Its high time I get my Flex off the shelf again.
Dan, what speed you normally compound at? You use 105 a lot, right? That Hyper Polish is good stuff
I learned at an early age when the paint was basically acrylic lacquers and enamels, and the speeds then were high to work the old-school products quickly, so the Painter could get to the next job..
Over the decades, I have had the absolute best success with slower speeds, letting the newer technology compounds and foam pad products work longer and finish down most of the time, good enough to go to LSP..
The speeds that work best for my current set up - Makita 9227C, Lake Country yellow 5" backing plate, 5.5" Lake Country Hydro-Tech Cyan Foam pads, and the compound of my choice starts at
lowest start up of 600 rpm to get everything acquainted and spread out so there is no Sling, and runs up to 1000 rpm sometimes a little higher if I want to speed up the process, but always making sure that I keep just enough moisture on the pad so that everything (compound and paintwork), gets a thorough workout, using sometimes a lot of downward pressure (because the paint is very hard, or very scratched, etc.,), sometimes less downward pressure - but there is always downward pressure on the paint...
My demands of myself are to get the product worked correctly for that paintwork that day, get absolutely no Sling or Dusting, and most importantly, get as much clarity and gloss as can be had for the time paid for by the Client...
And yes, I always, just give it a little more extra, because I love what Im doing, I love to see all vehicles look their best, and yes, it all has to Match, panel to panel..
I have used a lot of Meguiars 105 since it was first invented, then Meguiars 101, sneaked in to the USA from Belgium, before it was officially sold here, ( I know, the things we do..), Meguiars 205, and all of the Menzerna Line of Compounds and Polishes, since I did several hundred German cars of all makes for awhile when I lived in WA...
Meguiars 105 was an interesting product back then as it was kind of thick and would work for a few minutes and then dry up suddenly, and turn into a big mess, slinging sometimes product and for sure a lot of dust everywhere..
I experimented with it and found it just needed a little more moisture to keep it working longer and then it would easily correct and finish down incredibly well with no issues once it got past that first dry-out hiccup...
I got into the Optimum line when they first came on board and tried their Compound and it was ok, but I really liked their Hyper Polish once I got it out of that dang spray bottle messy-ness..
Just remember that Optimum compounds and polishes keep working and dont break down, but worked correctly, they will consistently give me great results..
I usually pick up Menzerna for most things to get a really good correction quickly..
Have also used a lot of Sonax Perfect Finish - an incredibly talented compound that initially, got a lot of positive press, and then a huge blow up because it was discovered that it contained fillers and a lot of people stuck their nose up in the air and said "never in my shop, etc.," and thats fine; to each their own...
I liked that it really worked easily and even though it had fillers, it really worked well on a lot of vehicles in my Shop that NEVER came back full of defects that were hidden by the fillers, so that is my experience with that product line..
As with everything you do, if you really want to be as accurate as possible, a good IPA wipedown after a compound or polish should be able to help you see what is really on the panel - just be sure you dont scratch it, applying and removing the IPA or CarPro Eraser, etc., product, ok ?
Good Luck !
Dan F
