Ive heard from several people that when using a motorized buffer you can burn your paint... Just wondering if its true? looking for some guidance from those of you who have tried or are actively using a motorized buffer, any tips or techniques would be greatly appreciated.... Thanks

 

Most paint burn comes from improper use of a rotary-type machine. Those random orbit machines (PC and such) greatly reduce the chance of paint burn, but at the expense of performance.

 

+1. The Porter Cable 7424/7336, Ultimate Detailing Maching (UDM) are examples of random orbital polishers. These machines will do some correction, but not as much and not as fast as rotary polishers, such as the Makita 9227, Metabo 12-175, Hitachi, DeWalt, and Flex 603.

There are dual-mode buffers, such as the Festool RO150FEQ, Flex 3401, and Makita BO6040, but they all come with a higher price than the RO buffers and offer "forced-rotation" modes instead of rotary mode, which will not offer as much correction ability as a rotary.

If you can afford it, the best all-around tool, without the aggression of a rotary, is the Festool RO150FEQ.

 

Simple answer would be... If you are concerned about damaging the paint with a high speed buffer then have it done. Not only do you have to worry about the paint but the moldings and trim as well. These are very easy to mark up. You can't do much damage with a random orbital buffer but they also don't work near as well or as fast.

 

You CAN damage your paint with a machine such as the PC. Its also easy for new people to use the polish the wrong way and marr the paint up.

 

thats the thing im worried about!!!! if ur a noob, which part of the car would you try it on?

 

Any part of your friends' car!

 

Just keep the polisher flat and watch out for body lines and edges when polishing. What polisher would you be using? I use the Makita 6" orbital polisher with adjustable RPM settings, you want to use around 2500-3000 rpm to polish with if you are using the adjustable one. Best place to "try it on" would be the hood because it would take alot to burn the paint when polishing a flat surface.

 

Planning to buy a PC but still deciding if its worth....any DIY on how to polish the edges/ curve surface? The 2IS hood has curves so should there be any specific way to polish it? Because it is certainly not a flat surface....

 

It's like drawing a tick-tac-toe board....

checkout the guide here: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-pc7424.html

 

Any1 knows where to get a USED PC???

 

there's a couple on ebay right now... or checkout your local lowes/home depot. I saw some the other day at lowes onsale for $99

 

the PC is very forgiving on edges and non-flat surfaces. I wouldn't be too worried about it. Just go with the flow of the curves.

 

any1 in socal wants to show/teach me?? hehehehe

 

here is a PC (porter cable random orbital)


here is a rotary polisher



The PC mimicks the motion of your hand if you were to hand polish a car so it doesn't just "spin" round & round it's somewhat off-set therefore it's tough to get that heat build up that ruins car finishes. That's not to say you can't damage a finish with a PC it's just harder to do so.

The rotary polisher just spins round & round and that's it. Lots of RPMs, lots of heat build up, easy to burn through paint and it will rip off a wiper arm no problem.

I started with the PC and a year later graduated to the rotary. If your paint is in good condition you can get away with the PC if you use the right product in conjunction with the PC. If you're dealing with severely damaged paint then the rotary may be your best bet. I admit that my paint is in great shape and I still use a rotary (about once every 3-4 months) only because I feel it's faster but I will apply the wax (final step) with the PC because the PC is slower.

350NUB - where in Calif are you??

As for the edges I stay away from them with the rotary, use blue 3M tape to mask off. The reason, the edge of any panel is where the paint will be the most thin and you don't want to be too aggressive there. I'll go over those areas very LIGHTLY with the PC or by hand.