I think I'm going Rotary(Burn Question)

J

jw

New member
After going back and forth for awhile I think I'm going to buy the Makita instead of buying smaller pads for the pc. Most of you suggested that I just go rotary. The only thing I'm really nervouse about is Burning the paint. Exactly how easy is it to burn the paint? I mean do you have to be holding in the same place fore ever or what?



Thanks
 
facts: if you always watch what you are doing and are take your time

you will be fine



F.Y.I. everybody who uses a rotary sooner or later WILL BURN THE PAINT

(I don't want to scare you but it will happen)
 
jw said:
After going back and forth for awhile I think I'm going to buy the Makita instead of buying smaller pads for the pc. Most of you suggested that I just go rotary. The only thing I'm really nervouse about is Burning the paint. Exactly how easy is it to burn the paint? I mean do you have to be holding in the same place fore ever or what?



Thanks
Click to expand...
Get a junk panel and practice, practice, practice.
 
move faster than with the PC

tape off edges/trim

use a less aggressive pad/product combo compared to PC - orange and SIP = WHITE and SIP with rotary
 
It's easier to burn paint with a foam pad than a wool. Foam runs much hotter than wool. There are also parts of the car that you have to be *extra* careful on. Any painted plastic pieces have a much lower tolerance for heat, and are easily melted by the heat of a foam pad. To make matters worse, there's usually no warning. You'll be buffing, then all of a sudden notice that you just melted the plastic. If it's possible, get a plastic bumper off of an old junker, and purposely burn it with a foam pad. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to do it. Painted metal surfaces are much more tolerant. There are a few videos on youtube that show people pursposely burning through paint. But every car is different; what would burn one car might not another.



While you are learning the rotary, I would suggest using 1k rpm as your max, and always keep the pad moving on the paint. As long as you do those two things, you should be pretty safe from burning/melting anything.
 
I've been rotory polishing for 3 years. I've burned paint 2 times. Both of the times happened at my 2 year mark. It'll ahppen, just be preppared, be careful, and definately tape off trim.
 
Those of you who HAVE burned paint.. A - Was it a paying customer's car and how did they react? B - What did you do wrong that led to the damage?



Don't want to hijack but I figure I'm not the only one interested. :)
 
drew.haynes said:
Those of you who HAVE burned paint.. A - Was it a paying customer's car and how did they react? B - What did you do wrong that led to the damage?



Don't want to hijack but I figure I'm not the only one interested. :)
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I am not a pro so it was one of my cars



I was day dreaming and hit some un-taped trim
 
BigJimZ28 said:
facts: if you always watch what you are doing and are take your time

you will be fine



F.Y.I. everybody who uses a rotary sooner or later WILL BURN THE PAINT

(I don't want to scare you but it will happen)
Click to expand...



Couldn't agree more.
 
I think Superbees advice about wool is spot on, only time I've burnt paint was using a wool cutting pad, either the orange or yellow I don't remember. I didn't realize that part of the trunk I was doing was plastic and although I had no problem with the metal parts the plastic heated up without warning and burned the paint instantly. It was the result of getting too aggressive, my suggestion to keep in mind is knowing when to stop, accidents always seem to happen when we try and hit a spot one more time. If I have learned anything it's that you can't always safely make everything look perfect. Also always tape off trim and be very careful, I slightly burned the hard rubber trim on a beater I was practicing on. Although I did find a way to restore it, it took some work.
 
BigJimZ28 said:
I am not a pro so it was one of my cars



I was day dreaming and hit some un-taped trim
Click to expand...



It's always day dreaming lol... I've never burned a customer car but I have done it on jobs for friends once or twice because I got sloppy.



It usually happens when it's 95+ degrees out and the heat takes the focus out of me.
 
I would have to agree that if you aren't staying focused then you should stop and take a break for a few mins. I think with a wider variety of pads and compounds then you shouldn't have to put yourself in a position to potentially burn paint. Mistakes happen, a thin edge or piece of plastic trim but if your aware of them you should be safe.



If you've been able to archive good correction with a PC then I would tell you to take the step up to a rotary. You already know the fundamentals of working with compounds your just going to see things happen faster. If not then I wouldn't recommend it unless you can get a pro to give you some lessons.
 
White_07_G6_GT said:
If you've been able to archive good correction with a PC then I would tell you to take the step up to a rotary. You already know the fundamentals of working with compounds your just going to see things happen faster. If not then I wouldn't recommend it unless you can get a pro to give you some lessons.
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jw said:
I've been using a pc for 5 years. The results have been okay but not incredible. The car always looks shinier than before but it never seems to to get rid of all the swirls. I'm not sure if i need to step up a to rotary or i just need to find a better pad/polish combo.
Click to expand...





So I guess he is not ready for the rotary yet?
 
BigJimZ28 said:
So I guess he is not ready for the rotary yet?
Click to expand...



IMHO No. We all know that you can achieve great results with a PC with the correct pad and product. I spent weeks last year working with a compound being frustrated only to be shown that I was using too much initial product was using too much pressure and using the wrong pad which was not allowing to break down fully.



But I'm still fairly new at this I'm not a pro I only do 1 or 2 corrections per week.



I would suggest buying the pads, it will save you money in the short term.
 
Maybe I've changed my mind, It sounds a little too easy to burn the paint. How careful do you have to be with 4 inch pads on a pc?
 
I switched to a rotary and it's not that bad. I'm always practicing on my eater truck which looks great now. The PC can only do so much, and a white pad and 106FF with the rotary does awesome work.



I only use my PC for tight areas and painted plastic trim.
 
jw said:
Maybe I've changed my mind, It sounds a little too easy to burn the paint. How careful do you have to be with 4 inch pads on a pc?
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Don't take this the wrong way but...........MAN UP and just do it
 
man, is burning really that common? I attempted my first paint correction with a rotary last weekend, and though i didn't get the level of correction I had hoped for, it didn't seem burning the paint needed to be a realistic concern so long as I kept moving...



I was really pleased with how quiet my Makita runs in comparison the the PC I've gotten used to, and I was considering wearing headphones next attempt... now I'm not so sure with all this daydreaming/burning paint talk.
 
Gopher said:
man, is burning really that common? I attempted my first paint correction with a rotary last weekend, and though i didn't get the level of correction I had hoped for, it didn't seem burning the paint needed to be a realistic concern so long as I kept moving...



I was really pleased with how quiet my Makita runs in comparison the the PC I've gotten used to, and I was considering wearing headphones next attempt... now I'm not so sure with all this daydreaming/burning paint talk.
Click to expand...



Remember, there are *no* warning signs. The damage will just appear, and you'll likely think "What's that?" and be a bit confused until you realize that you just burned and/or melted something. There's no sign from the paint or the buffer that's going to give you any warning... it just happens.



The day you pick up the rotary and it doesn't scare you a little is the day you will burn paint or melt plastic.
 
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