Polishing mops

[Byteme]

V8 Animal said:

Nope I really don't believe that, most of the public can't do what I and we do for a living.
To them it's fascinating to watch all aspects of what we do.
We have a showroom too that the public want to see.

Would you like me to go on? or are you bored yet?

So you have a business that does something most of the public cannot do. Wow, so does my local kebabish shop!

I would love to know their recipies and, if they start a thread detailing them, I will be the first there. The same applies to your glass thread in whatever forum you care to place it in.

Please share, just how do watermark glass on site? I'm thinking of watch crystals here but on a larger scale. What machine do you use and what software? Is it true that only use machines to carry out virtually all of your edge grinding and polishing operations with almost no human intervention? Has anyone ever been as impressed by a lump of factory glass compared to the exterior finish on a motor car or hand crafted interior trim?

How do your machines cope with localised damage at an external site five years later at a location 500 miles away?

Edited by Byteme on Thursday 28th August 20:55

Edited by Byteme on Thursday 28th August 21:08

[Beau Technique]

Most defects are typically deep to a point that by hand application will not work. The machine polisher will not increase the severity of the defects if the correct media is chosen to remove or reduce said defects. If a scratch is visible and too deep to remove fully then the edges can be rounded to a point giving a visual effect of thinning the defect down somewhat. I would say if you feel the need for a machine polisher and are in ownership of an Aston Martin then chances are your right as the factory paintwork is by far one of the softest on the planet bar say Honda / Subaru etc. To remove any defect or scratch you will need to remove a level of paint / lacquer to get to the level of the defect in question. Some are far too gone to fully remove safely midst keeping a safe level of clear coat on the vehicle. Hand polishing can remove some extremely superficial markings but other than that, Typically your just hiding the defects with carrier oils or glazing type material which over a short period of time washes out and your back to square one. I would advices the OP to look at dual action polishers and something along the lines of Chemical guys / Lake Country pads and the Menzerna or Scholl Concepts range of polishes.

[Byteme]

Beau Technique said:

If a scratch is visible and too deep to remove fully then the edges can be rounded to a point giving a visual effect of thinning the defect down somewhat.

Worth thinking about! As is the rest of the post.

Edited by Byteme on Thursday 28th August 21:09

[Laser Sag]

Byteme said:

Beau Technique said:

If a scratch is visible and too deep to remove fully then the edges can be rounded to a point giving a visual effect of thinning the defect down somewhat.

Worth thinking about! As is the rest of the post.

Edited by Byteme on Thursday 28th August 21:09

But is thining not the opposite of the enlarging which you have been suggesting would happen.

[Byteme]

Laser Sag said:

But is thining not the opposite of the enlarging which you have been suggesting would happen.

The aggressive polishing that everyone believes to be best will make the paint thinner. It may even, eventually, eliminate a scratch but only after removing completely unnecessary amounts of the finish around it.

[paddy328]

Wow, this thread got big quick!

I personally think it's all witchcraft

[whoami]

Byteme said:

Laser Sag said:

But is thining not the opposite of the enlarging which you have been suggesting would happen.

The aggressive polishing that everyone believes to be best will make the paint thinner. It may even, eventually, eliminate a scratch but only after removing completely unnecessary amounts of the finish around it.

So will the machine make the scratches bigger then?

[KarlFranz]

[Byteme]

paddy328 said:

Wow, this thread got big quick!

I personally think it's all witchcraft

Or black magic, myth and dark arts handed down in return for participating in secret rituals

[Jon1967x]

Laser Sag said:

Byteme said:

Beau Technique said:

If a scratch is visible and too deep to remove fully then the edges can be rounded to a point giving a visual effect of thinning the defect down somewhat.

Worth thinking about! As is the rest of the post.

Edited by Byteme on Thursday 28th August 21:09

But is thining not the opposite of the enlarging which you have been suggesting would happen.

You have a scratch - you can lightly polish which will round the edges of the scratch - that in effect opens it up, makes it wider but makes it visually softer and less noticeable. You can continue beyond this which starts to reduce its size as you remove clear coat and it eventually removes the scratch altogether. Both are possible.

As for other matters on this thread. I like to feel I've reached my level of incompetence so even I can't do my job

[Crafty_]

Byteme said:

The aggressive polishing that everyone believes to be best will make the paint thinner. It may even, eventually, eliminate a scratch but only after removing completely unnecessary amounts of the finish around it.

Ok, I'm curious - how would you remove a scratch in paint ?

