Cyclo for correction

[imported_turbomangt]

I would be interested in anyone that uses a cyclo dual head polisher for paint correcting (minor swirls) and what tips you can afford. Santa is bringing me one for Xmas in a few days. Gary www.perfectautofinish.com

[Accumulator]

turbomangt- Welcome to Autopia! Lucky you, the Cyclo is a good unit :xyxthumbs



It`s no rotary, but it WILL remove minor marring, generally better (or at least easier) than a PC. I got by for a LONG time without a rotary, using just the Cyclo and then the Cyclo and PC.



Tips- get some yellow cutting pads or make your own as Anthony does. The green polishing pads (I think they call them "de-oxidizing" pads) are pretty mild.



Remember that since it`s NOT a rotary- don`t use products that need a lot of heat to break down. Work diminishing abrasive polishes plenty long.



Using mild polishes for a LONG time doesn`t seem to work as well as using aggressive polishes for the first few passes.



You can put some force behind the Cyclo without it bogging down better than you can with a PC, but don`t get carried away and damage the paint.



For final passes (with the green pads), try to let the Cyclo sorta "float" across the surface. Even though it weighs a bit, this is pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it due to the Cyclo`s great balance.



You will probably also find it easy to use one-handed, just don`t let it get away from you.



With practice, you won`t hit the on/off switch by accident. But note that when you DO, you`ll just turn it OFF (heh heh, better than the alternative).



Enjoy the Cyclo, it`s a great piece of equipment.

[Anthony O.]

Hey Gary, welcome to Autopia



Accumulator has given some great advice:xyxthumbs



The Cyclo is more of a work horse than the PC and, contrary to what Bud Abraham says, the Cyclo, and the PC, aren`t just used to "cover up scratches and swirls" but they can in fact REMOVE swirls and scratches.



It is obvious they have limits but the right pad product combo can do wonders. As Accumulator noted I make my own pads for the Cyclo, or better, I "modify" pads. I use the "orange" pads alot because they are aggressive cutters but do not leave lots of marring behind so one can go right to a polishing step.



So I one day thought about how cool it would be to have orange pads for the Cyclo...so I made my own from two orange pads I was about ready to replace with new ones. I measured the circumference of the Cyclo pad holders, marked the orange pads and cut them out using a special Exacto blade and viola! Orange pads for my Cyclo. I did the same for Lake Countrys "black" finishing pads, that are IMHO, finer than the white finishing pads you can get for the Cyclo. I have found that it is easier now to make a template first on cardboard then transwer that to the pad you are cutting.



Great Christmas gift you are getting and let us know how your first car comes out using it.



Anthony

[imported_Dave Holmes]

Never used a Cyclo, but I have a PC. Great tips from Accumulator and Anthony. I just wanted to let you in on a secret about the whole Santa thing....Well, nevermind, believing can be a good thing.

Enjoy your new toy!



Merry Christmas everyone.



Dave

[imported_turbomangt]

Thank you both for the great advice, Anthony, how many pads can you make from from large one for the cyclo? assuming you are cutting a 7" ? also, I`m a little concerned about the frequency needed to clean the pads while working, due to the fact they are so small. Yes, Bud is giving me a headache as well, no wonder you left over there. Dave, one thing I know about Santa, he gets stuck with all the charge bills, Take care, Gary :sosad

[Accumulator]

Sheesh, that first post of mine had a zillion typos, better go fix `em



turbomangt- The smaller pads don`t seem to make cleaning them more often much of an issue. Unless you`re doing some oxidized single stage (or, heh heh, using too much product) I don`t think it`ll be a problem. I can think of maybe three cars I`ve done where I`ve needed more than two sets (of each type) of pad, and those cars were REALLY bad- bad enough that I should`ve just used a rotary.



If you always stay prepared by having some extra pads on hand (just in case something happens), you`ll be OK.



Another nice thing about the Cyclo is that you can spin the pads dry without worrying about them flying off the way they do (at least for me) with a PC.



As far as cutting up a 7" pad, I just held two Cyclo pads up to a 7" Meg`s pad- I don`t think you`re gonna get more than two out of it. Still, IMO, it`d be worth it, especially with the finishing pads- picking the velcro slubs off the made-for-Cyclo pads is a real hassle. The finishing pads are especially polluted with them (not much of an issue with the cutting and polishing ones).

[Anthony O.]

Gary,



I get one cyclo pad from a 7`` pad but if you are real good and real careful you might be able to get 2 cyclo pads from a 9`` rotary pad.



Practice first on some used rotary pads.



If you find your Cyclo pads needing to be washed (during a detail) then you are using too much product. You will find that if you need a nickel size amount by hand then you will only need that same nickel size amount divided by the two pads.



Anthony