OK, I am rather new to this, but have decided to buy a rotary. My friends teenage son will allow me to use it on his beater 91 Honda Accord to practice. Now my question, for a beginner what size back plate and pads should I buy? Will a 4 3/4" be easier to work with? Or the larger 6". Which will be easier to handle/ control and not burn paint as easy with a rotary. I am aware any size can burn paint. Thanks
Smaller backing plates are easier to use, for sure! But of course, the larger ones can do more correction since the pad is bigger. Watch out for the small ones though, since you're RPMs are the same, you can create much more heat.
I agree with Plet...Also start at 500 RPM untill you get the hang of it I would not go over 1000 rpm.
I don't know why I don't really like 8" pads, but it just feels wrong to me. 6-7.5 just feels right on there. Wool pads are pretty much always 8", and wool is pleasant to work with, but there are 3 big draw backs. 1. Needs to be spurred and it sheds/ when dry it eats up tons of polish. 2. some times wool can have a mind of its own, but that can be fixed with a light tilt and finally 3...it is more aggressive and *usually* needs some sort of follow up.
I'd recomend you go with the smaller size backing plate and pads as well from 5inches to 6.5inches. They are easier to work with and better to control. Yes, I agree becarefull with the amount of heat but just as long as you keep the rotary moving in a good steady pase you should be fine, don't let the sound intimidate you but for starters keep it in the low settings to get the hang of it before you know it, you'll be at 1,000 to 1,500 rpm and then your set :thumb: Hopefully this helps
If I'm not mistaken Phil has both, I don't think he has them up on his website but I'd recommend you phone him, he always answers his phone :thumb: I haven't tried the grey one my self but the yellow one is quite nice, I've got lots of the yellow ones :cheerl: