I have some suggestions on this polisher thread.
I've used the single action (pad orbits around fixed pivot axis) Black and
Decker worm-drive polisher for about 5 years now. I've gone through one
motor on it, but I've probably buffed close to 50 cars.
I enjoy Meguiar's compounds for many of my buffing needs, and there are
many other fine products available too. One thing to remember; the more
independent steps you take, the better the result. One compound does not do
all.
Another thing to remember, and this one is very important, whenever you
encounter an edge, allow the wheel only to "roll off" of the corner, not
"roll up and onto" the panel. This will eliminate taking the paint off of
corners and edges, a common problem for beginning bufferantos. Buffing can
save a lot of time and effort, but it's also very easy to ruin a good paint
job with overzealous or random buffing.
Another tip, use variation of pressure and speed to accomplish different
things. High pressure and Low speed combined will remove a lot of paint
material. Low pressure and High speed will "skim" over the surface and
reduce cutting. Even when working with only one compound, varying speed and
pressure can give vastly different results. It takes some playing around.
Start with the family car.
It is important to "clean" the buffer of built-up paint and used compound
every few minutes by running the pad over a screwdriver or nail. This
doesn't apply to foam wheels, the advantages of which are not really apparent
anyway.
Let's say you're buffing the car to remove oxidation and light scratches,
you'll probably get away with 2-3 buffing steps. For the most abrasive step,
use Meguiar's #2 or #1. Do the whole car, then wipe it down with a soft
cloth.
The second step uses a finer compound, to remove the scratches you put in
with the first. I recommend Meguiar's #9. Make sure you clean the wheel
well when switching to this finer compound.
The final buffing step should use an extremely fine compound. My favorite
is Liquid Ebony. It is runny like water. Again, clean the wheel well before
switching to a finer compound like this.
At this point, the car should look very smooth, and should not have
"swirls" in it. If it does, try the ebony again, except use a lighter touch.
No need to bear down on the body, let the buffer do the work.
The next step is to apply the wax of your choice. For my everyday driver
cars, which see frequent washings and road junk, I use a liquid carnuba wax,
(the cheap kind you find in the auto parts store). For my show car(s), I use
the ZYMOL product HD cleanse followed by the appropriate ZYMOL carnuba wax.
The Zymol products I really enjoy, however I don't find them practical for
everyday driver cars. The quality of auto-parts store "carnuba" waxes are
high enough that that's what I use on my everyday cars.
One more thing, don't go for those cleaner/wax combination type products.
In order to effectively clean oxidation and light scratches off, they have
an abrasive level which is relatively high. They're good for the weekend
dude wanting to get the dried bugs off of his light pastel metallic Honda
Prelude, but quite a bit too abrasive to use as a finishing step on a darker
solid-color car.
I hope this helps.
Greg Meboe
Not an AOLer, just an EDU'er on vacation.
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