M100 question

[torque]

What is the difference between M100 and Ultimate Compound?

[torque]

Re: M100 question

Bump! I know these two product has different machine usage one rotary and the other da or hand. Which one has more cut, the liquid by itself without the machine or pads combination?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: M100 question

M100 is more aggressive than Ultimate Compound, everything else being equal.

M100, as part of our Mirror Glaze Professional Line, is a body shop safe, paintable product. This is a consideration only if you're working in a body shop environment where fresh paint is being applied - Ultimate Compound should not be used in that scenario.

M100 was originally designed to be a "mid tier" compound for use on a rotary buffer with a wool pad. "Mid tier" refers to those body shops where price is a great consideration than speed or quality of finish. But don't let that fool you - we were targeting this product to go up against other "mid tier" compounds currently on the market, but we wanted to create something that would compete at a price point while delivering best in class speed and finish. And M100 seriously delivers.

While it was developed for rotary/wool use, a lot of guys are using it on DA buffers with microfiber pads because it does indeed cut really fast, and it leaves a fantastic finish at the same time. Last year at Autorama in Detroit we were approached by a shop that was attending the event for the first time. Having finished the car with no time to spare, they loaded it into the trailer and drove non stop from Oregon to Detroit and were then horrified to discover that they still had a ton of sanding marks in the roof. They came over to our rig and asked if we had anything that might help out, and I was stunned when I got to the car and saw this...........



Initially the guys referred to this as "swirl marks" but when I pressed them, they admitted what I suspected all along - they didn't have time to fully buff out their hand sanding marks and instead tried to cover them with wax. Turns out this is the remnants of primarily 1000 grit hand sanding marks. So, what to do? I grabbed a trusty G110v2 DA buffer, a microfiber cutting pad, and a bottle of M100. The paint was pretty hard, and the sanding marks fairly nasty (1000 grit by hand is still a pretty aggressive sanding scratch!), but in about 30 minutes of work on the roof this is what resulted:


There is zero polish or wax on this - just M100 on a microfiber cutting pad and a G110v2 DA buffer.

For something this severe, Ultimate Compound would be pretty challenged. Could it have fixed this? Most likely yes, but it would have taken quite a bit more time. But for more typical towel marks, car wash swirls, etc, Ultimate Compound is usually more than up the task. It's our go-to in our Saturday classes, historically with our W8207 Soft Buff 2.0 yellow foam polishing pad on a DA. But with the introduction of our new DFC5 thin foam cutting disc, we're actually able to take the cutting power of Ultimate Compound up a notch, and with that pad the cutting is great and the finish is too.

Both products are great to have in your arsenal, and which one you choose will depend on the condition of the paint you're working on and your ultimate goals.

[Selectchoice]

Re: M100 question

1000 grit marks hidden by wax? Nice try if you're in a pinch for time I suppose but it's really not a wonder it looked like it did in the before pics....

Incredible fix Mike!

[torque]

Re: M100 question

Thanks for the reply Mr. Stoops. Excellent work on the vehicle above. Just one more question, if you a M100 as directed rotary and wool pad would it still as long or will it be a lot quicker than the half hour?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: M100 question

1000 grit marks hidden by wax? Nice try if you're in a pinch for time I suppose but it's really not a wonder it looked like it did in the before pics....

Incredible fix Mike!

If memory serves, that first picture is after an initial pass that removed the wax they had on the car. It looked bad when I started, but when I did the first pass and wiped off the residue it actually looked worse. Not worse in the sense that my process created any marring, but it looked like the existing marks were amplified. That's when I looked at the guys and said something to the effect of "OK, what did you put on this to conceal the marks? Because I think I just took it all off and revealed the real problem below it." Their response? "Your NXT Tech Wax. A couple coats, maybe three." Great, so I have to strip all that durable polymer off first, before I can start doing any actual correction. What fun.

Thanks for the reply Mr. Stoops. Excellent work on the vehicle above. Just one more question, if you a M100 as directed rotary and wool pad would it still as long or will it be a lot quicker than the half hour?

