Yes...I agree with that. To own the Makita 9227C or the DeWalt 849X or the Flex PE-14 would be a dream come true for enthusiasts.....

Bro KrisMas,

Is it easy to do waxing using the Dewalt? Especially for the tight/small areas?

What finishing/wax pad would you suggest for me to use with my BD ? (its backing plate is 5")

Thanks..

thanks bro for the infos... hhhmmm guess RM350 still ok for my budget... but how effective are the powertools at dat price range and any brand/model to recommend??? my car i usually do casual soap wash every week... every 2months or so will clay and wax... polish around 6 months... is it ok????

I prefer to apply waxes and sealants by hand. But I do see the advantage of using a machine for it - less tiring. The DeWalt I mentioned earlier is a rotary buffer - one that spins, not prefered by most people for wax/sealant application. Most of the time, if we were to use a machine, it would be using something like the Bosch or B&D random orbital buffer. Tight spaces/area would be a little bit of a problem though, but for those area, just change and use hand instead.

But....errr...is your B&D a rotary (spin) or an orbital (vibrate)? Your backing plate got velcro or not?

Either way, for application of wax/sealant, the softest pad would be most suitable, either Lake Country 5.5" Black or Blue pad or Meg's W9006 6.5" Finishing Pad or the like.

Unless, of course, when you're talking about finishing/waxing you mean removing some very mild defects.....

They are effective but, as with *most* cheap machine, they're not as powerful or nice to use as compared to those from the established brands. For example, these machines would bog down (or slow down) when you apply pressure, makes louder sound, the head can get very hot, etc. But if you don't mind those and after you get used to using it, it can produce results as good as their more expensive counterparts. I had one of those when I started getting serious into detailing and I don't have a single regret of selling it and getting the Makita (though it took me a while to save up the money for it). And I also know of a few fellow enthusiasts who are satisfied with just having the cheaper rotary as they don't really clock too many hours on them.

As for the brands, there are plenty of them out there selling at any hardware shop with all sort of names. But, try to find those from well established names before you go for the 'no-name' ones. I can't remember the one that I sold off, but I know of a Boh Hai, there's also the Maktek, Skils also selling a cheap polisher....and plenty of other with weird names. You can find plenty selling in mudah.

Your routine sounds fine to me. But, for me, other than the regular weekly washes, the rest I do when the time comes or when/if required. For example claying, if the surface still feels nice and smooth, even after a few months I'd just let it be cuz there's really no point of claying if not needed. Same thing goes to waxing and polishing. After a while you'd get to know when to wax again and when to polish. I also get lazy (or busy) some time and didn't do any polishing for more than a year. But do remember, the most important thing is TO PROTECT the paintwork. Polishing is for the looks and, if you can close one eye and stand all those swirls and marring, you don't really need to polish (I had to do that very often nowadays cuz don't have much of the luxury of time with works and family commitments). But I will make sure that I keep the protection going until I can find the time to make it shine again......

Regards.
TA.

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Added on October 19, 2012, 3:12 pmOh...may I just add that detailing is more like 80% skills and 20% tools and products. You can have the best tools/machine and the best products in the world, but without practicing and learning the proper techniques, you won't be able to achieve those that you've seen here. How many times have we seen people buying an expensive product from a well known brand and then condemning it saying that it's crap, whereas others have been using the same product and have no such problem?

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Oct 19 2012, 03:13 PM

Thanks for the info bro..

Mine is the BD Dual Action KP-600, i glue strips of velcro on its original pad.

Previously, my tangan gatal aldy to get that cute Megs 220v DA... if only money would rain on me hahaha...

Errr...sorry to say....but the KP-600 is not really a 'Dual Action'....it's an orbital. Don't think it can do much correction. But, saying that, I haven't tried it with Meg's Ultimate Compound though.....I've been reading that a DA/ROB with the right pad together with todays modern-day compound can give the rotary a run for its money.....

Well....if you still got that gatal and if money do rained on you, and if you're looking for a true DA like the Megs G220, I might just be able to steer you on the right direction for something better than that at around half the price or so......hahahaha......

I would be much appreciated if you do steer me to the right direction...

Its the weekend, and this week i can wash & wax my car

hahaha....ok. You ask for it.
I only show you direction ah....you do the driving yourself.
1st: google for some info on this machine - Kestral Das6 Pro

I have done some googling bro... das6 pro does look promising...

but a few questions though, is Ultramate the same as das6 pro? (I read that Dodo buff daddy is not the pro version)



thnx

And I guess you now know that Ultramate/Das6 Pro is sold locally.....time to break that piggy bank....hehehe....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Oct 22 2012, 03:12 PM

haha... no piggy bank ... just plastic money..

