SRC Polish a gimmic?

[RAG]

I don`t understand what the deal with Menzerna`s scratch resistend clear polishes (PO85RD, 106FF, and Blackfire`s version). Don`t get me wrong, I think these polishes are simply amazing...but they work just as well on regular clears as they do on cerima clear. And this whole Blackfire SRC polish warning on CMA really baffles me...this this the safest, best finishing polish I have ever (EVER) used. Personally I think this whole "SRC" bit is a gimmic. I mean it isn`t like the abrasives never break down (or take longer to break down), making them better for really hard clear; rather, the abrasives break down quite nicely and I have found the Blackfire SRC polish to be my best polish for soft clears, espcially on black. I think they are amazing polishes, likely due to the small size and uniformity of Menzerna`s abrasives...there just isn`t anything I have found that would lead me to believe they`s work better on cerima clear than they do on regular clear. They are simply really good polishes...like FPII with a higher concentration of small abrasives.

[gbackus]

The abrassives(cerium oxide) don`t break down. The cut from the polish comes from 3) things, 1)the amount of abrasives, 2) the grade(industrial vs. optical) and 3)and the pad being used.



They are edgelss abrassives, almost perfectly round in the case of optical abrasives. The reason they work well on scratch resistant finishes(ex ceramiclear) is the fact that the abrassives don`t break down.



Tradtional aluminum oxide abrassives just push themselves against the surface of SR paint finishes, they break down but can`t work against the hard surface.



Silica based abrassives(old fashioned compounds) break down, but are also very hard and are not recomended for SR finishes because they can abrade away the micron thin layer of cermamic particles on the top of the paint surface.

[wannafbody]

I`d guess the particles are so small that the scratches they leave are invisible to the human eye. Optical grade polishes are in the 1 micron range.

[RAG]

George, thanks for the info...I already knew what you are saying about he cerium oxide abrasives (probably from one of your posts in the past :), but I didn`t know the PO85RD and PO106FF utilize these abarasives...I guess I didn`t do my homework. I must say, however, that I haven`t noticed that these polished "behave" all that much differently than say, FPII...the polishing action and the traces/marring (noticable on soft black paint) seemed to be very similar. And I can`t say that I`ve noticed never ending cut, (though you can work the Blackfire SRC for a long time) but I`ll have to keep this in mind (and pay more attention) during next use to see if the polish continues to cut at the same rate for as long as it`s worked (I usually just make a few slow passes and then move on). Thanks again.

[gbackus]

George, thanks for the info...I already knew what you are saying about he cerium oxide abrasives (probably from one of your posts in the past :), but I didn`t know the PO85RD and PO106FF utilize these abarasives...I guess I didn`t do my homework. I must say, however, that I haven`t noticed too much differnce between these polishes and say, FPII...the polishing action and the traces/marring (noticable on soft black paint) seemed to be very similar. And I can`t say that I`ve noticed never ending cut, but I`ll have to keep this in mind (and pay more attention) during next use (I mostly reserve these polishes for black paint).





It`s doubtful you`ll notice any difference on standard paints. But ceramiclear paints can be very hard to buff.



I didn`t mean to imply that the abrasiveness give never ending cut, but that they polish WHILE they cut because they don`t break down.

[RAG]

That makes sense. Either way, good polish. Another unmentioned benefit (at least with the Blackfire SRC polish) I`ve been using is that a given amount of product goes at least twice as far as other polishes...after priming wit a dime-sized spot, two little drops will do half a panel (via PC).