Help me with pad selection, please?

Okay so I`m going to order the Makita PO6000CX1, and Googling it looks like the LC Force pads are are the way to go. Blue Wool & Gray both seem like no brainers. I Googled the rest and I`m not finding any solid comparison. Black or Reds? A few threads I found elsewhere said the reds were being discontinued in favor of the black or to simplify the line or something like that. The descriptions from LC, they sound awfully similar to me. The only difference I see in LC mentions the red`s don`t soak up product. Is the difference here noticeable with the blacks? A site that sells towels has a 3 pack combo with orange, white & black. If I order some of the Blue Wool & Grays and the combo pack. Am I missing anything by not getting the red`s? I`ll probably be doing mostly light correction and applying non correction stuff. The red`s seem pointless to me, but maybe I`m missing something, Google definitely isn`t turning up anything that`s help me make a decision here.

Since my area is full of El-cheapo`s, most major correction I do will be 1 step. So I`d also be interested to get feedback between finishing with the Blue & Gray. Guessing the Gray would finish better, but I`ve never used a MF cutting pad so I`m not sure. My Googling sucks lately, so again here I found nothing in my searches. I think either way I`ll order both but maybe one I should 3-4 more (plan to order 3-4 of each as it is)

I would suggest a set of Griot’s Boss pads. Make things simple, the one steps I’ve done have all been done with Griot’s finishing Sealant and whatever pad I needed for the amount of cut.

quebert- DISCLAIMER: I don`t know anything about LC`s Force line of pads. That said...

If the majority of your work involves light correction and nonabrasive products, I wouldn`t be looking at wool pads.

If the Black ones use the same foam as the other LC Black Finishing Pads, I`d pass. I`ve *NEVER* liked using the Black ones for anything, period.

Never tried the Red ones (which I assume are different from Griot`s Red foam pads, which I do like for mild work).

The LC Gold pads always sounded good for LSPs/etc., but I`ve never tried those either.

Eh...the above is probably just a waste of bandwidth :o

EDIT: I`d be leery of manufacturer claims about how swell any pad is. Of course they`ll try to make it sound like every offering brings something uniquely special to the table... With a nod towards how different paints can be (Jet Black vs. Ceramiclear), the truth is we did pretty well back when there were only a handful of different types of pads. And FWIW, I still do fine with a very limited selection, Mike lambert`s "just use GG" sounds like good advice to me.

I know the grey pads.. very tough and not alot of flex.
Plus there is something about the greys being for specific hotter climates.
Check AGO forum in the search bar.

The Blue foamed wool is what I use for heavy compounding bad areas, then a MF to calm things down, and blend it in.
I only use the red to apply wax, big fat pad love `em !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike lambert

I would suggest a set of Griot’s Boss pads. Make things simple, the one steps I’ve done have all been done with Griot’s finishing Sealant and whatever pad I needed for the amount of cut.

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That was the way I was going to go, but the Makita has Forced Rotation. And while I don`t understand a ton about pads, most of what I read said the BOSS pads great for long throw DAs. And Forced Rotation buffers work better with thicker pads. I didn`t read anything that was bad about the BOSS pads with a 3401, but 95% of what I read was saying to go with LC Force pads. And while I would love to be wealthy enough to buy a bunch of different brands of pads to see what I like. I`m going to have to Google and rely on the expertise advice I find on here and AGO.


To Accumulator, thanks for replying. The BOSS pad`s are 5/8" thick and the LC`s are 1.25". Mostly of what I`ve found on forums say with a buffer like the Flex 3401 thicker pads will work a lot better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mary B

I know the grey pads.. very tough and not alot of flex.
Plus there is something about the greys being for specific hotter climates.
Check AGO forum in the search bar.

The Blue foamed wool is what I use for heavy compounding bad areas, then a MF to calm things down, and blend it in.
I only use the red to apply wax, big fat pad love `em !

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Thanks, I`ll check AGO, it`s definitely hot out in So Cal in the summer. Maybe I should just order 1 of each pad and see what I like best. The old me would order have 3 of each and never touch the ones I don`t like. That`s one of the reasons I have to step away from the detailing world for a long break lol.

No matter what you end up with, you will still need several of each to correct, then polish, and finish paint at any level of correction..

Especially dirty, neglected, had to be clay`d a lot to get it smooth, paint will gunk up pads pretty fast even with my signature wipe off with a clean white towel process..

And if you choose to use microfiber, that needs air to do best to clean it out between passes, and then it still needs foam to take out the microfiber marring..

I have used Lake Country pads for 15+ years and settled a long time ago on their Hydro-Tech line that I affectionately renamed Hydro-Shreds after they did that a lot when they first came out..
L/C did later fix that issue..

Now I read they quit making the thicker versions that are perfect for all the Rotary work I do, and only sell the I believe, 5/8" thick ones to get all the random orbitals who make much more heat so they need a thinner pad to help dissipate it faster..

You may look around and see if anyone still sells the thicker Hydro-Shreds if you decide to choose that line.. It is really simple. There are 2 for correcting, the Cyan for heaviest, the Tangerine for less heavy and more polishing, and a Crimson for applying anything like a sealant, etc., that has no cut at all in it..

Keep in mind these work great for me because I use the 10lb Makita Rotary and have been known to press down on it sometimes to get the results I want with these pads..
I am not sure they would work as good as they do for my process with any of the other versions of random orbital, etc., out there..

On only a few occasions, have I ever used the old L/C Purple Foam Wool pads which correct very fast and extremely well, but you really need to know what you are doing and always best to measure total thickness first and during the correction process to insure you dont take too much clear off the top..

I like to keep those purple foam wool for things like that dirty nasty, Urethane Airplane paint, etc., but have also used them only a few times on really bad neglected for a decade, Jet Black paint - only - because I measured first to see what the number was, and knew that owner had never, ever, touched a machine to the paintwork..

Good luck with your research !
Dan F

With my (forced rotation) Flex 3401 I don`t use "special" pads, I just avoid using ones that are really thick. The thick ones seem to distort/flex/etc. too much with the forced rotation, almost like the opposite of how some of my other machines do with them.

I didn`t really like the PurpleFoamedWool (PFW) ones with the Flex 3401, but maybe that`s just me since others do like that combo. But I`d sure take it easy with *any* wool pads on any machine. With the cutting ability of today`s products, it`s just *so* easy to take off clear with such an aggressive approach.

Not slamming wool pads, I still have a scad of them in various sizes and types. But I for one will probably never need to use one again, ever. If a combo like M101/MF Cutting Disk won`t do the job, I`d question whether it oughta be done at all.