Questions on Test Panels and Product Choices

mikenap

mikenap

New member
I've got a couple of questions regarding test panels for polishing. My first question is when you guys do a test panel do you pick an average looking one to test a product and then go up in aggressiveness only as needed in certain areas or do you use a really rough spot for the test panel? I'm guessing the first one, just curious on what people do.



My other question is when picking a combo to use on that test panel, how do you know to start w/a more aggressive compound rather than multiple passes w/a lesser polish. For example, if I only had M105 and 205 to use at the moment and my test panel didn't come out like I'd want with 1 or 2 passes of 205, how would I know to just go ahead and start with the 105 instead of maybe taking a few more passes w/ 205 and seeing if that did the trick? I'm under the impression that in some cases, multiple passes with a lighter polish would be safer than jumping straight to a heavy compound. But how do you determine this from your test panel?



FWIW, I only used 105 and 205 as an example. My question applies to any line that has multiple offerings, like XMT, Poorboy's SSR, etc.
 
I pick a spot with *representative* marring, something that'll guide your choice for the more serious overall work that's gonna be done. If there are some really bad spots, unusual ones that might be too bad to correct 100%, then I don't use those. But I want to know what it's gonna take to fix the "general level of problems". Choosing a spot with very light marring *would* help you determine how hard/soft the paint is, but won't really give you a specific product combo that works for use on the bulk of the job. I'd try to answer the big question, namely, what to use for most of the serious work.



How the product/pad combo cuts the paint will tell me if I'm on the right track and if something's working with a few passes I might stick with that instead of going with something more aggressive. But usually it's a case of "OK, this is gonna work" or else "eh...this isn't doing much of anything".



I choose a panel where I can clearly see what's going on. But I probably wouldn't use the hood just in case something really unexpected happens during the test.
 
Good info, thanks.



"I probably wouldn't use the hood just in case something really unexpected happens during the test."



Never thought of that, I've only done 1 car but of course I started on the hood. Just seemed like the easiest part due to size. Looks like I'll need to rethink that strategy.
 
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