I need some solid cut & polish advice.

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:40 pm

Can someone who actually knows what they’re talking about please help me. I’ve spoken to 3 different “experts” in auto shops & got 3 different answers.

I need to cut & polish my new (acrylic) paint job. I have the Tool Pro 150mm polisher. What pads & compounds should I buy? One bloke tried to sell me some stuff for $100 a bottle for 3 bottles. Ain’t gonna happen.

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StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:12 am

*taps the microphone

Billy Bunter.....Please report to the front desk!
:lol:

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:16 am

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:19 pm

StanTheMan wrote:*taps the microphone

Billy Bunter.....Please report to the front desk!

... speaking of whom ... been unusually quiet

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:01 pm

You go to a auto paint shop if you have one in the area. You dont need a whole lot of fancy gear to cut and polish. You can get machine grade cutting compound or a hand grade but really they are much the same. You add water to dilute. You can read about techniques - plenty of books and it really is not about quantum physics. Also paint can be rubbed with fine grades of wet and dry if there is a lot of orange peel. If you are using a buffer the trick is take care not to burn the paint and watch the edges of panels. For many years cars were painted with acrylic so these processes for finshing are well recorded. You can hand rib with cutting compound quite easily and it washes up in water.

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:40 pm

It was the automotive paint shop that tried to sell me the expensive stuff.

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hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:06 pm

If its just light then you can probably just use basic stuff like meguiars ultimate compound. (Not the best, but easy to get and not particularly expensive)

But if you need more of a cut you'll be wanting a few different grades of buffing pads (yes,they sell them in different hardness and cell structure of foam) and you'll need a few different grits of polishing compound.

I recall Menzerna used to be all the rage for polishes (back when I used to be on a car detailing forum), can't remember pricing though.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:41 pm

If BB is busy, or even if he isn't, PM green_comet as he's a pro-detailer. As I suspect he'll just love the chance to respond to this thread, not only professionally, but also personally: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1415

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:57 pm

The detailers' shop: https://www.carcareproducts.com.au

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:23 pm

hks_kansei wrote:If its just light then you can probably just use basic stuff like meguiars ultimate compound. (Not the best, but easy to get and not particularly expensive)

But if you need more of a cut you'll be wanting a few different grades of buffing pads (yes,they sell them in different hardness and cell structure of foam) and you'll need a few different grits of polishing compound.

I recall Menzerna used to be all the rage for polishes (back when I used to be on a car detailing forum), can't remember pricing though.

93_Clubman wrote:If BB is busy, or even if he isn't, PM green_comet as he's a pro-detailer. As I suspect he'll just love the chance to respond to this thread, not only professionally, but also personally: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1415

manga_blue wrote:The detailers' shop: https://www.carcareproducts.com.au

Thanks guys. When I get home from work I’ll delve more deeply.

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1600Dave · Postby **1600Dave** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:27 pm

I used to do plenty of resprays in acrylic lacquer back in the day. Here's my tips, with the disclaimer that its been 20 years since I did any serious paint work so I can;t really recommend particular brands of cutting compound, for instance :

1. Wait for quite a few weeks before doing anything to lessen the chances of "shrinkback" over any repairs.
2. Is it still straight off the gun ? Orange peel / flat / dry overspray / etc ? If so, carefully cut it back with 1200 or finer wet and dry sanpaper (used wet). Use a clean bucket of water with a few drops of detergent added. Sand till you have removed all orange peel / imperfections. Sand carefully, especially on any edges. Its easy to see if you've sanded enough by washing it then letting it dry, any patches that need more sanding will be obvious when dry. Always err on the side of not sanding wnough rather than ripping into it and cutting through the paint in spots.
2a. When you're happy,give it one more good wash to remove all traces of dirt / sanding residue.
3. I always just used a wool mop pad on an electric buff, with a variety of cutting compounds, never used anything fancy. Do a section at a time, again avoiding spending too long in one place and being careful on edges / corners. Keep the buff moving. You can do any really tricky / fiddly bits by hand.
4. Once you've got a decent gloss, give it a good wash to remove all trace of cutting compound.
5. Give it a polish with a good silicone-free polish. Not sure if its still available, I always found "Re-Po Auto Polish and Cleaner" to work well. I used this with a clean wool pad, but some of the new-fangled foam pads are probably as good / better nowadays. Only use non silicone based polishes for at least 3-6 months.

One caveat - be careful not to sand / buff through the paint, particularly if you need to know how many coats went on.

And don't underestimate hand polishing, here's one of my jobs and most of it ended up being done by hand due to the shape of it.

RS2000 · Postby **RS2000** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 5:33 pm

Something cheap like Septone Mr Buff Cutting Compound will get the job done. You don't need to use much, & flick a small amount of water on the panel too.
I've tried foam pads & threw them in the bin. Like 1600Dave, I like the old wool pad. Keep the pad flat on the surface, & always moving side to side with minimal downward pressure. As everyone else says, watch the edges don't catch the rotating pad. I find it best to move the polisher from on the panel to off the panel, not the other way around.

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:40 pm

Some great info here!! Thanks guys. a combination of all should get me through I think. Cheers :beer:

Eunos_Frogster · Postby **Eunos_Frogster** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 7:44 pm

I got some juice q-cut following billybunter’s recommendations. Using a da polisher it took out most of the 1500 sanding marks but left some of the deeper scratches. Going over the area again with 2000 then another cut pretty much took off all the sanding scratches.

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Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 8:01 pm

Dave confirmed a number of my comments- but he has done a lot more than me. I agree with his advice and acrylic really has not changed. The first acrylic paint I did was about 35 years ago and it was the best ... crazy. I still read stuff and bought a really good book about 12 mths ago on painting at home. It is good to read a book at the photos etc and you reference anywhere. Acrylic is far more forgiving than 2 pack and can be redone panel by panel. There will also be plenty on the internet but at least books are good enough to publish.

Gladiator- my local paint places don't try to upsell. I had the compound out only yesterday and that was Motospray Cutting compound machine grade ( made here in Hallam) I was just doing a bit of hand rubbing- cost was $16.95 500g and bought 12 mths ago. That will do a lot of work- multiple cars I would say. Not saying there is not something better but it works for me for what I want.