First time on Rotary

So I got my trunk lid in today, from a 08 BMW 328i (anyone need a taillight? lol)

Well first time doing correction on a full size panel and must say it was pretty frustrating as it was not correcting as I thought it would of. I sanded half the trunk with 1000 grit then followed up with 2000 grit. I then hit it with SIP/LC orange (spread at 1100 and break down at 1500 then back down to 1100) and that did not do much...I thought it would of gotten rid of them. I moved up with M105 with a LC PFW pad (same speeds as SIP) and that did well but left a haze from the wool so I moved back to SIP/orange and then 106FA/white. Well it did some good amount of correction and got some decent paint clarity. Some deep scratches and RIDs still there but I know those wont be coming out now so I have some clear to do some more playing around with. Hard thing is it seemed like the polished broke down pretty fast at 1500 (within a min or less , I dont know if this is normal or not) I took a short video of me working SIP/Ornage pad but my memory card got full so does now show full polishing. I was hoping some of you guys could take a look and point out what things I am doing wrong. Just remember first time on a rotary and I know there are many things I need to work on such as speed (dont know really how fast to do passes) also sometimes the rotary takes control because it does not stay flat and you can see that in the video, I also tense up...I am thinking with more practice the tensing up will go away as I get more confy...Here some pics, not the best I know and video.

Before Pics:





After Sanding (I did few things wrong just to make it little harder on myself to correct haha)



After (This was done inside so what you see in the reflection is the popcorn ceiling.





Left of tape is not corrected, right of tape is (apx location)



Video:
Bad video I know, sorry about that guys...any help will be much appreciated...and you can say I suck at it and should never pick up a rotary again...it wont offend me.

YouTube - MOV00015.MPG

 

Don't be afraid to work the polish for a long time that was my problem when I first started the rotary. I would work sip for like 30 seconds but it can take upto a minute for it to really break down. Since it's a junk panel don't be afraid to really find out what the limits are

 

Thanks, just hard to judge breakdown time...I tried to polish till clear and that is what it seemed. May be due to heat on panel and warm room that made it go clear faster. I will be trying some more later in the weekend...and as you said it is a junk panel so I will be pushing to the limits. Just looking for some help and seeing where I could improve on.

106FA seemed to break down pretty fast as well and I thought it was a long working polish. Then again I dont rally know what "long working" truly means haha.

 

Having a bottle of distilled water in a mister is rather helpful. Sometimes the polishes dry out a little too quickly and a quick spray of water to the panel extends working time further for the abrasives to break down.

Dave

 

First thing I am seeing is that you are working in a terrible uncomfortable position... yes this happens on cars but they don't move at all... put the lid up on something so you are working around waist level...

Second, you are really fighting the buffer... don't fight it, let it work for you... You seem to be pushing down on it pretty hard, especially with a hard pad like the LC.

Third, you didn't work the polish like everyone else mentioned, but I also think your rpms were a little low... kick it up a notch...

As far as you pattern do what you are doing now but twice... you are moving in a long S type pattern, instead of moving down after every pass make two passes then move down.

 

Yeah it is on the ground, I not have it up so its higher up and little more confy to polish on.

I was pushing down with little pressure but pad would grab and want to go off, i was trying to keep it flat as possible. Again because i was a little tense arms started to hurt...know i need to loosen up a bit.

I will bump it up to 1800-1900ish and see how it goes.

Also try doing two passes per "line"

Thanks for some pointers. I know everyone polishes there own little way but appreciate the pointers!

 

Yeah man, you've GOT to get that thing up off the floor. My back started to hurt just watching that. :lol: Anyway, I often use a similar pattern of motion to the one you're using, but I move my machine quite a bit more slowly than that.

 

I will also say that the LC pads are a PITA imo... I really dislike hard pads, I use Phil's Uber line and I don't even like the orange pads because they are too hard for me...

 

What he said. Ankeet, those 3M UK pads are gonna make you hate LC pads. :lol:

 

Hmm, yeah it was a sitting down position almost...oh well got it up off the ground now. Try to slow it down next time.

I used a uber Orange this second time around, yeah hard pads on a DA where fine but getting the point that on a rotary hard pads may not be the best as it tends to hop and not glide.

Oh dont say that, those 3m pads are $$$ haha...plus I dont think the yellow is like the orange...they do have a green one though...hmmm..haha

Anyways, took some pointers you guys said and had try #2 on the other side, sanded it using 2000 grit just to clean it up a bit. M105/PFW, SIP/Uber Orange (1100-1500-1900-1500-1100), 106FA/LC White (1100-1500-1900-1500-1100), then 85rd/Sonus Blue(1100-1500-2000-1500-1100), used Gloss-IT EVP on each pad. Still tensing up a bit and trying to not let the buffer run away at some points mainly on the harder orange pad. The Sonus pad I was just gliding and was pretty easy to control. Getting some haze but think its down to moving a little too fast/something else...

But here is a picture I am kind of proud of haha...if you look at the before pics you can see how much improvement it is.



Line at the top is a deep scratch, that white circle is actually the light source haha, kind of looks like the moon.

 

congrats w/ ur purchase and new toy :thumb:

What hurdle did you have to jump to keep the circuit breaker from "switching off" :headbang:

 

Rotary is an amazing machine! Once you try it, you won't go bad to PC for paintwork correction (maybe to apply a sealant only)...

 

Using the outlet in my bathroom that is on a 20 AMP breaker, only problem is that on that circuit the two downstairs bathrooms are on it. As my roommate that is downstairs is out this weekend I dont have to worry about his gf using the blow dryer or anything. I also had my computer plunged in and it was using a decent number of amps. But all is good to go till Monday!

It is a great machine, just cant wait to get decent at it so I can do some great details and thus write-ups! :afro:

 

That's great progress. :applause:

 

Looks like you are starting to figure it out!

 

After talking to Karl, seems like I got myself a BMW Jet Black trunk, oh goodness...haha...seems like it is a pita to work with. But I guess I should get use to it as the paint on my GTI is hard as heck but will mar pretty easily as well.

Last pic of the night.



Time to go clean some pads and MFs

 

Looks like your getting it. Practice ,practice. Once you start relaxing a bit it will get easier.

 

Just like a bicycle, first time is the toughest. Try as suggested with a misting effect to provide a little lubrication and see if that helps with the grabbing, Sometimes the pad moves opposite of what you want it to do, try ever so slightly with the pad off from being perfectly flush as you are moving a certain direction and see what effect that has. This will help you get a feel,on how it feels, using a different technique. Thanks for the pics and video portion.

 

Your last picture of the night is awesome ... look like you had figured out how to use your rotary pretty fast, hehe ... well done

 

Last pic, the paint still has some fine scratches that I think are from the MF. Still got ALOT of learning to do haha. Not that bad once you get going. You needa hurry up and get yours! :waiting: