Machine Polishing - easy, hard, how?

[Pommy]

Looking at getting a specific car detailing random orbital machine but am worried I’ll basically screw it up by burning in swirl or burn marks.

Peoples thoughts and tips on using a machine polisher welcome!

[RTB]

I got a dual action orbital polisher a number of years ago to polish out a large number of scratches on my Forester XT. I didn't have any experience using one but it was pretty straight forward. Clean the car first, clay the car and make sure that the surface is free from contaminates and feeling like glass. Then get a good qaulity cutting compound and go easy. The dual action are difficult to make a mess with to be honest. Start slow on a small area and monitor how things are looking.





After

[Muzzer79]

Top tip

Go to a scrapyard and buy a couple of cheap panels - doesn't matter what as long as they're in reasonable nick

Get a machine polisher and use the panels to practice on. Fine-tune your technique on those before letting loose on your own car.

Once you're confident and have experimented fully on the practice panels, chuck 'em.

[belleair302]

Spend 30 mins on you tube for an idea. They are easy to use, gentle pressure on the pad, not too much rubbing compound and moisten the foam pad first. Nearly impossible to harm any part of the car if you take your time and move the polisher slowly. Let the compound go clear on a higher speed having started on a medium speed, then you will see your marks begin to disappear. Keep pads clean and quick detail panel afterwards. Then wax!!

[Squiggs]

Muzzer79 said:

Top tip

Go to a scrapyard and buy a couple of cheap panels - doesn't matter what as long as they're in reasonable nick

Get a machine polisher and use the panels to practice on. Fine-tune your technique on those before letting loose on your own car.

Once you're confident and have experimented fully on the practice panels, chuck 'em.

^^^^^ This - but don't try to do it all correctly.
As the saying goes 'You only learn from your mistakes',
Find out how far you can go to 'make a mistake' … better to push the boundaries on a practice panel than on your P&J.
And then reign yourself in ;-)

[threadlock]

I've had a go polishing my black XC90 because the paint is basically very good but it would look fantastic if the finish was just a bit crisper.

I've got a cheap Silverline rotary polisher (like a slow angle grinder), a couple of unlabeled foam pads, and some cutting compound. It all came in a kit I bought at a trade event 10 years ago that I haven't really had the balls to use.

Even with no experience it wasn't really difficult. Common sense says stay away from corners and edges (which will burn through much more quickly than flat panels), and check the temperature of the surface from time to time to check you're not building up heat from too much friction.

It took a lot of work to get even the light scratches out so maybe I've got a gentle pad/compound combo. The outcome was an improvement but now I have holograms that'll need a more refined finish. I'll buy a pad/compound kit and do some experimenting one day...

[smudgerebt]

Ask for help in your local area section on here or dw.

Alot of people are more than happy to assist.

Yes it can be easy it can also be a steep learning curve.