Pad and polish combinations: Abrasiveness

[ajc347]

I`m new to machine polishing (using a DA polisher at the current time), and am a bit puzzled with regards to the logic of following the advice of trying the least abrasive combinations of pads and polishes first and then to move up in terms of aggressivness if this doesn`t work.



The way I see it that if I followed this pattern then the following could easily occur:



1) I start with a finishing polish on a finishing pad removes 0.5 microns of clearcoat (and is not enough to remove the swirls).



2) I move to a finishing polish on a polishing pad and this removes 0.75 microns of clearcoat and this is still not enough to remove the swirls.



3) I move to a light cut polish (such as SSR2) on a polishing pad and this removes 2 microns of clearcoat and swirls are removed.



I`ve, therefore, presuming I`ve tested each combination on different panels, removed 2 microns for most of the car and between 2.5 and 2.75 microns on the test panels.



Would it not have made more sense to have gone with the light cut polish on a polishing pad in the first instance rather than testing potentially less aggressive combinations first so as to minimize the total loss of clearcoat levels for some areas of the car at least (e.g. the first two test panels)?

[Accumulator]

ajc347- If you want to concern yourself with it at that level, then consider this: if 2 microns of removal was sufficient to do the job (based on results with the untested panels), you shouldn`t have made that big jump to the third combo. A second pass with the finishing polish on the polishing pad (to use your example) would`ve done the job. You could`ve then extrapolated regarding the total degree of required correction for the rest of the car.



BUT another factor- would the more aggressive combo (that would do the job in one pass) finish out as well? What if it also required a finishing polish/mild pad follow up?



IMO, if you`re at the point where a micron more or less is that significant, you probably should think twice about doing that degree of correction at all. And if you *are* gonna do the correction anyway, I`d rather approach it incrementally, doing a few passes with the milder combo instead of one pass with the more aggressive one.



Most vehicles are not uniformly marred up IME, some areas need more/less aggressive correction. If one panel takes two passes, a second panel needs three, but another only needs one, cool, just do what`s needed. It`s not unusual for me to use different product/pad combos on different areas of the same vehicle (in fact, that`s what I normally do).



And some pro might suggest that their time/effort means more to them than a few microns of somebody`s clear, and that pro would rather just hit the whole car with something aggressive and not even worry about how much clear was being cut off.



Don`t take this reply the wrong way, I do commend you on giving it such consideration. Guess it eventually gets back around to not marring the paint in the first place if you can help it and not doing more correction than is really necessary.

[ajc347]

Thanks Accumulator.



That`s a really considered and helpful reply.



It never occurred to me to look at doing things on a panel by panel basis but I shall certainly take your advice on board.