Jetta). I used a soft foam applicator pad and plenty of passion but after a couple of passes the paint still looked the same!!!

The same thing happened to me a while back with ScratchX... what it is that I am doing wrong? For some reason I cannot get the results I am looking for...

Any help is appreciated!

PS. Sorry for my not-so-good English

Did you tried to use the ultimate compound? I also tried to use the swirl x by hand and it didn't worked for me, it seems it may be good for the DA applicator, but with hand it needs lots of passion. So i asked the same question as you and then was suggested to use the UC, i did and it really worked very well for me. Give a try on a small area and see if it helps.

Rick