Polishing techniques and product advice specifically for RIDS?

WaxAddict

WaxAddict

New member
As the title suggests, I`m looking for any novel advice on correcting RIDS - those extremely isolated, somewhat-deeper-than-a-swirl-mark scratches.

It seems that "chasing RIDS" has got me sacrificing paint depth on too-large of an area. My technique is 4" orange pad, DA, with compound. By the time I`ve done a few passes in the area of the RID, I`ve compounded a lot of perfectly good paint, just to chase that RID. It`s hard (for me) to polish an area smaller than 1x1 without feeling like I`m doing some harm.
 
off the top of my head i would :

-Switch to a <2" pad system
OR
-Spot wetsand the RIDS with care
 
WaxAddict- Chasing RIDS is basically the only real correction I do these days.

I had your exact concerns about the 4" pad, so I switched to a 3" when doing it by machine.

There are even smaller ones these days for the tiny rotaries and that Rupes Nano.

That said, I`ve been pleasantly surprised by how well M101 works *by hand*. A quick follow-up with HD Polish and it`s LSP-ready. This has been working so well that I don`t even automatically think "eh, gotta get out the 3" polisher...", but rather just grab a MF and expect the work to go fine by hand.

Of course...any product that cuts *that* well by hand is pretty aggressive, so the usual "use common sense" caveats apply.
 
WaxAddict said:
Add to cart... M101.
Accum, So you hand polish with a MFT? Like with your finger? Can you expand on that?
Click to expand...

Yep, usually just like that...nothing to really expand upon :D I don`t even bother doing the "use cotton towels for the aggressive work, foam for medium, MF for mild" progression, I just put a dab of M101 (or HD Cut if the damage isn`t too severe) on the MF, fold it so my finger isn`t pressing directly on the work (to keep it flatter and thus hopefully avoid a "gouge" type effect, as with wetsanding), and rub. Sometimes it`ll take multiple passes and if so I use fresh product/section of towel each time, and I remind myself to accept "good enough" even though I`m "merely" working by hand (scare-quotes intentional as it can still take off plenty of clear).

Eh, I suppose I really oughta use a proper backing pad to *really* avoid the "gouging", but I don`t bother.

It`s the same as fixing fingernail scratches behind door handles, which use to literally take *hours* on the Audis. Now it`s a quick and simple job...still a bother, but nothing like it used to be.
 
This weekend I saw 0.5 mil dissapear from using 4" orange + PB Master Cut. Luckily I didn`t care, but on my "real" car or someone elses :o that could be half the clear! Sure the RID was gone.. but... I`d have to catalog that area and remember to not cut it again, which is a pain.
 
WaxAddict said:
This weekend I saw 0.5 mil dissapear from using 4" orange + PB Master Cut. Luckily I didn`t care, but on my "real" car or someone elses :o that could be half the clear! Sure the RID was gone.. but... I`d have to catalog that area and remember to not cut it again, which is a pain.
Click to expand...

Wow, if 1 mil = 25.4 microns, and the total thickness of the Clear Coat alone is even less, I would be really worried..
Good luck..
Dan F
 
IMO wetsanding (which I always found simple enough...and yeah I mean "simple enough to do properly" ;) ) is, despite my experience, one of those things where people who haven`t already done it to the point of mastery *just shouldn`t do it*. Period.

With the *extremely* limited amount of clear that can be safely removed from many/?most? of today`s vehicles, it`s just too easy to take off more than a few microns even if you don`t have the oh-so-common "oops!".

Just look how many people come here with "I wetsanded my paint, help me fix this..." inquiries where the answer *always* ends up being "you gotta have that repainted".

Removing a bunch of clear to fix a (merely cosmetic) blemish like a RIDS might get all sorts of respect here at Autopia when it`s done well, but I`m coming to the conclusion that it`s often just a sucker`s game. But then I think long-term, like...how will the clearcoat be holding up ten years from now. Wish the previous "detailers" of my Tahoe and `93 Audi had thought that way so I wouldn`t be dealing with the consequences of over-thinned clear.