Without a doubt M100 on a wool pad with a rotary buffer would have removed those sanding marks faster. But it's doubtful that the finish would have looked that good with zero follow up. You are bound to get some level of rotary swirl with a compound and a wool pad, no matter how skilled you are with a rotary. But with a high skill set the rotary swirls will be minor, and very easy to correct with a proper finishing polish. At that event, however, I had very limited choices so G110v2/DMC5/M100 was the best choice.

[torque]

Re: M100 question

The rotary question was just in general, but the vehicle still looks great for what you have to work with. Thank for the reply!

[Selectchoice]

Re: M100 question

If memory serves, that first picture is after an initial pass that removed the wax they had on the car. It looked bad when I started, but when I did the first pass and wiped off the residue it actually looked worse. Not worse in the sense that my process created any marring, but it looked like the existing marks were amplified. That's when I looked at the guys and said something to the effect of "OK, what did you put on this to conceal the marks? Because I think I just took it all off and revealed the real problem below it." Their response? "Your NXT Tech Wax. A couple coats, maybe three." Great, so I have to strip all that durable polymer off first, before I can start doing any actual correction. What fun.

I'm sure they learned something valuable from you that day!

Bet you're glad it was only the roof with the sanding marks....

[Michael Stoops]

Re: M100 question

I'm sure they learned something valuable from you that day!

To be quite candid about the whole thing, the shop owner watched the process - M100, microfiber pad, DA polisher, one step - and grabbed his body shop guys over and told them to watch what I was doing in a single step, and to throw out the stuff they had in the shop and switch to Meguiar's as soon as they got back. They were using a fairly well known body shop line of products that consists of 4 steps with a rotary to remove sanding marks and refine the finish. He was stunned that this turnaround happened in a single step. We chatted a bit when I had finished up and he asked what he owed me. I just thanked him for letting me work on such a cool car, and to enjoy the show, then wished him luck and gave him the bottle of M100. I swear I thought the guy was going to start crying he was so thrilled. And, yes, I do have a very cool job at times, I'm fully aware!!!

[Selectchoice]

Re: M100 question

To be quite candid about the whole thing, the shop owner watched the process - M100, microfiber pad, DA polisher, one step - and grabbed his body shop guys over and told them to watch what I was doing in a single step, and to throw out the stuff they had in the shop and switch to Meguiar's as soon as they got back. They were using a fairly well known body shop line of products that consists of 4 steps with a rotary to remove sanding marks and refine the finish. He was stunned that this turnaround happened in a single step.

The unbeatable combo of M. Stoops, Meguiars and the inevitable fantastic result converts another!

Mike, it's always great to see your passion for your job shining through. Not too many people have a job they like, let alone love!

[drumdan]

I'm sure they learned something valuable from you that day!

To be quite candid about the whole thing, the shop owner watched the process - M100, microfiber pad, DA polisher, one step - and grabbed his body shop guys over and told them to watch what I was doing in a single step, and to throw out the stuff they had in the shop and switch to Meguiar's as soon as they got back. They were using a fairly well known body shop line of products that consists of 4 steps with a rotary to remove sanding marks and refine the finish. He was stunned that this turnaround happened in a single step. We chatted a bit when I had finished up and he asked what he owed me. I just thanked him for letting me work on such a cool car, and to enjoy the show, then wished him luck and gave him the bottle of M100. I swear I thought the guy was going to start crying he was so thrilled. And, yes, I do have a very cool job at times, I'm fully aware!!!

I posted a pic of m105 removing 1000 grit marks with the 7424xp, and an alternate microfiber cutting pad. Whomever runs the Megs FB page was suprised that the PC was able to get the job done.

I don't plan on doing a lot of sanding, but it's nice to know that the traditional d/a can serve all of my personal needs.

I have 101, and 105 on the shelf. 100 is next.

[mohebmhanna]

Re: M100 question

I have to say that I like this thread because it shows how a Meg's DA 110V2 (8mm) with MF cutting pad/M100 was able to produce excellent finish is ready to LSP. The question I had in mind is how the new Meg's MT300 can accomplish this task along with the new cutting/polish pads that introdcued at SEMA 2014. From what I hearing it should be quite straight forward to remove 1000 grit marks with new MT300/cutting pad/M100 with few passes and deliever a dran excellent finish ready for LSP.