Advanced Sanding & Polishing Techniques Class w/ Rupes

Friday I attended the Advanced Sanding & Polishing Techniques presented by Rupes, hosted at Detailer’s Domain in NJ.

It was run by Jason Rose, Dylan von Kleist, and Jeremy Harding of Rupes USA and the class was limited to 25 students. We were encouraged to participate by asking questions, giving answers, offering our experiences and the like, and were rewarded with iBrid Nano USB sticks. The class ran from 9am-4pm, with a lunch break in between.

Jason was the main presenter, and did a phenomenal job of presenting the information to everyone. The first half of the class was dedicated to learning sanding techniques via machine. We were taught how it can be faster to sand out deeper scratches (with a machine) instead of chasing them with compound after compound. We were also taught the importance of using water as a supplemental wetting agent (SWA) to increase the working time of polishes, compounds, and obviously sanding.

We broke up into three groups, two of them (including mine) worked on a test panel, while the third group worked on a rental car. The panel I worked on had plenty of deeper RIDS and swirls.

We worked with the Rupes Mini & Duetto to sand. First we started with the Rupes 1500 grit discs and did four passes on a low speed setting over a defected area. We followed that up with 3000 grit discs with about six passes on the same speed setting. The instructors watched over us to show us when we needed more water for the sanding and critiqued our techniques.

After seeing how effective the sanding was on removing deeper defects, we tried to purposefully burn the paint to see how long it would take. It wound up taking over a minute of keeping the machine and pad in the same spot to finally take off the paint.

After we learned about sanding and tried it out for ourselves, we went over polishing techniques. More was touched on with the SWAs when it came to polishing and compounding, and when it would be important to use or not use water. Jason gave us certain situations and asked how we would go about completing these tasks. Pad cleaning was stressed many times.

Microfiber was then touched on, as Jason went on to talk about the benefits of microfiber pads versus foam pads. He discussed towels for a bit, saying how he thinks that GSM and thickness shouldn’t matter, towel quality should come down to how well they remove product from the vehicle.

After the polishing lecture, we went back to our test panels and vehicle to refine the sanding marks we put in. I had never used the Rupes microfiber pads before, but after trying them out at this class I will start replacing my old Meg’s ones with these.

Larry from Ammo NYC was there hanging out and started shooting a video. It was great to see him in not such a crowded setting like last year’s open house, even though he didn’t remember meeting me J

This was a tremendous class and I learned so much from it. I really felt lucky I got to attend this and learn from some of the best. I had never tried sanding areas more than repairing paint chips, and seeing how easy (and SAFE!) it was really inspired me to start tackling problem areas like this.

We were given free gifts for attending – a Rupes apron, notepad, pen, and product catalog. Also, $100 store credit on Rupes products at Detailer’s Domain. I walked out with a bunch of new pads.

Thanks for reading, there was probably something I forgot but if you have any questions, let me know.

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33373&stc=1

Intro Slide

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33374&stc=1

Test Panel

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33375&stc=1

Waiting to start practicing


https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33376&stc=1

Some guys at work

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Display set up

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33378&stc=1

Jason talking about finishing polish

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Larry & Jason shooting a video

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33380&stc=1

Nano USB :)

https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=33381&stc=1

Me practicing some sanding

Looks like a great experience. Hopefully this continues to be an annual thing, I`d definitely come up next year.

Thanks for sharing the experience.

I peeked my head in just for a minute as I live close camouflage my action by buying a few thing at the store.
thanks for the pic..