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6 comments on Preferred Pattern When Polishing by Machine

  1. Jon says:

    Nice one, Ivan! So, tell me, do you consider (1) left-right + (1) up-down = (1) ‘Section Pass’, or do you consider each direction pass equivalent to one ‘section pass’. Speaking of which, how many section passes would you do in this particular example (M205 + Crimson LC flat pad)?

    Thank you,

    • Ivan Rajic says:

      Thanks Jon,

      (1) + (1) in this case does equal (2) 🙂

      What I mean is that (1) left to right is (1) section pass and (1) up and down is a 2nd section pass. I don’t count the initial spreading at a slower speed as a pass.

      As for how many passes, I typically do anywhere from 6-9 passes with Crimson/M205 but there are way too many variables for me to tell you how many you would require. I would recommend just trying out different techniques and pressure/speed until you find the best combination. This is especially easy and helpful if you are working on a personal car in that you can tape off many different sections on different panels, then try out different techniques. You can try only 5-6 passes and vary the pressure, then step up the passes while keeping the pressure the same, etc.

      Hope that helps!

  2. Dan says:

    Good info. One question…that seems like an awful lot of polish you are working with. Did you use extra polish just for this demo so u could see the polishing pattern better or do you always use that much when usong 205??

    • Ivan Rajic says:

      Good eye Dan! You are correct that I used extra polish (basically primed the pad twice!) for this demo so it comes up clearly in the photos. I normally wouldn’t use nearly as much.

  3. Diane Lyn says:

    Oh My Gosh! I am stuck with a car that has such an oxidation coating I am a bit confused. I have been around automotive finishes, use of buffers etc. However, the daunting task of the whole car is not my idea of a fun weekend or more… And just how many buffing pads am I going to need? I just want to get the finish half way decent so I can sell the vehicle…

    • Ivan Rajic says:

      Hi Diane,

      It’s very tough to estimate the amount of pads you’ll need not knowing the car type as well as how bad of a condition you need to fix. Normally for any decent polishing to be done, you’ll need about 6-8 pads at least to complete a polishing step around the car, probably more if it’s oxidized and the pads will get saturated very quickly. That or you can do it in sections over the course of a few days, in which case you can wash and dry the pads after each day. Hope that helps and best of luck with the project!

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