Paint Correction

[bigpaulo 239]

Im looking at getting a DA polisher so i can have a crack at getting rid of swirl marks in the clear coat. Ive watched a fair few "how to" youtube vids and i reckon i could get the hang of it. Has anyone here had a go at this before and can give me their advice? Im mainly wondering what the best way is to prepare the panels before i hit them with the polisher.

Cheers!

[SPArKy_Dave 8,863]

I would suggest to use a Claybar, or Clay towel, to decontaminate the paintwork first.

[blu xe 825]

DA polishers are awesome for swirl marks and are pretty forgiving for a rookie as opposed to a normal rotary buff. I still use a rotary buff for cutting but a DA for finishing. The big foot 21  one is what i've used but they are filthy expensive. There are plenty of others around that are more affordable, cant say if they do as good a job but yeah for swirl marks they cant be beat.  

[Gav 616]

I've found getting into paint correction quite bewildering. Heaps of websites deal with it, stacks of machines are available that all do essentially similar things and the products - perhaps unsurprisingly there are fuckloads of them as well.

I've got a Bosch GEX150 Turbo. I bought it a few years ago because it seemed to be highly regarded. Since that point in time heaps of other machines have been made available. Firstly the machine has to be comfortable to hold - it has to have balance so you can use it with one hand if necessary and an extended handle if two-handed operation is required.

The Bosch I have takes a six-inch (150mm) foam pad that adheres to vibrating plate via velcro. The plate has the "hook" component of the velcro adhered to it and the pads sport the "loop" component. The pads never come adrift during operation. The 150mms size in my opinion is a great point from which to start. Plate vibration speeds are infinitely variable via a rotary dial on the handle of the machine. Another setting switch enables a selection to be made that gives the machine a rotary setting as well as a fine orbital one. 

I also have a rotary buffer that I rarely use nowadays because the Bosch combines the functions of two machines.

"Lake Country" is the brand of foam pads I use. They are colour coded according to the amount of "cut" they deliver. Other manufacturers do the same with colour coding. There is no correlation between pad colour and "cut" between manufacturers. Making things more confusing is the lack of correlation between older pad colours and newer issues or ranges within the same manufacturer's lines. Lake Country do offer substantial online resources that attempt to enable you to quantify what kind of cut you're gonna get with what pad.

This all becomes somewhat meaningless and is defined by whatever compounds you're using. At least Lake Country offer tables that quantify the effect their pads have with certain brands of compound.

You really have to suck it and see...experiment with stuff.

I use Waxit to source a lot of my stuff.

https://www.waxit.com.au/

They're based in Tullamarine (Melbourne) and seem to provide a reliable service via the post.

My process is generally as follows  - works for me on home sprayed 2K paint : 

1500-2000 wet sand with half sheet paper. The half sheets available with a light grey abrasive compound have a "blunted" grit profile that leave less fine scratches than the full sheets (brown or black compound) with the same grit rating. The full sheets have a more angular grit profile that leaves more scratches that need to be buffed out later. Sanding removes deeper scratches and peel.

I'll use Menzerna Heavy Cut 300 or 400 on a yellow Lake Country pad with the Bosch set on rotary. I'll next used the same compound using a Lake Country orange pad on an orbital setting. You get a pretty good finish after this point. The new issue Menzerna compounds apparently "reduce" as you polish. The offer more cut at the start of the process and reduce the amount of cut over time.

You can go further with polishing if you wish - depending on your fussiness. Blue or black pads from the manufacturer discussed offer little cutting ability and are more designed to finesse your paints finish with finer polishing compounds or to machine smear a finishing protectant (a natural wax or synthetic compound) onto the paint....

 

 

[bigpaulo 239]

Gav thats awesome. Thanks so much for going into so much detail. Yeah ive found it can be pretty bewildering when diving into the art of detailing. Ive been watching vids on youtube, but they can also get a bit confusing as different people have different methods. I think my best bet would be to find a spare panel and have a practice before hitting my own car. Waxit seem to have some pretty good deals on DA polishers and product.