If you can`t fix something with M101 you probably shouldn`t fix it. So says me, a guy with a toolbox full of wetsanding supplies.
Heh heh, OK..end of rant :o
 
I like your rants, Accumulator! And you know I have a great deal of respect for you. ^_^ That said, I`ve taken up the challenge of learning wet sanding. Yes, yes, a little crazy. I know.

So far, so good, though. I didn`t take readings on the Yaris hood, but that was a learning mistake on my part. It`s also a hood that I had bought as a sacrificial panel for other purposes, anyway.

Last Friday I started on an old door from a Civic. It`s a spare door that I bought for the window regulator some years back, and now it`s serving another purpose: testing!

But, honestly, I *do* have to agree with you that your average person should *not* attempt it. And by your average person, I`m thinking in lines of those guys that take a shooting course, where the instructor tells you at least FIVE times, "Don`t pull the trigger until I tell you to!" and sure enough you have those knuckleheads that pull the trigger before they`re told.

And personally, I don`t go chasing RIDS on my own vehicles, and I also talk to "customers" out of it as well. That`s for a production car, at least. A custom car that`s been repainted, well, that`s a different story!
 
TheMeanGreen- Do the oils in M205 cause issues for you? They simply drive me *nuts*, plus I can`t get quite the same finish with it that I get with the HD Polish.

Still waiting for somebody to buy my gallon of M205 so it can get put to good use :D

JustJesus- Hope the clear on the Yaris is thicker than that on....say...the Mazda I used to have. ANY wetsanding on that one would result in clearcaot failure once subjected to UV exposure; the clear on some Japanese vehicles is incredibly thin.
 
Accumulator said:
...

JustJesus- Hope the clear on the Yaris is thicker than that on....say...the Mazda I used to have. ANY wetsanding on that one would result in clearcaot failure once subjected to UV exposure; the clear on some Japanese vehicles is incredibly thin.
Click to expand...

I`ll keep an eye on the hood (and make sure it`s protected!!)

Well, my roof has clear coat failure. Readings with PTG on the non-clear section is 3.31 mils, whereas it`s 4.62 on an adjacent section with clear.
 
Accumulator said:
TheMeanGreen- Do the oils in M205 cause issues for you? They simply drive me *nuts*, plus I can`t get quite the same finish with it that I get with the HD Polish.

Still waiting for somebody to buy my gallon of M205 so it can get put to good use :D

JustJesus- Hope the clear on the Yaris is thicker than that on....say...the Mazda I used to have. ANY wetsanding on that one would result in clearcaot failure once subjected to UV exposure; the clear on some Japanese vehicles is incredibly thin.
Click to expand...

Accumulator: Not totally, on a relatively healthy panel, they allow me to work the product longer, and on a panel with dead paint, they aid in clogging my pad more quickly. For a light swirl correction or a serious color restoration, I go to M205/LC CCS White. For me, this combo has the ability to cut well with 3-4 passes and finish well with a very light pressure 5th or 6th pass. I find that pad pressure plays a big role. But then again, I am not going for perfection as our cars are DD`s, each having over 110k on the clock. I ALWAYS do an IPA wipe down (91% IPA in a 1:1 solution with H20 ), so I don`t have much room to talk in terms of oiling issues. As far as oily products are concerned, I picked up a bottle of Wolfgang`s Paint Work Cleansing Polish to aid in stripping the FK1000p. When working in tandem with light pressure and a Black LC CCS, holograms were introduced. :ass I knew that that polish had no cut, but I had no idea that it would haze whilst using a Black LC CCS; the bottle said to not prime the pad, this may have been the culprit. I then followed the failed polishing session with trusty M205 on a White LC CCS pad. For light swirl removal, I have a feeling that the winning combo will be M205 (maybe watered down) on a Blue or Black LC CCS.

I would buy your gallon of M205, but I only use my 32oz to take care of two cars. Your issues with the oils could be due to your climate, pad size, and chemical make up of your specific m205. A few months ago I bought my first 32oz bottle of M205 and the water and polishing solution where not in equilibrium, and the product was very watery. I`ve since replaced it and have yet to call Meg`s customer service, although I have had plenty of time to spend doing other things. B)
 
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