General > Detailing
Polish by hand vs machine, miles apart?
mk5Eire:
--- Quote from: xjay1337 on July 09, 2014, 06:49:08 pm ---There is a HUGE difference between hand and machine polishing.
I wouldn't bother hand polishing, glazing by hand is fine but hand polishing, you simply cannot get an even coverage of pressure, effort and product. Machines work far faster and they are consistent so you can get a consistent result. I have seen horrible hazes from hand polishing especially if you're using polishes which have a long work time and take a long time to break down into their finer "finishing" particulate sizes.
A light source shows a million things... this is not a dig at anyone in particular, I'm just purely trying to educate people. you need a fixed light source on a panel in a position to highlight swirls, scratches etc. A side on shot shows nothing especially on a black car... LITERALLY none the wiser - amazing what a light source shows...
--- End quote ---
Wow jay that's really after opening my eyes. I'm almost Afraid to go on and put some light on mine it must be destroyed.
How naive I was to think I was actually removing the marks by hand :-/
Sent from my iPhone that has issues.. Reception issues...
DanMaytee:
--- Quote from: mk5Eire on July 09, 2014, 05:29:20 pm ---That was actually my next question which pad to get for the polisher! I think if I end up getting one I'll practice on a scrap wing for a day or two and get comfortable with the machine.
Yeah I think I'll go with that compound, it better be good as it's not cheap!
Sent from my iPhone that has issues.. Reception issues...
--- End quote ---
That's what I did mate :). Got a bonnet for £10 from the scrap yard and I was surprised at how easy it was to get a good result.
Finished my bonnet earlier, I haven't got any fancy lights but my phone light managed to pick a few out. Waiting to get it into the sun tomorrow to see how good or bad it's come out.
You can get a 500w halogen floodlight for around £15 off eBay which will show alot of the swirls. I keep meaning to actually buy one but every time I get paid I forget. I've spent around 13 hours on the car so far so I'm hoping at least 80% of them have gone. Got the N/S Wing, doors and rear quarter to do tomorrow then I'm done!
xjay1337:
--- Quote from: mk5Eire on July 09, 2014, 08:36:13 pm ---
Wow jay that's really after opening my eyes. I'm almost Afraid to go on and put some light on mine it must be destroyed.
How naive I was to think I was actually removing the marks by hand :-/
Sent from my iPhone that has issues.. Reception issues...
--- End quote ---
You can remove scratches and swirls by hand but it's very hard work, and the finish is not as good because you can't get an even coverage and pressure as mentioned.
I'd stick with hand glazing using SRP etc. But these products do also work well via machine especially on softer paint, not that that really effects our Golfs.
You will get some improvement with a "hand polish" but personally not worth the time, just glaze it and wax/seal it until you can do it proper :happy2:
Main point of having a light source is to see exactly what you're doing and what you're actually removing.
Just makes me laugh all the people who are like "just polished & waxed my car it looks SOOOO GOOD" and then take a side on shot with no direct light, that's just the detailer in me screaming out but at the same time people can take it the wrong way, not doing it to put people down but to hopefully show them and educate them to spot and work and improve on their paintwork :)
andyp:
I'm going to purchase a machine polisher myself, due to always doing it by hand. A friend machined my loop and it still looks good now, although it could do with poss going over again. My red gti doesn't look anywhere near as good even when clean.
RifGTi:
Ive recently bought myself a DA polisher ( kestral das 6). Ive only tried the bonnet which turned out quite good with the megs microfibre pad and compound.And that was me working cautiously ( little pressure and "fast passes") Couldn't get any pics since i destroyed my phone in the process!! but will hopefully be working on the rest of the car when i get some time.
I've thrown everything at the car when it came to hand correction and on these cars its a total waste of time. The paint is too hard for anything to work my hand. Don't be fooled like it was when you see before and after pics/vids on swirl correction.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version