I have no idea why rotaries are so feared.

Tried out my brand new Makita 9227C, and I have no idea why anyone with a proper understanding would not be able to use it. This is my first time ever machine polishing, and obviously it wasn't perfect, but IMO it was pretty easy. Everything went very smoothly on horizontal panels, and I was able to achieve 95% correction on my car, a black 2008 Toyota Corolla.

I used the Zenith method 600-900-1200-900-600 with

5in 3M backing plate:
5.5 DD Green pad/ P203
5.5 DD Blue/ 106FF
5.5 DD Blue/ 3M UF
5.5 DD Blue/ PO85RD
(Just played around with all of them, settled on P203/85RD for my hood)

Sorry I didn't have a camera :sorry:

Thanks to everyone that helped me with getting set-up, 911fanatic, Denzil, and Phil from Detailersdomain!


Any tips for a beginner? I think I still need to understand proper polish break-down and how to deal with sharp body contours like on some hoods, but those come mostly from experience. Any tips guys?

Thanks :applause2:

 

No problem man, any time. As far as tips go, I'd say just take your time and practice, practice, practice! Each and every polish is different and you really have to just go through a few applications to get the hang of how each one behaves. Eventually you'll understand how to work each one without hesitation.

As for sharp body contours, you just have to be extremely careful not to burn edges and what not. The 3M BP provides some cushion to give in a little so it's more forgiving on body contours.

Also, with my Zenith method, I usually go from my lowest setting (600/700 RPM) and jump straight to my polishing setting (1500/1800/etc depending on paint thickness/hardness, type of polish/compound and step in the process) and follow up with my lowest setting again.

As far as your process goes, I think you can do either or with the UF and PO85RD and not both but it's totally up to you.

 

as denzil i usually go from speed 1 around 600/700rpm then jump straight to polishing speed then change to finshing pad and same again then come back down to speed 1 to refine.
on your contours im not sure if your 3m backing plate is the foam cushoin type but i use one of these as it is far more forgiving if you make a accidental slip etc and you can flex round all your awkward areas far better.:thumb:

 

There is nothing to Fear with a rotary, but they should be Respected for what damage they can do if used incorrectly!

 

I am in the same boat as you. I started out knowing and experiencing nothing with machine polishing. I got my Hitachi from FMINUS who was recommended to me by a good friend. Once I started actually doing it, I felt exactly the same way you did.

I thought, "This actually isn't hard at all. What's all the fuss about? I couldn't imagine myself burning paint unless I got incredibly stupid."

Well, one thing happened, and I did get stupid. I burned a small piece of bumper that I should've taped up. It was not huge, and my friend and I handled it with me paying with it out of my pocket. It was a learning experience.

When I started, I started on a white car which was nearly impossible to find swirls on. My advice to you is to try a few other cars. Dark cars are the best. Black if you can find one. On black, EVERYTHING will show. It'll give you a ton of confidence. After 3-4 cars, you'll notice when the polish starts to go transparent. Then you'll know when you're done. After a few more cars you'll start to develop your own way of holding the polisher, breaking down polish based on pad position, visuals, technique and everything else that comes with rotary polishing.

I'd highly recommend the 3M backing plate too. I know it's quite expensive, but it'll make the job less stressful on the areas such as fenders. The polisher won't jump as much as you'd think it would. Nica's videos were extremely helpful when I started.

To deal with other things such as curve of the hood, you'll have to figure out something that works for you. Not everyone will do it the same way. As for everything else, I think the best way is to have someone stand next to you to show you. It's not absolutely necessary because I'm positive you can learn it on your own as I have.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

I do the exact same.

 

So did you finish down without holograms?

I hear some pros have a bit of trouble finishing down completely holo free so they just use the pc for the final step

 

with a finishing polish or even power finish, you should be able to finish LSP ready

some people can even finish with PG or SIP. it's just not as glossy as you'd like it

 

That's not true at all. A proper pairing of pad/polish will finish down flawlessly. When using a blue or black LCC pad and a Menz polish like 106, 85rd or the micro polish, you can work the hell out of it for a long time. It is good practice to see when it flashes and how long afterwards you actually have. I use a p.c. to apply the sealant.

 

Really? I only have a sample bottle of the 3M UF, and I didn't really research it that much. From my understanding, it cuts slightly heavier like 106FF, while PO85RD cuts a tiny bit and is used for extremely small scratches and burnishing gloss. So where exactly does UF fall?

Exactly what I'm saying. I posted the same "Starting my business thread" on autopia, and man, they pretty much told me don't get a rotary, it will break your legs and kill your family, only pros with 10 years of experience can use them, a new guy will NEVER be able to. Instead I trusted the people on here that said, get a rotary, but respect it.

