Great Video On Polishing Technique

[The Critic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsOFu-AzeUM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This is a great tip. Many individuals more their DA polishers way too fast, and do not allow the abrasives to work properly.

I slowed down my arm speed during my last detailing session and was surprised by the results that I achieved.

 

[genynnc]

Good video... exactly how it should be done with a D/A type machine.

Slow arm speed, smaller sections, and the arm speed shown by Mr. Theal usually knock out the majority of defects in one section pass (with the right pad/ product from the test spot.)

I find, working this technique, you will usually get in just one section pass before the compound has flashed (SMAT).

However, it's true... work slower to work smarter/ faster.

 

[qwertydude]

If you're going to go slowly like that, another tip to consider is putting small drops of polish inline with where you're going to polish. Spreading it all out quickly at first forces the polish to flash off causing dry buffing to occur. New small drops of polish along the polisher's travel path help to maintain lubrication and fresh abrasive load while polishing slowly. Just be sure to lift the edge of the polisher to go over the drop so it doesn't just fling.

 

[The Critic]

I have not seen the flashing problem. Maybe it's a Meguiars M105/M205 issue?

The Menzerna and HD polishes that I've used will not evaporate very quickly. Anything more than 3-4 small drops on a pad will cause clogging, will reduce your cut, and negatively impact your finish. I don't even prime the pads anymore.

 

[qwertydude]

The problem with going so slowly like I said was not just maintaining lubrication but ALSO maintaining a constant abrasive load. Using diminishing abrasives like some of Menzerna's is that by going slowly on a single pass is that after a while an oil based polish will still have lubrication will have completely broken down so you'll have little cut left over for complete and even correction.

This is why with diminishing abrasives you still need the first passes to go over quickly before slowing down. The first quicker passes use the fresh abrasives to do the heavy cutting and the slow pass, is what I like to call the jeweling pass, finishes the abrasive down to a final polish level.

This is also why I prefer Meguiars SMAT polishes. You can go with a single pass slow polishing method because the polish doesn't need to be broken down. All you need to do is ensure you have fresh polish to maintain lubrication and every once in a while clear out the spent polish on a towel or pad wash. The SMAT polishes may not break down to a final finish as fine but for real world use, the flexibility and faster work time definitely beat the absolute perfection of traditional polishing. Absolute perfection lasting about as long as the next car wash anyways.

 

[The Critic]

I had a dark red Suburban today that I was polishing.

The hood was pretty hammered (RIDS, haze, scuffing, etc).

I used FG400 and a 5.5" orange hex-logic pad. Polisher was the Rupes 15.

Although I normally do not do this, I applied about 10-15lb of pressure and made two very, very slow passes using speed 6. This removed the defects and completely broke down the polish. I finished up with one quick pass to remove the haze.

The results was 100% correction and no haze, and the finish was LSP ready. There was no dry buffing, inadequate lubrication, or any of the issues that you mentioned.