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Added on October 23, 2012, 1:58 pmWent there just now... my plastic $ not laku la.. hahaha ..no machine..



This post has been edited by imanqm: Oct 23 2012, 01:58 PM

do u know which type of tool is recommend for casual maintenance???? coz some forums say rotary buffers will create swirl marks... n the best is to use random orbital buffer or dual action... the only budget i found for ROB is black & decker KP600 without variable speed.. seems sooo limited... another thing is I found Skil car polisher 9070 which is a rotary buffer but afraid it'll damage my car paint due to swirl marks... plz advise...

By 'casual maintenance' I take it that you mean doing some minor corrections once in a while and majority of the times would be doing some paint cleaning or light polishing and waxing. For that, I would really recommend a DA. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there are only 3 DAs available locally, the Megs G220, Ultramate and the Flex 3401 VRG. The Flex cost about RM2xxx, Megs retails for around RM16xx and the Ultramate RM7xx/RM8xx. Expensive? Yes, unfortunately, they are, but they are the best for what they do .

The cheaper rotary would be good too, as you can use it to remove some deeper defects as well. You'd need some practice and training when using a rotary or else, like you said, there's a small chance that you might cause more damage. But it's not as dangerous as most people say and not that difficult to learn. You just need to respect the machine and just pay attention on what you're doing. Learning to use the rotary is fun and watching the results is even more satisfying. I learned using the rotary from the many on-line videos, some guides from the detailing sifus and plenty of trial and error. So far, I can't remember damaging any paint yet. Just need patience and practice.

The B&D and Bosch are ROB or, another term would be an accentric polisher. The B&D is cheaper than the bosch which retails for around RM350. The principle on how they work is to immitate how you polish by hand. So, in a way, if you can do it by hand, then you can do it with ROBs. If you can't, then most probably the ROB also can't. But, again, I have yet to try my ROB with a few of new polishes that I just bought. These polishes is said to be able to do better correction with a DA and I'm trying to test it out and gauge how much correction it can achieve with an ROB. Still can't find the time to test them out though.......maybe others who had tried can chime in on this. Until then, I'd say that the ROB are good for applying waxes/sealants and doing some very light polishing (better terms would be paint cleaning).

I can't choose for you, all I can do is guide you and share my personal experience, observation and analysis. If you're looking to 'achieve' something with an ROB like the B&D, you might be dissapointed....I was. So I sold off mine and bought the Bosch which has a little bit more power and variable speed. I wasn't that satisfied either as, although it can correct a little bit more than the B&D, but it's still far from what a rotary can achieve. I still keep it because it's a great machine for doing some light polishing/paint cleaning and saves my arms from going limp from applying wax/sealant. A DA's performance would be something in between the ROB and a rotary. If that's what you're looking for, then a DA would be your best bet. Either that, or, if you're willing to wait a little bit more and give me some time to try my ROB with those now polishes......

How's that for an answer eh.....Hahaha....after reading back, I just realised that I didn't even answer your question....hahahah.....

some noob questions here

my car is bought on march 2009. polished+wax in 2010 and another time in may 2012

just a few months afterwards there tonnes spiderwebs probably since it was my mistake of wiping using a dirty cloth or roadsides carwash fault

1. is it ok to polish again this year? since after every polish the paint will be less. or should i just repaint, but of course factory is still the best
2. i have tonnes of stone chips and this can only fixed by a repaint. how do i protect the car again from stone chips after the repaint?

swirl marks/spiderweb example


This post has been edited by phas3r: Oct 24 2012, 01:09 AM

erm actually i kinda new here.. how differenciate between clay, polish, wax? whats the purpose for each of it? which should do first? and each redo cycle? kindly advise.. thanks a lot.. by the way, i am not planning to D.I.Y. any shop recomand in klang bandar botanik or klang bukit tinggi area? how about the shop in front ambang botanik 2? i heard they charge quite cheap and service quite good. they are newly operate shop, 3 month ++ maybe..

This post has been edited by simchengheng: Oct 24 2012, 07:19 AM

kakaka... u did actually answer my question indirectly though... haha... really appreciate ur time n effort in explaining this to me... thanks a million... hhhmmm seems I hav no choice but to get the budget rotary buffer (Skil 9070) -RM235 from Ace Hardware... juz need to really pay attention to wat i'm doing or else....... so to get this straight... I can use the Skil polisher for polishing n oso waxing rite???? juz need 2 buy the correct pads for the job... mayb will wait for ur response on the ROB as well.. since its not urgent... kakaka... so far I can't find the Bosch ROB from Ace hardware, only B&D... mind sharing where u buy it???

