buffer
 

i am about to go out and buy one...well my dad is b/c i told him he needs it for his truck. so j/w..how exactly do you go about buffing it? do i need to get the old wax off first or what? TIA everyone

Im not sure, but Id like to know too, because I want to get one. Ive been doing it by hand for too long haha

buffer you want a good heavy piece (light = cheap and will break) variable speed
when buffing you are using a grit to remove imperfections so you want to get any contaminents off the car I like to use dish soap first, and wash between materials to keep from contaminating my pads. Don't get cheap compound (turtle wax does not make a good compound) if you find one with a link to it I can tell you if it's any good probably

I use a double head, two 4" pads, buffer to put wax on and take it off by hand. But I dont use it every time. Thats a good idea to use dish soap at least for the first time then you know your starting out fresh. If you get a single head buffer, be careful not to put too much pressure on it or sit in one place too long. Could burn the paint. Double heads are a little more forgiving.

double head would actually be a polisher way different animal as it is going to be a much slower speed

k
thanks for the help

you want a buffer to run around 2200 rpm most of the time, mine goes to 3000 and down to 1500 (snap on)

two really popular buffer/polisher are the Dual Head Cyclo Orbital...which is personally my favorite machine for my work on detailing vehicles. It is good for a wide variety of detailing...it can buff/swirl remove/compound/polish...and can even lay a nice glaze or sealant/wax of ur choice (altho Ive found that part of the detail to do best by hand).

The other is the porter cable polisher...its original use was to be a sander...but they have since made one similar for the use of polishing and buffing car paint. It works really well and is much cheaper in price than the cyclo.

Both machines are best used with foam pads that usually can be purchased from any detail shop and many places online. They sell a variety of pads that do different things. Such as cutting pads, heavy cutting pads, polishing pads, finishing pads..etc...

Cory

most of the polish companies recommend the foam pads for light work, but wool for compounding

Wool pads are not something that I would use on a clear coat finish, unless you have no other option. Wool pads will abrade the surface to the point that it will require several polishes to level out. Also, it had been known to take off more than a mil of clear coat at a time (depending on your buffer speed and amount of pressure), which is not safe. Wool pads are great on old laquer finishes, but nothing that I would used on a clear coat or single-stage, unless there is no other option.
3M White Waffle Cutting Pad is what I would recommend for compound.

if you have no clue what your doing it will remove too much (if it takes off a mil your doing it wrong) PPG and Dupont both use wool on all their demo cars for compounding (aka the starting grit) I don't like them for laquer since laquer moves too much when compounding (I tend to start with a little finer polish on laquer) clear coat is as thick as a laquer paint job just 100 times harder

Wool is way too aggressive of a pad to use under any circumstances unless you are trying to buff out 100 grit sand scratches and even then I would only use it if my foam pad can't cut it. If you are in the body shop and trying to do a slam-bang get-it-out-the-door-ASAP and compound out the sand scratches, fine. But, other than that, I wouldn't touch it. My body shop won't allow them used in the shop due to the fact that the fibers float around and circulate in the air and end up on new paint finishes, in the paint booth, etc. and that can cause problems.
Everyone has their own way of doing things and I'm not saying that wool pads are all wrong. Old school guys swear by them and if you have been taught to use them from the beginning, then why change if it works for you. I'm saying that I wouldn't use them unless I was forced to. They are just too aggressive when cutting.