BTW, togwt, you have no idea how extremely helpful you have been. I read your guides top to bottom, especially the rotary one, they are all bookmarked for me. Thank you so much for your service, I don't think I would be able to do some detailing things without your articles. :worship2:

It does help. I am using a my families black car, and I ended up burning a small amount of trim on the windshield that I should have taped. Never again. Good thing that car has been to hell and back, even though it has 8000 miles, my sister destroys it. Crashed mulitple times, many RIDS, I actually got into detailing so it could help me afford my own car ha. and I have the 3M foam one, when I make some money I'm going to get the 3in foam one to replace my normal 4 in one. Thanks! :worship2:

TBH, I don't know. I am 90% sure that there are none, but I only have the halogens I just bought and not a high intensity LED light. It was overcast when I was working and I covered up my work with BH Auto Balm, but today I'll try it out again.

 

IMO, I believe UF is more versatile than PO85RD. You can use UF after a medium polish to finish down a car while PO85RD can be used to "jewel" the car. It's really subjective and you can use one or the other but I don't think it's totally necessary to use both. Both can be used interchangably to finish down a car's paint but it's very situational. However, this is just my experience and I am in no way telling you you're wrong but just how I do things. :thumb:

 

I so enjoy seeing threads like these, rotary's in general are no different then a PC or Flex or the DA's. They shouldn't be feared but like it was mentioned they require full attention.

When I first started detailing I started off with the PC and I found my self getting bored wile using the PC, I would look around all over the vehicle, the garage..ect...ect...when I made the transition to my rotary I found that I couldn't really take my eyes of what I was doing, every time I did I would loose control...now that I've been using rotary for everything, I can look a way for a bit but I'm never bored and you should always focus wile using the rotary.

As for having issues finishing LSP with the rotary, like richy said it depends on pad and polish and lot sof practice. Some times some vehicles respond so well to a polish and pad combo it's incredable, other times it takes you for ever to find the right combo...it's all a learning experiance.

Glad to hear rotary is going well for you :thumb:

 

I wish we could get rid of the stigma attached to rotaries. With the new pads and polishes that are available, you are easily able to do correction work at lower speeds. At 1000 - 1200 rpm, you can do correction work without having to worry about burning the paint or taking an edge off using the appropriate pad / polish combo. You do have to pay attention as Nica suggested, but if you exercise a little common sense you should be ok. As your skills improve, you can use higher speeds. My advice to anyone learning to use a rotary is to practice with a FINISHING PAD AND POLISH ( Menz 85RD or 106FA with a black or blue pad ) . This will not do any correction but there is no chance of doing damage at lower speeds and you can get used to the way a rotary feels. Next, step up to a MEDIUM POLISH AND PAD ( Menz Power Finish and Green or White pads ). For the average guy, this will attain 80 -85% correction and should be as far as you go until you are VERY comfortable with your polisher.

 

That is exactly what I did Ken. Edges and plastic bumpers still scare me since those are easy to damage, and I think I really should invest in a paint gauge but I have spent so much already and need to make some money first.

Now let me ask you guys something. I'm working on my Black Toyota and Grandma's silver Accord first, and these vehicles are newer. Mine is brand-new, but both vehicles has some places where the paint is chipped off to the base, a couple on the hood of the Accord and one on the edge under the taillight of my Corolla, which isn't even a year old. Should I still polish?

 

Personally i would, but i would tape them off for sure...

 

Thanks! I didn't even think about taping them for some odd reason, should make perfect sense but here I am sitting here thinking about if I can just polish around them. :thud:

I think I'm still gonna get a basic paint meter after this. Detailing is just so ridiculous in how after you thought you bought every essential product you need for it, you still find some little thing that you forgot and you tell yourself it's the last thing and then you end up buying 10 more things and more after that. :thud:

 

[BTW, togwt, you have no idea how extremely helpful you have been. I read your guides top to bottom, especially the rotary one, they are all bookmarked for me. Thank you so much for your service, I don't think I would be able to do some detailing things without your articles. ]

Glad the Deailing School section articles are of help > >

 

a tip for a beginner i would have to say is dont get over confident. If you're still learning theres plenty of room to make a mistake if you are not careful. Like someone already said, just respect the rotary and what it can do and you should be fine, its when you get overconfident and careless when you will run into problems.

 

Rotary is not as difficult as many claimed, but like what the rest said, it requires attention. There was once when i got complacent on my makita and took my eyes off it when doing the bumper, I lost control and took some paint off. I was buffing at 1500rmp and in less than 4s, damage done.. It was one hell of an experience and I coulden stop thinking what had happened throughout the rest of the detail. It was a torture..
Ever since then i truely understand the meaning of 'respect the rotary'.

 

I didn't have anybody to show me anything when I started. The answer was simple for me. It's was the unknown...:shrug: