buffing
05-27-2007, 01:52 PM
#11
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location:
Posts: 134
RE: buffing
Hello.
My buffer is a variable speed that goes up to 3000 rpm. Buffing a car isn't very difficult or complicated, but neither is scorching the paint or ending up with these odd looking, primer colored pinstipes.
Wet sanding is also not complicated but potentially hazardous. If your car has tiny little pieces of crud stuck in the paint, which it does, they have the annoying tendency to turn loose and embed themselves in the sandpaper, causing some deeper scratches that you can't really see until you start the buffing process, and realize that you have some scratches that the buffer isn't getting out. It isn't a good idea to have the sandpaper in your hand if you haven't done this very much. You should use a block. That will give you a much more consistant finish. You won't be able to feel it when one of those pieces of crud turns loose, but you can hear it if you are paying attention. Start with something like a 1500 grit, then go to 2000, 2500 and finish with 3000. The buffing process also goes in stages. You want to start out with a buffing compound, and then go to a lighter compound and a couple of steps of fine and finer polish and then a good wax. You want to use the same company's products throughout the buffing, polishing and waxing becauseone company'sproductscan react funny with other people's products. For example, if you use meguiar's buffing and polishing stuff and go back with Zymol for the wax, it will cloud up and look terrible.
I was about 12 the first time I ever buffed out a car that somebody actually drove around in.The guy that was showing me how gave me some awful good advice. I was going to start out on my dad's car as a father's day present, and stopped me. He told me that it wasn't such a good idea to jump right onto a car that mattered and that I should take my buffer down to this salvage yard he knew about and ask the guy if it would be ok for me to buff up some of his junk. Of course, he knew the guy and had already got it lined up before he took me down there. Hmm. I digress.The point is don't just jump in and screw up your own car straight out of the box. Find a bone yard somewhere or some buddy's car that you can't possibly hurt the appearance of and get a little practise. Most folks catch on pretty quick. And then the particular buffer won't really matter. Like the guy told me, ' Jesse James could kill you with a zip-gun just as dead as with a winchester. It ain't the machine, it's the guy with the machine.'
My buffer is a variable speed that goes up to 3000 rpm. Buffing a car isn't very difficult or complicated, but neither is scorching the paint or ending up with these odd looking, primer colored pinstipes.Wet sanding is also not complicated but potentially hazardous. If your car has tiny little pieces of crud stuck in the paint, which it does, they have the annoying tendency to turn loose and embed themselves in the sandpaper, causing some deeper scratches that you can't really see until you start the buffing process, and realize that you have some scratches that the buffer isn't getting out. It isn't a good idea to have the sandpaper in your hand if you haven't done this very much. You should use a block. That will give you a much more consistant finish. You won't be able to feel it when one of those pieces of crud turns loose, but you can hear it if you are paying attention. Start with something like a 1500 grit, then go to 2000, 2500 and finish with 3000. The buffing process also goes in stages. You want to start out with a buffing compound, and then go to a lighter compound and a couple of steps of fine and finer polish and then a good wax. You want to use the same company's products throughout the buffing, polishing and waxing becauseone company'sproductscan react funny with other people's products. For example, if you use meguiar's buffing and polishing stuff and go back with Zymol for the wax, it will cloud up and look terrible.I was about 12 the first time I ever buffed out a car that somebody actually drove around in.The guy that was showing me how gave me some awful good advice. I was going to start out on my dad's car as a father's day present, and stopped me. He told me that it wasn't such a good idea to jump right onto a car that mattered and that I should take my buffer down to this salvage yard he knew about and ask the guy if it would be ok for me to buff up some of his junk. Of course, he knew the guy and had already got it lined up before he took me down there. Hmm. I digress.
The point is don't just jump in and screw up your own car straight out of the box. Find a bone yard somewhere or some buddy's car that you can't possibly hurt the appearance of and get a little practise. Most folks catch on pretty quick. And then the particular buffer won't really matter. Like the guy told me, ' Jesse James could kill you with a zip-gun just as dead as with a winchester. It ain't the machine, it's the guy with the machine.'
05-27-2007, 02:17 PM
#12
5th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
Posts: 2,505
RE: buffing
Very good advice. I planned starting with 1000 and going up to 3000 to make the buffing easier. I have a 76 Ford PU in the driveway I'll practice on. It is the original single stage paint but it'll warm me up.
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05-27-2007, 05:26 PM
#13
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location:
Posts: 299
RE: buffing
I use one like this. http://cgi.ebay.com/DEWALT-DW849-Pol...QQcmdZViewItemI use the black foam pad with 3M heavy cut rubbing compound. When sanding I would see how well 2000 grit works, then step down to 1500 or even 1000 if you feel like you need more tooth. I would only sand a small area then buff and then do another small area. Take you time and don't get in a hurry.
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