Compounds and Porter Cable

**DetailnByDustn** · 04-14-2009, 07:19 PM

Do compounds work with a porter cable?

**Garry Dean** · 04-14-2009, 07:30 PM

Of course they do! Are you thinking about one in particular?

**DetailnByDustn** · 04-14-2009, 07:32 PM

I bought mothers professional compound and some new foam pads for the different types of compounds, glazes, and polishes. I been using cleaner wax with my porter cable with a polishing pad but haven`t really experimented with compounds and glazes.

**Garry Dean** · 04-14-2009, 07:42 PM

I haven`t tried any mothers pro polishes, but it can`t hurt to give it a try on the PC. Always start with the least agressive method and work your way up. What brand of pads did you get?

**imported_RZJZA80** · 04-14-2009, 08:03 PM

they absolutely do, just search the Kevin Brown method, and you`ll see. Even when not using his method, they still work very well.

**DetailnByDustn** · 04-14-2009, 11:14 PM

I bought the yellow, white, and blue ccs pads on autogeek.net

**Wickedss** · 04-18-2009, 03:07 PM

Cleaner wax and rubbing compound aren`t ideal for correction..

Try some Menzerna SIP w/ a yellow pad, then follow up with a white pad---swirls will vanish!!

**DetailnByDustn** · 04-29-2009, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by Wickedss

Cleaner wax and rubbing compound aren`t ideal for correction..

Try some Menzerna SIP w/ a yellow pad, then follow up with a white pad---swirls will vanish!!

I try to get some when I get the funds to buy a little, dirt poor now

Ive heard its pretty good stuff, whats you take?

**GoudyL** · 04-29-2009, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by DetailnByDustn

I bought mothers professional compound and some new foam pads for the different types of compounds, glazes, and polishes. I been using cleaner wax with my porter cable with a polishing pad but haven`t really experimented with compounds and glazes.

To be honest, I think alot of people get product and machine crazy around here. They will eventually burn out the clearcoat, chasing every last swirl, but it was glossy while it lasted.

I`d say that on the balance, after using a good pre-wax cleaner and clay baring, its not a bad idea to let the wax or (wax + glaze) do the work.

The machine is good for applying the pre-wax cleaner.

Even within the mothers system, you could do just fine with applying the cleaner wax, and then finishing off with the Reflections line + top coat. Your typical customers will be impressed, and you won`t be running the risk of any major cockups.

Anything really abrasive I would prefer to apply by hand, and would stop working at it after I felt that the wax (+ glaze) could take care of it.

Also, if we assume that enviromental scratches are of constant depth, the more you polish and reduce the clearcoat, the deeper new scratches will be relative to the remaining clearcoat.

**Accumulator** · 04-30-2009, 09:44 AM

Let`s not over-generalize here lest sombody have a terrible "oops".

*SOME* compounds work fine via PC. Some absolutely *DO NOT* and it`d be a disaster to try.

Yeah, the usual faves work fine:

Meguiar`s M105 definitely does, and so should the *reformulated* version of #2 Fine Cut Cleaner. Ultimate Compound was made for hand use so it`ll work OK. I simply dunno about any other Meg`s compounds and I wouldn`t experiment on one of *my* vehicles.

Hi-Temp`s levelers work fine via PC- Extra Cut and Heavy Cut were big faves in pre-M105 days.

1Z Pasta Intensiv works OK via PC but you have to be careful regarding its initial bite; too much pressure and it`ll leave tracers you *won`t* get out easily.

3M compounds are tricky because they make so many of them. The older PI-II Fine Cut (*DO NOT BREATH THE DUST*, it`ll kill you dead as fried chicken) and the discontinued but very nice PI-III RC 05933 work great. I sure wouldn`t try any of their other compounds via PC, no way.

Haven`t tried any others that I can think of :think: But Menzerna and Optimum come to mind as probably OK via PC.

GoudyL- I`d hope that the idea is to correct them once and then not mar them again.

Yeah, I know...that often won`t work when pros do vehicles for customers but for people like the members here who are doing their own vehicles it`s pretty feasible.

I`ve *hammered* some used vehicles with compounds shortly after purchase and then just used *VERY* gentle stuff on `em from then on. If you have to polish out significant marring, even on a daily driver, more than once a year then IMO you`re doing something very wrong (probably when washing). And even those annual polishings shouldn`t require anything very aggressive.

**GoudyL** · 04-30-2009, 10:16 PM

Yeah, I know...that often won`t work when pros do vehicles for customers but for people like the members here who are doing their own vehicles it`s pretty feasible.

That was the context I was thinking of,

To me the tradeoff between permanent loss of clear coat vs minor scratches should generally be won by the clear coat. You have no clue what is going to happen when the car leaves your shop. Attacking every last scratch with agressive machine compounding is a battle where you lose if you win.

My take is to avoid winning the losing fight, by polishing the panel with something very light to remove hazing. Usually the pre-wax cleaner took care of that. That gives you the smooth panel with deep scratches look,

Which is just perfect for modern waxes/lsp`s which will gladly fill any gaps and create a smooth surface.

**imported_artikxscout** · 04-30-2009, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Let`s not over-generaliz here lest sombody have a terrible "oops".

*SOME* compounds work fine via PC. Some absolutely *DO NOT* and it`d be a disaster to try.

Yeah, the usual faves work fine:

Meguiar`s M105 definitely does, and so should the *reformulated* version of #2 Fine Cut Cleaner. Ultimate Compound was made for hand use so it`ll work OK. I simply dunno about any other Meg`s compounds and I wouldn`t experiment on one of *my* vehicles.

Hi-Temp`s levelers work fine via PC- Extra Cut and Heavy Cut were big faves in pre-M105 days.

...

Yeap, M105 Works Great. I Love using the Menzerna SIP on the PC, it`s probably my Go-to polish to see if i need to go more aggressive or less aggressive. Other than that, if you want something quick and easy to use, go with M105.

**Accumulator** · 05-01-2009, 10:33 AM

GoudyL- The question of "how much clear to remove; how close to perfection to come" is something I`ve gotten into some :argue over with some of the pros here.

Some have claimed that a) they never settle for less than perfection, and b) their customers won`t mar them up again. Uh-huh.... :think:

Considering how difficult *I* find it to keep a finish marring-free, the idea of Mr.-Average managing to do marring-free washes seems hard to believe. But eh...as I`ve been posting quite often recently, arguing over the internet is a pastime for suckers.