1. It's difficult to say, especially when you don't know what they have done on the two occasions that you 'polished' your car. They might have used a very aggressve compound (that cuts a lot) or just very mild polish. There is this electronic tool that we call a 'paint thickness gauge' that can measure the thickness of the paint. From the readings, we can 'guesstimate' how much clear coat is left and whether or not it's safe to do any more compounding or polishing. You can try finding a place that have one but, as far as I know, not many detailing centre have/using this. If you can't find any, I have one in my possesion. Maybe we can meet up or you can join us in one of the detailing TTs that we regularly have.

2. Stone chips are a PITA. Nothing much can be done. Even if it can be filled and repaired, up close, it can still be seen. But it's better than repaint. Unless there's a terrible amount of them and looks horrible, then repaint is the only way. There's only one method (that I know of) that can offer good protection from stone chips - Paint Protection Film (PPF). It's something kinda like a thick plastic wrap. And, as usual, the better ones are expensive. You're looking at the price of around RM300 or more for my Waja front bumper alone.

There's a whole book written about the questions that you asked. They're really the basics for detailing. But to put it as simple as I can:
Clay - to removed bonded contaminant on the paint/clear coat.
Polish - to remove surface defects, level the paint, so as to make it shiny and glossy.
Wax - to apply wax or sealants so as to provide a layer of protection on the paint against the elements.

The basic step would be Clay -> Polish -> Wax

The 'redo cycle' would be - whenever necessary. When you feel that the surface is coarse and gritty - clay. When you feel that the surface has gone dull and not as shiny as you like - polish. When water on the surface of the paint is not beading nice anymore (just one of the indication that the protection has/is deteriorate) - wax. Or combinations of all three, whenever necessary.

Sorry, can't recommend any shops as I haven't been 'shopping around' for a while now. I only know a couple of places in Shah Alam and a few mobile detailers.

Yup. You can also use the rotary for 'waxing'. Just that I don't think there's any advantage in that as, when waxing, what you're doing is just APPLYING wax/sealant onto the paint. No hard work required there. So, normally, for me is just by hand.

I got my Bosch from ACE Hardware also, but that was so many years ago. I think I still see them selling at most hardware stores. Remember, it's Bosch GEX 125 AE. If it doesn't have the 'AE' behind it then it's the single speed version, a tad bit cheaper.

Wait ah...wait ah...I'll try to find some time for my tests. Lots of people are waiting for it actually...hahaha....

Anyone know where to get optimum? Beside kc? Megs ULW is almost finished

All bros and sifus,,

Kindly comment my method, is it ok,, to much,, or will destroy the new car paint job

My car is 2 weeks old,, black metalic ford focus

On 2nd day owning the car
Wash using turtle shampoo
Wax using meguiars
Wax using meguiars 2nd time
Quick detailing using meguiars

During raya holiday go back to ipoh and kelantan, car very dirty,, because of semangat of new car,, this morning
Repeat above process again but add clay
Wash using turtle shampoo
Clay the car using wonder clay
Wax using meguiars
Wax using meguiars 2nd time
Quick detailing using meguiars

All above process using manual...
Is it ok to wax the car often?? Will it damage the paint
Is it ok to not polish the car first?? As i dont find any problem with the new car paint

Thanks in advance

Greetings and congrats for owning a new ride.

IMHO, waxing doesn't create any damages to the paintwork and in fact they are being categorized as LSP; Last Step Product a.k.a Protection step. Waxes does actually provide a temporary defense barrier on your paintwork surface and it'll wears off / deplete after a certain amount of period. It helps to defense your paintwork from environmental contaminants and gives a glossy or warmer look. The looks will be subjected to the properties of the wax itself and thus not every wax would provide similar looks. Lets take for example, human & clothings. We, humans wear shirts & pants in a daily basis to protect from environmental contaminants too. Otherwise, our skin will be damaged by these nasty contaminants and soon may lead to major failure. So, just imagine urself as your lovely focus and walk around without any clothings and i'm pretty sure you'll understand how it feels.....

As to your polishing question, I'd somehow agree to your POV. It is good to minimize the polishing work to a minimum level as to maintain the clear coat thickness & the quality of your paintwork. With that said, appropriate paintwork maintenance is the key to achieve minimal polishing works. Well, I have some doubts when you mentioned there's no problem to be found on the paintwork which rarely happens on mass produced modern vehicles.......plus its a black vehicle. If possible, try to gain some proper light source; sunlight, street lamp, spotlight at petrol stations, LED torch, halogen lamps n etc and let it light up on your paintwork surface as these are the best possible light sources that can easily detect paint defects; swirl marks, holograms, & fine sanding marks.

Just wondering how did you clayed your vehicle ? Dry clay, clay + quik detailer or clay + normal water ? Sometimes, improper method of claying may cause marring / fine scratches to your paintwork too.

Just my 2c.