polisher

Hello,

I tried to be helpful and scrape the snow of SWMBO's car. I used a window scraper and after finishing the windows, thought I would use the scraper to lightly flick the snow from off the bonnet, wings, boot, etc. The problem is, I seem to have slightly scratched the paint and I am in trouble! They aren't deep scratches, they haven't broken the surface of the paint and you can't feel them with your fingernail, so I am hoping that a dose of T-cut will work wonders. Do you agree?

Anyway, the reason for my cross post (I hope you don't mind) is because so much of the car is affected, I could be polishing for a long time and I wondered about buying a polisher.

Am I right to think that things such as:

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for more lightweight uses such as applying polish after giving the car a wash or would they be suitable for what I have in mind?

Do I need something more like a cross between a polisher and angle grinder like these:

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these more heavy duty? I was thinking more of the budget silverline one rather than spending so much on the branded one! But I see both have variable speed. What other uses do you find for these?

Thanks.

Reply to
Stephen
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Yup, in fact I think I would just have a go with a decent car polish first rather than using T-Cut.

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polishing out scratches a cloth and a finger tends to work better IME.

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I would stick to the manual method in this case - it might take 40 mins to do the whole car... but it will look great once done and should earn a suitable reward from SWMBO ;-)

Reply to
John Rumm

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>
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> For polishing out scratches a cloth and a finger tends to work better IME. Agreed. Those polishers that look like an angle grinder require skill to use - so easy to end up with swirl marks all over and remove the paint down to the metal on sharp corners! Avoid unless you can get some lessons....

Julian.

Reply to
Julian

Hi, i would stay away from the polishers, there to rough on the paint. A very good way would to polish them out with G3 , you can buy this polish from the internet easy or going to a paint shop. It's certainly not the cheapest but it will do an amazing job, and you can use it wet which can make it easier to come off,this is one all the pro's use.

Reply to
keith

SEconded, but if you can't wait then T-Cut metallic's much less aggressive than T-Cut. The cheap electric buffers aren't bad if you want to do the whole car, but if it's only a couple of square feet then hand's quicker, easier & less likely to trash the paint.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

I had a new car that needed some paint repairs done (it was a shitroen, don't go there...) and the body shop they sent it to took out some emery paper and gouged the surface, then hit it with wax - came up fine.

Stick with the wax, or bung your local bodyshop a few quid :-}

Reply to
Colin Wilson

If you're a body shop though you tend to have really fine grades of emery.

4000grits arguably less aggressive than T-cut.
Reply to
Duncan Wood

Agree with John 100%. Mechanical buffers are mean machines, do it by hand.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

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's the sort of thing you need. You also need mops and polishes, and the whole setup would probably cost around £50 if you were to buy them off ebay. A cheap machine would be up to the job, but you need good mops and polish. I'd pay a man TBH - I have all the gear myself and it takes skill to use.

Reply to
Doki

G3 has now been mainly replaced by G3 Advance. G3 Advance keeps cutting more aggressively if you use lots of water - to get a good finish you have to let it dry and break down into finer particles as you work, and then you'll get a good finish. Polish a car very wet and you end up covering it in swirls.

Reply to
Doki

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There's a product you can buy from auto accessory shops that claims to fill and conceal minor scratches. No provenance, just happened to notice it while I was hanging around as the guy in our local outlet fitted a new battery in my car.

Reply to
Appelation Controlee

Polish a car at all and you're short of things to do. The car isn't hurt, tell her to get over it.

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

In message , shazzbat writes

My theory exactly. I wash the car once a quarter if it needs it or not.

Unlike the OP who sounds as though he's about to be.

Ahh, the final nail.

Reply to
Clint Sharp

Thanks for all the replies. I found I had some Turtle Wax scratch and swirl remover that came free with something many years ago. I used that by hand and it has made a big difference. There are one or two marks left, so I may use T-cut on those or T-cut metallic if that's gentler.

I see your point about how an angle-grinder style of polisher could add more swirls than it removes in non-expert hands. I guess for an amateur like me, a car-specific orbital sander would be better. However I rarely find time to wash the car, so I doubt I will ever regularly polish it!

Reply to
Stephen

3M manufacture a finishing material called "Finesse-it" designed for use by machine or hand to remove haze or swirls. Or as an alternative Farecla G10 extra fine grade super finishing liquid compound suitable for 2 pack, Removes swirl marks and smears particularly on dark colours.

Stephen.

Reply to
sdhull

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