snowfish said:
Cheers Scott & Gaza. V helpful
Scott - being a newb to this would you say the das-6 PRO is too risky or just that i need to be careful ??
What needs to be considered is whenever venturing into the world of machine polishing be it DA or roatry, the key is slow and steady wins the race.
Its not always the case of going straight in with the heaviest combination of cutting pads/cutting compounds, some of the worst imperfections can really be brought up to speed with simple polishes and a polishing pad but hitting each panle 2-3 times to really work the polish and get that finish how you want.
I started out from the word go on rotary tbh and using a DA was a step back for me but then again the DA can achieve great finishes they take far more time but equally just as rewarding.
The DAS6 has a higher powered motor so will work better under pressure where as the DAS6 if under to much pressure will stop moving being safer so you have less chances of striking through the paint.
Im not a big fan of DW but this may be of help:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/images/misc/dapolishing.pdf
Menzerna polishes work best on VAG/bavarian etc paints.
Menzerna- hard paints ( VAG, mercedes etc )
Meguiars - medium paints ( ford, peugeot )
Sonus - soft paint ( mg/rover, any jap paint )
Polish it right back then bang some colli or HD on it, job done.
And a little light reading:
This is a little wright up I did a while back for rotary use but it can be adapted to DA polisher but speeds will need to be looked at differently.
Ideally I recomend meguiars pads as they have a perfect fit.
I use lake country 6.5" ccs pads at the mo but im going to transfer over to meguiars.
Polishes, I swear by menzerna final finish PO 85 RE 5 which is a great all rounder.
Another uber great finishing/glazing/swirl remover is dodo LP.
Has micro abbrasives that break down as you work with them so very lite cutting and refining in one.
Menzerna intensive polish which is a medium grade polish for lite/severe marring and menzerna power gloss which is heavy cutting for quite severe work.
You will need a polishing pad and finishing pad, if its more severe then a light cutting pad will be needed.
The idea is to start with the least aggressive combo of polish and pad on a 1ft sqaure section and see what result you get.
If not the desired finish then step up to a more heavier polish with the same pad and so on until you find the best result.
Majority of the time you will find a medium polish with a polishing pad will give you the result your after but obviously you can go further if need be.
In worse cases you will use a more aggresive polish with a cutting pad which will remove a few microns of the clear coat and will look like there are more swirls than before but what you will do then is using a softer pad and less aggressive polish, refine the finish you are working on...............so in a nutshell you will be marring the paint more before correcting the swirling but it works.
As said if you start with a finishing pad and menzerna final finish firstly.
If you check the mazda or the hotrod I taped a panel in half with 3m blue low tak masking tape just to try different combo's.
Its all about slow and steady and finding that right combo.
When you start machine polishing its imperitive that you keep the pad face flat to the surface of the panel as you can burn through or get uneven marring ( buffer trails )put into the paint.
So you will have fitted your pad to the backing plate if you want give the pad a quick/lite spray with water or quick detailer ( just enough to feel moist, spray about 6" away )
Add to drops of polish to the pad adjacent to each other ( size of your little finger nail will do ).
Work the polish over the area before switching on.
Now at speed 1-2 ( 600-700 ) work the polish slowly across the panel ( moving across 1" per 2 seconds roughly ) side to side twice at this speed so you break the polish down ready to work it.
At speed 3-4 (1100-1300 )continue with the 1" per 2 seconds as this will work the polish evenly so you getting all the surface, you can apply about 10lbs of pressure so you get the best of the pad and product ( look at the hotrod thread and the how the pad looks on my polisher, this will give you a rough idea of what pressure to use ).
Side to side twice then come back down to speed 2 for 2 pass ( side to side ) to finish the last of the polish.
With a soft microfibre cloth remove any residue and check your work.
If you feel it needs a stronger cut then step up with the polish.
Again if needs be step up to the next pad and so on.
If youve gone to the point of using a lite cutting pad you do the same process then come down to a polishing pad then a finshing pad reducing the strength of polishes as you go.
Think of it as youve sandied your car with 800 paper then you want to get rid of the nasty sanding marks so you go over it again with 1000, 1200, 1500 untill its smooth and what you want.
Majority of first timers like to play it safe and break there polishing cherry with a DA polisher such as the kestral das6 or megs g220 but in all honesty, you will improve your finish but it wont completely de-swirl or correct like a rotary polisher.
I strongly recomend the wright up by Davekg as he is very good at method and breakdown of method.
This is just a rough guide, I would strongly recomend getting a couple of panels from a scrapyard to practice on tbh.
Knowing me ive missed something or someone is going to criticise what ive put but as said this is just a quick, rough guide but hope this helps.
Final finish - finishing polish/glaze
Super finish - refining and finishing polish
Power finish - medium grade polish
Power gloss - aggressive polish
Alwasy start with the least aggressive combination of pads and polish then step up wit the polish then step up with the pad and so on until you find a combo that suits you.
Its all trial and error but remember slow and steady is the key to perfection.
With a DA the principal of applying, breaking down and working the polish is still the same, the difference is the speeds and the fact that a DA oscilates and rotary rotates.
As said before, start with the least harshest combo and work from there so finishng pad with menz FF then up to power finish then up to polishing pad with FF and so on again until the desired result is given.
Spritz the pad so it has a slight sheen to it, not sopping wet.
Add 2-3 pea sized drops of polish adjacent to each other, pad face down on the panel then turn on at speed2, spread the polish and work side to side or up and down whatever is more comfortable overlapping by 50% to get even coverage crank it up to speed 3-4 and work the polish it should start going clear then speed 5-6 keep the passes going for around 3 more passes then down speed to 4 then 2 then switch off.
Do this over a 1ft square to ensure your getting the best from the pad,product and machine.
The process with DA is far a touch slower than rotray but it will be worth it.
Take your time with it and the results will be very good.