[KarlFranz]

To be clear, what I refer to as a scratch is the kind found in swirl marks, holograms, sanding marks or rotary buffer trails, etc. Anything deeper (where your fingernail can catch it) can probably only be lessened in appearance, but not fully removed. Some glazes, waxes and other products out there can "fill" those scratches in to minimize their appearance. But, as has been stated earlier, this is only a temporary fix and as soon as the fillers wash off, the scratch will be more visible again.

[Laser Sag]

All I know is that when I have had a professional such as Paddy do work on my cars over the years they have always looked a lot better and in most instances the visible marks have been removed.
In my book that means they must have been made smaller as they are less noticable.

[Byteme]

KarlFranz said:

This is close to what happens and you will see that as you work down in depth at no time does the area contained within the softened scratch on the right lessen compared to the straight sided example on the left; that is until you get to it's base. It will always therefore get BIGGER as I stated at the outset. To all those who claimed I was wrong, now show me how, when referenced against the OP's question.

In reality, as the mop/polishing head rotates, it "pushes" the scratch over to one side as the rounding of each side is unequal. The "bigger" principle however still applies.

Karl I think you are the only one who eventually understood a very basic concept (despite the contradictory title on the right page of you last diagram) so congratulations and well done!


There are some hugely talented and hard working paint experts out there who deserve far more respect than simply being "thrown" £1-£2k in cash for their efforts to bring a car up to standard. This is just one field of their expertise, balancing the diagram on the left with the one shown on the right judged, by eye and experience, upon less than one half of 1/1000 of an inch. Far, far thinner than any thinnest human hair thickness. Just where is that balance between near perfection and a far more expensive paint bill if the base-coat is compromised?

I have no financial interest in this field but I believe for those that are, this simple demonstration has been worthwhile. I bet that those throwing the biggest insults in this thread also boast about their............. The glass man should have got his head around this!

johnS2000; care to comment further with respect to my expertise? Thought not!

GG33, why so shy?

[johnS2000]

Hold your horses !!! Yes I do care to comment.

You have explained your original comment of "and make the scratch bigger" in the above posts and it seems that you are trying to give the impression that you are some sort of paint polishing ,car detailing ,demi-god and insulting and putting down anybody who disagrees with you .

I read and re-read your posts regarding polishing and conclude that your posts make no sense at all and go no way whatever to explain why polishing makes a scratch bigger .

Now , your answer to this will obviously be along the lines of " you must be thick " etc.etc.etc.

I have explained that I am not a pro-detailer and perhaps there is some thing I am missing in your ramblings but I do know that a swirled paint finish becomes an unswirled paint finish when subjected to the appropriate level of machine polishing .

Regards John.

Edited by johnS2000 on Friday 29th August 09:45

[Neil1300r]

paddy328 said:

I personally think it's all witchcraft

[Laser Sag]

paddy328 said:

I personally think it's all "cake powered" witchcraft

Edited for accuracy

[Byteme]

johnS2000 said:

Hold your horses !!! Yes I do care to comment.

You have explained your original comment of "and make the scratch bigger" in the above posts and it seems that you are trying to give the impression that you are some sort of paint polishing ,car detailing ,demi-god and insulting and putting down anybody who disagrees with you .

I read and re-read your posts regarding polishing and conclude that your posts make no sense at all and go no way whatever to explain why polishing makes a scratch bigger .

Now , your answer to this will obviously be along the lines of " you must be thick " etc.etc.etc.

I have explained that I am not a pro-detailer and perhaps there is some thing I am missing in your ramblings but I do know that a swirled paint finish becomes an unswirled paint finish when subjected to the appropriate level of machine polishing .

Regards John.

Edited by johnS2000 on Friday 29th August 09:45

It wasn't me who started the insults, after all you were the one who accused me of being a troll and knowing nothing about paint. If you're unable to see that I'm trying to help you work out a very basic principle for yourself then so be it. The last diagram explains it perfectly.

[johnS2000]

I did not call you a troll I actually said "I thought you were trolling" .

I also got the impression of veiled insults to other posters .

If you know so much about polishing why not divulge the extent of your knowledge rather than playing some kind of "guess what I'm talking about" game That ,I, for one do not get !!

[Byteme]

Because this is the most basic lesson when polishing and you'd benefit far more by working it out for yourself. I could tell you exactly what to do however that doesn't mean you understand why you are doing it. On a good paint surface you'll get away with 95% of what you want to achieve but the last 5% of defects, the serious ones are something else altogether.