Question "Steering" the Rotary

N

NickMach1

New member
Hi All,



I have done some searches and have come up unsuccessful.... Today was my first attempt with the rotary, The panels I did came out fairly nice except for the fact that they are heavily acid etched and you can see the etching looks pretty deep it would not come out. Swirl Free finish, However I did have some hologram issues at first and I believe it is from not being able to steer the buffer properly. I've used the PC 7424 for a long time but the control is totally different. So my question here is... What is the proper way to steer the rotary?
 
In case anyone was interested you can see how bad the etching is.



Mustang 005.jpg




Mustang 004.jpg
 
Not that I know much about rotaries, but my understanding is that by tilting the pad in different directions you can make the polisher move around. BUT you make buffer tails in the process.



That is, you should keep the pad flat and use your arms to move the polisher around.
 
NickMach1 said:
Swirl Free finish, However I did have some hologram issues at first and I believe it is from not being able to steer the buffer properly.
Click to expand...



At first? Did you figure out the problem?



In any event your holograming was likely not caused from a steering issue. It was probably caused because your process was too aggressive. Besides product & pad selection you now have the variable of heat to control. Heat is a result of speed, pressure, time on the paint as well as pad choice. Heat is a "tool", so to speak, that allows you to speed up the correction process by softening the paint to some degree, can be your friend or your enemy if you can't control it. Heat will also affect how the product you're using will break down and finish. This in itself is another thing you'll have to relearn from your PC experience.



My advice to you would be to try not to use the rotary as a finishing machine, save that for the PC. Also get your self a cheap digital pyrometer from radio shack so you see how you're are affecting the paint with your rotary process. It'll help you gauge friction and abbrasion levels, keep the paint below 110 degrees F.



HTH
 
I just tried my rotary for the second time yesterday.

First time was Edge 2k green waffle pad and OP. Swirls were moderate but not heavy to start, and I did not remove them completely. Definitely diminished, and left some holograms with beautiful depth to them :)

I was trying to "steer" with very light tilt opposite of desired direction. It "felt" like it was working well at the time, but out in the sun the holograms were a spectacular site (if you like holograms :)).



Yesterday I took it slower and didn't try to steer at all (using same pad and product). I tried to just keep it level and a very light touch. I was doing side panels so I didn't have the weight of the machine to go by - I just kept a light touch on the panels.

This time no holograms. And although I didn't remove the swirls 100%, the car looks really great. I'm a lot happier with the results this time. Comparing the done / not done sides of the car showed a marked improvement :)



I was *really* appreciating my little shop stool yesterday. It has an adjustable height and rollers on the bottom.. paid maybe $15 for it at harbor freight. I was sitting on it and resting my elbows on my knees while operating the rotary. I think I would be dying today if I had just had to stand the whole time stooped over or crouching :)



So from my newbie perspective - steering with tilting is not all it is cracked up to be. I had pinged Sean with a question on that after my first experience and he suggested "Use zero pressure, let the rotary go over the surface the way it wants to". This was my approach this last time and I was much happier with the results.



Perhaps another important change was my speed. I was covering maybe 3-4 inches / second before and this time was maybe .75 to 1 inch / second. I was only running at 1k rpm - obviously you would need to move faster with a faster speed or perhaps different pad. I checked the paint temp with my wrist often and couldn't really feel any additional heat compared to where I had not buffed. I think this is probably actually a bad thing compared to warming it up at least a bit. Combination of waffle pad, low rpm, light pressure, and gentle product, I'm guessing :)

Sean suggested 1200 rpm so I'll at least kick it up a bit next time.
 
Thanks for all the replies I'm starting to get the hang of this. I have some spare panels I'll be picking up to do some more practicing on. I *think* I am finally starting to figure this whole thing out with everyone's help.
 
you probably know this, but guide the buffer with the back handle, i also find its easier to apply pressure with the back handle. in some cases, angling the pad will cause swirls/holograms, so work accordingly. however, you cant let the rotary do all the work. you need to apply some pressure when working, if you dont...chances are youre going to end up using a cut thats much too aggressive for what youre doing, and end up with micromarring. the product needs to be worked into the surface, the speed of the buffer helps this, but it needs a bit of added pressure. as the product begins to dry, ease up on the pressure and speed up the buffer a bit a polish to a shine. some of this depends on the product, and on the defects youre trying to remove. it takes practice, but once youve figured it out, youre golden.
 
jeen said:
you probably know this, but guide the buffer with the back handle, i also find its easier to apply pressure with the back handle. in some cases, angling the pad will cause swirls/holograms, so work accordingly. however, you cant let the rotary do all the work. you need to apply some pressure when working, if you dont...chances are youre going to end up using a cut thats much too aggressive for what youre doing, and end up with micromarring. the product needs to be worked into the surface, the speed of the buffer helps this, but it needs a bit of added pressure. as the product begins to dry, ease up on the pressure and speed up the buffer a bit a polish to a shine. some of this depends on the product, and on the defects youre trying to remove. it takes practice, but once youve figured it out, youre golden.
Click to expand...



I'm no expert but FWIW, this is definitely the opposite of what is often suggested in this forum. Folks do say to apply some amount of pressure with the PC, but to only use the weight of the machine when using a rotary. Obviously there is plenty of room for differing of opinion, I just wanted to clear up that there is a lot of opinion in the other direction on this one.
 
the amount of pressure i apply with the rotary is nothing like the pc. and i only apply it for the first horizontal and vertical pass at about 1200rpm, i lighten up for the second pass, then for the third pass i let the machine do the work, and i speed it up to around 1500rpm, and increase my arm speed. i find that this breaks the product down, but and the last pass at the higher speed(depending on the product, i only do this for polishes), works the polish in with minimal residue, and a great, wet, finish. if i dont apply more pressure, i use a slower arm speed, which in turn seems to have the same effect. however, when i first started using the rotary, i let the machine do the work. i was getting minimal results, using a medium cut on my heavily swirled hood. sure, it looked really good...but when i was done, there was still swirls in the sun.



i find that most products need at least one pass with medium pressure to work in on the first pass, then i back it off a bit as the product dries, and speed it up to polish. im sure that people have differing opinions, and can get results different ways. but doing this, i can polish out a heavily swirled car in 2-3 hours...hologram and swirl free. i maybe add 5-8lbs, if that...of added pressure on the first pass to work the product in. most rotarys weigh a max of 9lbs, and not all of that weight is at the head of the machine. i like to think that in order for the product to work, and for you to not have the machine set too fast, you need to aid the machine in breaking the product down, and cutting into the paint. if people back off on the pressure, they tend to up the speed, and use a slower arm speed...similar to mistake in technique when using the pc. thus adding work for themselves, and with speeding up the machine, adding to the ability to burn through the paint.



if you have a technique for you that works, keep using it. ive just found that this cuts down on my time, and gets me the best looking finish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top