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:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/87877/...-Polisher-230V
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd2670/p52526

are 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:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd3104/p53523
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd2670/p37104

Are 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.

Stephen wrote:

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?

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

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:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/87877/...-Polisher-230V
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd2670/p52526

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

are 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:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd3104/p53523
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd2670/p37104

Are 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?

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 ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
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\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...
Stephen wrote:

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?

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

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:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/87877/...-Polisher-230V
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd2670/p52526

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.

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.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:15:16 -0000, keith wrote:

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.



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.

The problem is, I seem to have slightly scratched the paint
Yup, in fact I think I would just have a go with a decent car polish
first rather than using T-Cut.

I had a new car that needed some paint repairs done (it was a
****roen, 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 :-}

On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:07:42 -0000, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

The problem is, I seem to have slightly scratched the paint
Yup, in fact I think I would just have a go with a decent car polish
first rather than using T-Cut.

I had a new car that needed some paint repairs done (it was a
****roen, 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 :-}


If you're a body shop though you tend to have really fine grades of emery.
4000grits arguably less aggressive than T-cut.

John Rumm wrote:
Stephen wrote:

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?

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

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

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 ;-)

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


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"Stephen" wrote in message
...

Do I need something more like a cross between a polisher and angle
grinder like these:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd3104/p53523
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Powe.../sd2670/p37104

That'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.

"keith" wrote in message
...
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.

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.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:23:48 +0000, Stephen wrote:

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?
-------------------8

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.

"Doki" wrote in message
...

"keith" wrote in message
...
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.

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.

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

In message , shazzbat
writes
Polish a car at all and you're short of things to do.
My theory exactly. I wash the car once a quarter if it needs it or not.
The car isn't hurt,
Unlike the OP who sounds as though he's about to be.
tell her to get over it.
Ahh, the final nail.

Steve




--
Clint Sharp

On Sun, 8 Feb 2009 20:36:39 -0000, "Julian" wrote:

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....


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!

In message
Stephen wrote:

On Sun, 8 Feb 2009 20:36:39 -0000, "Julian" wrote:

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....


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!


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.


--
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk
Coach painting tips and techniques + Land Rover colour codes
Using a British RISC Operating System 100% immune to any Windows virus
"Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble". Henry Royce