Polishing with a rotary buffer

[Echo]

I had never used a rotary (corded electric Harbor Freight 6" orange pad with MaGurire's Polish), but after watching a few videos on YouTube, took the plunge.  I did the whole plane in 3 hours.  The difference is amazing (effort required and results) compared to traditional waxing with paste polish.  I did this dry.  I would do about an 18" square section at a time.  I would put five pea size dots of product directly on pad and tap area I was going to work.  I would do five passes with the wheel only on poser setting 2.  I have a debugging surface prep product that I would spray and wipe with a micro cloth to remove any remaining polish.  I didn't want a LOT of cutting of paint, but the wheel and clother did have some blue from the buffing.  The shine was great.  I attached a couple of photos.  VERY pleased that I tried the technique.  I had ZERO issues with any "removal of paint from rivets or swirling".  The waffle pads work excellent.  I used same pad for entire plane.  I only did top and side surfaces.  NO BELLY  .  I will do this a couple times a year going forward.

[Echo]

Wheel/Buffer Photo

[M20F]

Don’t use an orange pad  it’s too aggressive.

 

[Fly Boomer]

  On 4/4/2025 at 12:08 AM, M20F said:

Don’t use an orange pad  it’s too aggressive.

 

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Megs "polish" is pretty tame.  The pad may not make much difference.

[Echo]

  On 4/4/2025 at 12:08 AM, M20F said:

Don’t use an orange pad  it’s too aggressive.

 

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Not trying to be disrespectful, but you're wrong.  The orange pad is what was recommended and it worked very very well.

[M20F]

  On 4/4/2025 at 3:00 AM, Echo said:

Not trying to be disrespectful, but you're wrong.  The orange pad is what was recommended and it worked very very well.

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I don’t take it as disrespectful, I linked a source and you are using a very aggressive pad and removing paint.  You do that a couple of times a year you won’t have paint left.  

Cutting which is what you did isn’t polishing. 
 
It is your airplane you do you, the fact you got paint on the pad indicates your clear coat is already gone if you have two stage. 

[Echo]

  On 4/4/2025 at 1:59 PM, M20F said:

I don’t take it as disrespectful, I linked a source and you are using a very aggressive pad and removing paint.  You do that a couple of times a year you won’t have paint left.  

Cutting which is what you did isn’t polishing. 
 
It is your airplane you do you, the fact you got paint on the pad indicates your clear coat is already gone if you have two stage. 

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Noted.  Paint had imperfections.  I wated to cut a bit.  I will use a less aggressive pad and true polish going forward.

[A64Pilot]

I’ve been using a good Makita soft start 7” I think buffer for years, bought it for a boat in 2013, since then I’ve used it on several cars and aircraft.

My advice is buy a good buffer first as it’s likely you will use it like I do, that is often, buy a quality tool once, and start with something less expensive than your airplane like a boat or old car. Gel coated boat is good to learn on as Gel coat is thick and tougher than paint, harder to screw up.

Buy good polish, I like 3M machine glaze, it’s meant to remove the swirls left by machine polishing so it’s very gentle polish. Do not use any polish that has silicone in it, most do and it’s often not on the label, but pretty much any polish that claims to “rejuvenate” paint likely has silicone, silicone does look pretty, brings out the shine, but does not last and keeps waxes and I’m sure polymers like ceramic coat from adhering to the paint correctly, because after polishing ideally you want to wax it, my go to used to be Carnauba, but lately I’ve been using Rejex and am happy with it. I think polishes that say they are paint shop safe or similar are saying they don’t contain silicone, but am not sure on that.

I use a grey waffle pad, but also will on occasion use wool pads, they are aggressive, and there are also very soft pads that will really put a nice shine on wax just as a final shine after you have removed the wax. I have polish compounds but rarely use them I’m a little afraid of them to be honest as I have damaged my old Miata’s paint. (it’s been repainted since)

Be very careful with higher speeds you can put down an amazing amount of heat in a very short time and actually burn the paint.

[bonal]

Looks real nice, but more importantly did you do a three course speed check before so you ca quantify any speed gains.  If so please file a full report. 

[M20F]

  On 4/4/2025 at 6:41 PM, A64Pilot said:

I use a grey waffle pad

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Appreciate a link to the grey waffle pad you use, thanks. 

[Schllc]

Plane perfect is an excellent cheap ceramic that is dummy proof, easy to apply and lasts between 6 months to a year depending in your usage. 
it is wipe on and wipe off. No elbow  grease and it’s under $50. 
One bottle will do a plane and a car. 
You definitely want to put something on the paint after cutting.  
if you don’t put something on top it will dull and chalk very quickly. 

 

https://planeperfect.us

[Echo]

You had me at "dummy proof".  Ordered.

[cliffy]

I bought an el cheapo oscillating car buffer from the jungle store with 3 foam pads, used Mothers Car Wax each year now  

for 4 years (once a year) an things look very good BUT I am in a hangar not in the sun 24/7

The el cheapo I got seems to do a good job   in about 3 hrs also. 

Just a notation point that;s all.

[bigmo]

When you have a fresh cup of coffee (or a beer I guess), this is a great watch. Spoiler alert - there's not a direct correlation between cost and quality for ceramics. There are some VERY affordable options that hold up really well.

https://youtu.be/s7PO_zGlaa4?si=9xtR8w0Kpb-HZGuV

 

[Fly Boomer]

PAINT Lake Country Pad EFFECTIVITY Chart.pdfFetching info...