IHA Mark
12-13-2012, 10:55 PM
Ok, finally got a good chance to use Cut and get a good feel for it. The vehicle we worked on today was my brother in law’s Ram 1500 that is used for a lawn care business, this truck had heavy swirls, RIDS, and everything in between. My goal was to remove most of the swirls.
I started out with my Dewalt Rotary and an orange HD Cut pad.
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13114615_zps34840872.jpg
Here is what I was facing:
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13115810_zps38c6435b.jpg
Here is after one pass, at first I thought I was getting some horrible holograming! Maybe my rotary skills were just rusty. Upon closer inspection it was just haze from the left over Cut. Had some problems removing it too. As strange as it sounds, it seemed like the more I worked the product, the harder it was to remove.
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13115804_zps4d76e324.jpg
Most of my pics did not come out well for some reason, so I will skip to the finished product. The goal was not perfection by any means, but Cut did a fine job removing the swirls in a timely manner.
My brother in law removing Meguiar’s Ultimate Paste Wax
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13145152_zps8ff0946a.jpg
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13145214_zpse863f8a2.jpg
I ended up switching to a Yellow 3D cut pad for most of the truck, and a 5 inch 3D wool pad for some of the really rough spots. I polished using HD Polish and an Optimum MF pad, and used Meguar`s UPW as the LSP of choice.
Onto the numbers!
Cut 1-5
4.5, I had fantastic results with just using a yellow cut pad on my PC, used a 5 inch wool pad with my Dewalt and had comparable results.
Ease of use 1-5
5, very smooth use. Reminded me very much of HD Polish in the way it glided across the paint. One thing I noticed with rotary use that if using foam, the pad needs to be completely primed or it will be “grabby”.
Dusting 1-5
4, and the reason for this is because the product cuts so well. I cleaned my pad every single panel because of product and paint build up. I can`t really blame the product because it cuts too good, but it did create some dust.
Work time 1-5
5, did not have a problem at all with it drying out, but have been using it in sub 50 degree weather, so I will not have a definitive answer on this until the weather warms up.
Removal from surface 1-5
2, can be a bit of a pain at times, but this might be because of too much product use. When used with a rotary, it seems like the longer I worked the product, the harder it was to remove. Maybe I am spoiled by using UNO, but this did seem rather laborsome to remove.
Finish after use 1-5
4.5, for a heavy leveler, very good finish. NOT like UNO however, that can be finished perfectly with the right pad/polisher. When used with a rotary, it seems like the product finished even better than with a DA. I assume this is because of difference in paint however, because the rotary use vehicle was a Chrysler product with fairly soft paint.
Flexibility with various machines 1-5
5, used with both PCXP DA and Dewalt rotary. I personally like the PC better, just because the difference in cut between the two machines seems minimal unless you switch the rotary to wool.
Price (tbd) 1-5
5, seems on pace or below comparative products.
Smell (or lack of) 1-5
4, smells like compound. I was kind of disappointed that it did not have the pleasant smell of Speed or Polish, but how much does that really matter as long as it cuts?
Labeling 1-5
5, labeling looks great, no complaints here.
Other factors:
Amount used per vehicle does not seem particularly high, did a full size truck today and went through maybe a couple of ounces.
As a detailer that does very little “exotic” work or even full correction work, this is a great product for me. It is good to have a heavy paint leveler sitting in the detail bag that can be used with multiple machines and will produce a great cut.
I would like to thank 3D for the opportunity to test this product, I really enjoyed doing the review, and see this as a fine product that I will use in the future.
I started out with my Dewalt Rotary and an orange HD Cut pad.
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13114615_zps34840872.jpg
Here is what I was facing:
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13115810_zps38c6435b.jpg
Here is after one pass, at first I thought I was getting some horrible holograming! Maybe my rotary skills were just rusty. Upon closer inspection it was just haze from the left over Cut. Had some problems removing it too. As strange as it sounds, it seemed like the more I worked the product, the harder it was to remove.
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13115804_zps4d76e324.jpg
Most of my pics did not come out well for some reason, so I will skip to the finished product. The goal was not perfection by any means, but Cut did a fine job removing the swirls in a timely manner.
My brother in law removing Meguiar’s Ultimate Paste Wax
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13145152_zps8ff0946a.jpg
http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a614/VpdMark/2012-12-13145214_zpse863f8a2.jpg
I ended up switching to a Yellow 3D cut pad for most of the truck, and a 5 inch 3D wool pad for some of the really rough spots. I polished using HD Polish and an Optimum MF pad, and used Meguar`s UPW as the LSP of choice.
Onto the numbers!
Cut 1-5
4.5, I had fantastic results with just using a yellow cut pad on my PC, used a 5 inch wool pad with my Dewalt and had comparable results.
Ease of use 1-5
5, very smooth use. Reminded me very much of HD Polish in the way it glided across the paint. One thing I noticed with rotary use that if using foam, the pad needs to be completely primed or it will be “grabby”.
Dusting 1-5
4, and the reason for this is because the product cuts so well. I cleaned my pad every single panel because of product and paint build up. I can`t really blame the product because it cuts too good, but it did create some dust.
Work time 1-5
5, did not have a problem at all with it drying out, but have been using it in sub 50 degree weather, so I will not have a definitive answer on this until the weather warms up.
Removal from surface 1-5
2, can be a bit of a pain at times, but this might be because of too much product use. When used with a rotary, it seems like the longer I worked the product, the harder it was to remove. Maybe I am spoiled by using UNO, but this did seem rather laborsome to remove.
Finish after use 1-5
4.5, for a heavy leveler, very good finish. NOT like UNO however, that can be finished perfectly with the right pad/polisher. When used with a rotary, it seems like the product finished even better than with a DA. I assume this is because of difference in paint however, because the rotary use vehicle was a Chrysler product with fairly soft paint.
Flexibility with various machines 1-5
5, used with both PCXP DA and Dewalt rotary. I personally like the PC better, just because the difference in cut between the two machines seems minimal unless you switch the rotary to wool.
Price (tbd) 1-5
5, seems on pace or below comparative products.
Smell (or lack of) 1-5
4, smells like compound. I was kind of disappointed that it did not have the pleasant smell of Speed or Polish, but how much does that really matter as long as it cuts?
Labeling 1-5
5, labeling looks great, no complaints here.
Other factors:
Amount used per vehicle does not seem particularly high, did a full size truck today and went through maybe a couple of ounces.
As a detailer that does very little “exotic” work or even full correction work, this is a great product for me. It is good to have a heavy paint leveler sitting in the detail bag that can be used with multiple machines and will produce a great cut.
I would like to thank 3D for the opportunity to test this product, I really enjoyed doing the review, and see this as a fine product that I will use in the future.