[62131]

I just purchased a Porter Cable 7424xp used it on my wife's car first,  didn't want to hurt the paint on my 38. This thing is great you don't have to worry about burning the paint does a great job.

[EDNY]

Been using a Harbor Freight (Chicago) polisher/sander varible speed dedicated for polishing only.

I'm no expert but I also use 3M rubbing compound 05973 with 3M foam pad 05731 to cut then
3M glaze 051131 with 3M pad 05735 to polish.

[chopper526]

I have a H.F. variable sitting in the box. Been wanting to try it out, I may follow your lead with the 3M products on my Mustang, Ed.

[TFoch]

My Dad has a Craftsman model but I'm always worried I'll burn through the paint.  I usually end up doing it by hand.

[EDNY]

My Dad has a Craftsman model but I'm always worried I'll burn through the paint.  I usually end up doing it by hand.

That's what old cars (and visiting relatives cars) are for - "practice"

[themoose]

I've been following this thread for a couple of days to I though I'd chime in. I have always use a variable speed rotary buffer  with my current  one being a variable speed Black & Decker heavy duty. I grew up using wool pads and got used to them and was able to get what I thought was a nice finish. When the foam pads came out I started to play around with them and found that that I could get a better final finish with less swirling but I still prefer the wool pads for cutting fresh paint and once you get used to them you can get a virtually swirl free finish. I use 3M compound in varying grades depending whether I want to cut a lot of material or doing the final buff.  One of the best final finish materials that I have found is a product called Diamond Crystal that I used to get from the guy who sold my supplies for our body shop. You can't buy it locally but I found a place on line that will sell 1 qt containers of it here(Diamond Crystal) It can be used with a wheel or applied by hand. I found some interesting reading material on the Pros and Cons of wool vs foam pads so you can bet a better idea what works best for whatever your trying to do. To add to the mix Porter Cable offers a line of smaller pads that can cut like crazy but I stay away from them because they can cut through an edge in the blink of an eye.

Hope this will help somebody

Moose


Foam Pad Type Pros & Cons:
Foam pads absorb polishes quickly reducing polish and pad performance; because most of the polish is trapped below the working surface of the pad. Priming a foam pad with distilled water saves on product use by reducing polish absorbs ion and also avoids ‘dry’ polishing. Another reason for priming a foam pad for use with a rotary polisher is that it makes for a smoother polishing movement without causing the pad to ‘hop’ over the surface. Like foam a wool pads abrasive ability is closely tied to its composition i.e. ‘soft’ wool has less cut

How fast - the general rule is; the bigger the pad the faster the cut, the coarser the compound, the faster the cut, the more aggressive the pad, the faster the cut. Wool cuts faster than lambs wool, foamed wool is next and then foam. You pay the price for polishing too fast with swirl marks caused by the compound and pad combination.

Wool:
Pro- faster cutting generates less heat and therefore leaves the surface cooler (use on aerodynamic parts, spoilers etc and plastic bumpers)
Wool, dissipates heat through the fibres
Removes heavy oxidation much more efficiently than a form pad
Make certain to spur the wool fibres when it loads up with product.

Con- can leave micro marring (buffer trails)
Use more polish than foam pads
Don’t overwork the polish as wool will break diminishing abrasives faster than foam, the surface lubricants will dry up faster and you could end up dry buffing unless you’re careful.

Foam:
Pro - gentle (non-aggressive) light to moderate cutting

Con - heat paint quickly by transmitting the heat back to the surface, but leaves the paint surface with a smooth finish ready for application of last step product (LSP) Wool is also much safer to use on heat sensitive parts of your car. Aerodynamic spoilers and bumpers can be buffed with wool with a higher margin of safety than foam.

General note-
a) Cut with wool pads; finish with foam pads, foam produces the most surface friction heat

b) Limit speed on wool pads to 1500RPM

b) Compared to foam; wool pads have a larger available cutting surface area per square inch, which is due to the structure of the individual wool fibres compared to that of foam, allowing faster cutting action with less friction heat, utilizing less downward pressure

c) With a PC, a smaller pad (less surface area) will generate more ‘spot’ heat and is more aggressive, with a rotary, a larger pad's edges are moving much faster, so it has more cut (a PC at speed # 6 will transfer heat (up to 130 0 F) to the backing plate and may delaminate the Velcro™)

[TFoch]

Moose,
Glad you put some thought into it. 
Tom

[chopper526]

Thanks, Moose. I'll have to read that a couple more times to get it to sink in. In the past I had always had wool pads, a bottle of compound and just let 'er rip!!!