Rotary Polishes - Help, Brad or David or Someone!

[Seymour]

I've retired my PC, 'cause I like my Dewalt 849 rotary buffer so much. The problem is I've accumulated a confusing array of polishing compounds (or whatever their correct name is), and I'd like to trim down to a few I can depend on and understand.

I currently have all three of the Griot machine polishes, 3M PI-II Rubbing Compound Fine Cut, and Meguiar's Diamond Cut 2.0.

I've searched the archives, and I couldn't find a concise recommendation for an arsenal of compounds to use with a rotary which would cover most situations I'd encounter. I know the Diamond Cut is the most aggressive I've got, but beyond that I'm lost.

Going to Meguiar's description of products on their site was somewhat confusing, and 3M's was too. Neither of them (especially Meguiar's) are very good laying out the aggressiveness of the products on a linear scale, and there is obviously a reasonable deal of product overlap.

Let's say I'm just going to stick with Meguiar's products (although a 3M suggestion would work). Which three or four rotary polishes would I want to have to cover most every situation? And, assuming I start with an aggressive one, how many finer ones would I need to use after that to prep the finish for an application of AIO? Can I just skip from Diamond Cut (or some other aggressive one) to a super-fine one, or will eliminating the other couple intermediate polishes really show?

Assuming I'm looking at a badly abused finish, if I started off using Diamond Cut 2.0 (or #4), which are the next polishes I'd want to use after that? Meguiars website sort of indicates that their #4 (heavy cut) followed by #1 (medium cut) followed by #2 (fine cut) followed by #9 might be a way to go. But they don't indicate how Diamond Cut 2.0 compares to #4.

Is #9 a good idea before AIO, or can I just go from the #2 to the AIO? I'd like to use only what I need, and avoid any in-between steps which don't clearly add anything.

Also, I've been using Meguiar's SoftBuff foam cutting pads for most of the process, until the very end. At which point or with which compound should I switch to using their less agressive polishing or finishing pads?

Sorry for the long post, but I'd appreciate whatever advice you can muster.

[Brad B.]

Thats a lot of questions! I have just minute so let me tell you what I use. I think generally you need three different levels of materials on hand. Coarse, Fine and Finish. Most incidents only require two of the three.

For Coarse I use 3M Fine Cut Rubbing Compound. This may be like your Diamond Cut. (haven't used it-just guessing.)

Your 3M PI Rubbing compound falls inbetween what I call Coarse and Fine. It's good stuff but doesn't cut as much as you need sometimes and isn't as fine as you need to be a finish product.

For Fine I use 3M Finesse It II. In many instances this can be used as a finish product as well, it depends on the situation. It is the most versatile product in my compounding arsenal.

It's been a while but I think FI compares most to #2. All I remember is that I ditched #2 and still like FI.

For Finish I use something that is very light on abrasive and has some chemical solvents in it, too. I like Pinnacle Paint Cleansing Lotion the best. This would equate most to Meguiars #9. #9 is ok on really light stuff but too light to take care of most swirls imho.

I prefer to use the finer pads for all but coarse applications. You can always spend a little more time polishing but if you get too agressive you can't go backwards.

[Seymour]

Thanks for the info, Brad. Looking at the description for Pinnacle Paint Cleansing Lotion at CMA, it says that it has no abrasives, but uses fillers. Are they correct?

I thought I'd rely on the combo of AIO and SG for whatever slight "filling" properties I needed.

How important is the Pinnacle to you? If I just use the 3M FI-II as a last step, are the results likely to be generally satisfactory?

Thanks again.

[Brad B.]

I'm convinced that Pinnacle does have abrasives in it is mostly solvents. As far as fillers, that is one of the reasons it seems to work in hiding haze sometimes found on dark finishes.

I don't find AIO or SG does much in the way of filling swirls but it will have some effect in hiding them a bit. But don't think that is a cure. Try to remove them.

I use FI as a final step probably 80% of the time. (prior to waxing) If you were to own one finish enhancing product I would choose FI hands down.