took out the rotary for the first time today....

toyotaguy · 09-05-06, 05:38

have some questions....

mainly - how in the hell do you keep it still all the time....the F150 I did today didnt seem to like the polisher wit all its curved lines, and my polisher was all over the place....i polished with excel erasure pads (love them) and it made fast work of the terrible condition the truck was in (pics to come later as I am finishing it tomorrow). Sometimes I would have it still and smooth, then all of a sudden with nothing changed it would skip on me....slightest movement made that much of a difference????

second - do you use more polish than with a PC....seems like its drying out faster than normal...mixed PG and OP 50/50 on a blue erasure pad (didnt want to get too aggressive first time out, so I skimped on the pad....later jumped up to the yellow and it made a huge difference!)

any tips?....hitachi rotary

Dave KG · 09-05-06, 06:32

A rotary that is hopping around - buffer hop: this is generally the result of too much or too little product on the pad. If you tilt the rotary off to an angle as well, I find that it can also hop about and tug at you.

I have no experience of the Hitatchi rotary, I use a Makita myself, and if I flow with the motion of the rotary, ie dont fight it but flow in up and down motions with the machine and ensure I dont overload the pads with product then I find the rotary works very smoothly... Also, keep a check as you work that pads are not becoming lcotted with product as this will act to cause buffer hop. Keep a toothbrush with you for remvong clotting from the pad, or better still switch to a clean pad. I will use two or three pads per car for one product to ensure I always have a clean and unclotted pad throughout - saves times with the toothbrush.

I use Meguiars pads with the Makita (Wx006 pads) and find them excellent, and have had no control issues with them unless the pads have become overloaded with product. Also, what speeds are you polishing at? I prefer to polish at lower rpms - with Menzerna I go no higher than 1500rpm, with Meguiars no higher than 2000rpm and only very rarely would I use the 2k speed. I find product less inclined to dry out a lower speeds. Also for finishng, with finishing polishes such as Menzerna PO85RD I will polish at 900rpm followed by a final pass at 600rpm - very slow, but gets a crystal clear hologram free finish that beats the finish from the PC hands down and also the slow speeds don't dry out the product.

David Fermani · 09-05-06, 06:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave KG

A rotary that is hopping around - buffer hop: this is generally the result of too much or too little product on the pad. If you tilt the rotary off to an angle as well, I find that it can also hop about and tug at you.

I don't think the amount of product has anything to do with buffer hop. When your product cakes up from not cleaning/spurring your pad often can cause it to wobble. Also, your pad should always be flat, never tilted, because of the chance for swirls.
I always taught beginners to keep the speed low, use a generous amount of product(keep the surface /pad wet), keep it flat and have a firm grip. It takes lots of practice(100's of buff jobs) to consider yourself a seasoned buffer.

Dave KG · 09-06-06, 04:27

Well experimenting around with various amounts of the same product on the same pad revealed that if there was too much product there, the rotary began to hop. This may of course be because when there is more product on the pad, it is more prone to clotting (makes sense, yes?) but this is what I have experienced in using the rotary.

RAG · 09-06-06, 07:41

Glad to see your trying the rotary. Two months from now you'll be 50/50 rotary/PC...6 months from now you'll be 90/10.

Let's see...tips:

PG with OP isn't the easiest compound in the world to use; I much prefer to mix RMG with it. Actually, OHC is the easiest to work compound...so I'd start their when learning. The hop you were getting was probably because the PG component in your mixture had completely dried and you essentially lost your lubrication (remember, the rotary will "use up" the product many times faster than the PC). Product quantity...the rotary tends to use a tad more product than the PC, but it's in the ball park.

For polishing I really like the Blackfire SRC polish (or 106FF)...and OP is great too.

Keep the speed slow...around 1,000 rpms till you rack up 10 or 15 hours on it. Then you'll generally want to hang out in the 1200 to 1500 range unless you break the wool out.

Use the green P2...though I too like the Erasures, the green P2 is substantially easier to use (easier than any other pad out there) with the rotary. You can even compound with this pad, you just wont get as much cut.

Keep the pad flat...and at 1,000 to 1,200 rmps, I typically move the pad at about 3 inches per second (don't worry about heat with the green P2s...they really don't generate any unless you get crazy).

RAG · 09-06-06, 07:45

If you want, you can come and work with me for a day (we'd have to choose a day when I'm doing correction work). Or that guy with the hammered black M35 in Newport Beach...if I come out to do his car, you could join me (he also has someone that wants the "works" on black Navigator).

SpoiledMan · 09-06-06, 09:56

If we can come together mutually, I'd come down and help out with those Ryan.

toyotaguy · 09-06-06, 06:58

yeah.... i took out the rotary to try it out for the second time today.....and i put it away within 20 minutes!!!! just couldnt get it to flow all that easy, and I wanted to finish the same truck I started on yesterday (pics to come tonight @ midnight). I just stuck with the PC and a yellow erasure pad with a 6" backing plate and it came out really amazing. It was a F150 stepside and with all the contours, I couldnt get the rotary to stay smooth....I need some work/tips/help/practice lol

I spent 12 hours on the outside alone! and my friend did the interior work!....that makes it a 19 hour detail......yikes

RAG · 09-06-06, 07:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoiledMan

If we can come together mutually, I'd come down and help out with those Ryan.

Sounds good. I'll come up with something and get back at both of ya bia PM. No matter what, I think working on a black vehicle or two would be best.

Ryan

mowerpan · 09-07-06, 06:12

I guess I learned on a rotary so I'm a little biased, but I'd much rather use a rotary to get rid of most swirls, and imperfections, then finish off with the pc for hologram free glossy finish. Rotary is also much quicker because of the increased heat it makes but once you've used the rotary for a while you will like how quick it work.