rotary vs PC..pc wins????

E

Envious Eric

New member
I am not talking about which is better....but whats up with this....



situation: BLACK Ford Ranger, heavily swirled and scratched up!

products: excel pads, optimum polishes, hitachi rotray speed - 1500-1600, PC speed 6, yellow excel cutting pad

problem: My PC worked better and faster than the rotary....WHY???



I tried a section of the hood with both to compare....set myself a time limit of use/broken down product. I polished with the rotary until the OHC/yellow started to clear, then I polished with the PC with OHC/yellow from excel until I made about 12 overlapping passes until it went clear. The Pc results were about 5x better than the rotary. Can someone explain what I possibly was doing wrong?
 
paradigm said:
my guess is that the black was marring easily and the PC's less aggressive nature helped out this time?
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My guess too. Does the PC section look acceptable, or is it still in need of work?
 
Very strange indeed. I am new to rotary use but have used the PC for about 3 years now. I have the Hitachi as well and IMO it is a lot easier to use and more than twice as fast, at getting rid of swirls, as the PC in all my tests on a hand full of cars. How fast did you move the Hitachi per inch? If you move it to fast you will not heat up the paint which lets you know that you are doing things correctly. The paint should be toasty warm when your done, if not slow down. I move the Hitachi about 3" per second when removing swirls. If you are doing this and the PC is faster than I don't understand whats happening.
 
both are still in need of work obviously....cutting pad and OHC....but I achieved much better results with the PC...



moved the PC about 1" per second - made about 12 passes before going clear

and the rotary about 5" per second - made about 5 passes before clear
 
You might be surprised with the depth difference after you glaze it. I'll bet the rotary cut through the finish deeper, thus swirling it up more, leaving you better results in the next step.
 
toyotaguy said:
both are still in need of work obviously....cutting pad and OHC....but I achieved much better results with the PC...



moved the PC about 1" per second - made about 12 passes before going clear

and the rotary about 5" per second - made about 5 passes before clear
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Did you fell the surface to see if it was warm? 5" per second can sometimes be too fast, you really have to pay close attention, unlike a PC which you can almost do no wrong. Also I find a cutting pad with a rotary will leave swirls behind, and the PC leaves hazing, so that could have something to do with it.
 
David Fermani said:
You might be surprised with the depth difference after you glaze it. I'll bet the rotary cut through the finish deeper, thus swirling it up more, leaving you better results in the next step.
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Absolutely.
 
so i should have ran through the whole process to see the results??? compound, polish, glaze, canauba?



also, I tried OC on a orange via both....the PC didnt cut all right away, but the rotary did, but it also scratched and left behind more defects that were "new"



is there a general rule that a light polishing pad and a aggressive polish might work better than aggressive/aggressive???
 
I think you only have to use a cutting pad on really hard paints, the polishing pad will remove most swirls and leave a far better finish. On some paints you woun't need a finishing pad even.
 
I started using the PC back in the day (about 2 years ago) and every since I got the hang of the rotary, my PC is collecting dust. Every once in a while I break the PC out to see what it can do on a vehicle im detailing and after a few passes I give up and go right back to the rotary. The rotary once you get used to it can produce a better finish and cut down working time.
 
I'm in the stage where I used a PC, feel like I am good with it - then got a Makita 9227C, the post about the pads caught my eye. I use 6.5" Lake Country pads, so you're saying for light swirls, I can use the white polishing pad instead of the orange pad and get better results?
 
JuneBug said:
I'm in the stage where I used a PC, feel like I am good with it - then got a Makita 9227C, the post about the pads caught my eye. I use 6.5" Lake Country pads, so you're saying for light swirls, I can use the white polishing pad instead of the orange pad and get better results?
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Yes, and even for moderate swirls your better off with a polishing pad. For light swirls start with a light polish then work your way up to a compound if needed. I just got a 4 3/4" backing plate fot my rotary so I can use my PC pads and I agree with most people who say they are easier to use. I like how they give you better control with no buffer hop.
 
i would use the rotary a little slower i did my black 03 4runner and it did not look how i wanted it to so re did it much slower and it came out much better
 
I always do swirl removal with the Rotory. Once the swirls are removed, I remove any light halos with the PC. I always get picture perfect shine, but I also take my sweet *** time polishing, even with the rotory.
 
joyriiide1113 said:
I always do swirl removal with the Rotory. Once the swirls are removed, I remove any light halos with the PC. I always get picture perfect shine, but I also take my sweet *** time polishing, even with the rotory.
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On some of the softer paints getting a perfect finish is impossible because of the action of the PC. Upon close inspection there are small little half circle marks in the paint, the rotary instantly removes these marks to a clear finish. There is a multi page thread on this topic. I would say I got a very nice finish on most vehicles I've done over the years with the PC but some paint the PC just can't get the job done. I now do everything with a rotary with much better results.
 
01bluecls said:
I started using the PC back in the day (about 2 years ago) and every since I got the hang of the rotary, my PC is collecting dust. Every once in a while I break the PC out to see what it can do on a vehicle im detailing and after a few passes I give up and go right back to the rotary. The rotary once you get used to it can produce a better finish and cut down working time.
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:werd: i could not agree more. im not even very expierienced with the rotary, and I am just dumbfounded at the finish when I am done.



I still like the PC for lsp application and 4'' pads for getting the small spots. I would be scared s^%$less to use a small apd on a rotary . . .
 
I guess my problem with the Rotary is I've never really used a 6.5" white pad... Which really would be the only one I should be using!



Cutting pads always seem to bounce around or marr the surface, or dry out the product
 
OK, I played "Mr.Whipple" and went out and squeezed the Charmin - I mean the pads, the white one is softer, much softer than the orange. Maybe that's why the wool pads are so much easier to use - they just hug the surface instead hard bouncing. I've used the orange pad and it's just like running an industrial size floor buffer, it's all technique, you have to keep a firm hand on it but make slight adjustments or it will smack you! I've found that prepping the pad with water or that XMT stuff helps a lot.
 
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