More Pro Buffing Tips

If you only ever had to buff flat panels, you would have it made. However, outer panels on cars and trucks consist of many different shapes and contours. Each represents it's own little challenge and requires a little thought about the best way to buff it. But always bear in mind our rule of thumb of buffing away from bodylines and edges.

The following picture shows techniques for buffing out a fender. Here we are buffing the L. front fender.

Picture 1.
Here I have tilted the buffer to use the front of the pad to buff the top edge of the fender. I move the buffer along the top edge of the fender (blue arrow). The direction of pad travel is away from the fender edge.

Picture 2.
When I buff the lower edge of the top fender you can see how I have re-oriented the buffer so the pad travel is downward. There is a small body line just below the blue arrow which you can faintly see in the picture. So, in fact, the pad direction is away from that small body line. When buffing, you always have to pay attention to pad rotation and body lines.

Picture 3.
Here I am buffing the lower edge of the same bodyline as in picture 2. I have re-oriented the buffer so the pad rides in the groove.

Picture 4.
Where the fender and door meet creates a special problem. Unlike other panels, it's not possible to buff the fender edge separately -- at least not on this vehicle. In this case, I position the buffer on the fender just to the R. of the gap and buff up and down. The area where the pad contacts the fender is spinning in the same direction of the fender gap. Next, I would do the door side by moving about an inch R. of the gap. I would re-orient the buffer so the pad were spinning away from the door edge. Since I'm not buffing directly ON the door edge, the pad won't buff the fender edge on the other side of the gap. On tricky areas like this, it's a good idea to slow your buffer speed.

Foam Pad
Once the panel/s have been buffed with the course wool pad, wash the vehicle off, allow it to dry and let's move on to the next stage -- the Foam Pad Stage. The paint may have a decent-looking shine at this point, but we're just getting started. Your work will really gleam after this next stage!

Buffing with a foam pad is very much like buffing with a wool pad. You hold the buffer at a slight angle and always buff with the pad spinning away from bodylines and edges.

Whereas it's pretty easy to burn through the paint with a wool pad, a foam pad is much more forgiving. One would really have to be negligent to buff through paint using a foam pad.

Start out by making sure your foam pad is properly centered on your buffer's backing pad. Apply a few ribbons of "Foam Pad Compound" onto a 2'x2' area and smear it around your buffing area much like you did with the wool pad. Begin buffing at about 1800 RPM using the same left to right technique. Take your time and let the buffer do the work. You don't need much pressure. Zig-sag back and fourth rounding your corners and overlapping each pass by 50% just like buffing with a wool pad.

Foam pads are delicate and tear easily. Use care when buffing around trim, trim fasteners, holes and any sharp edges. You can turn a good foam pad into trash in a split second if you aren't careful.

You don't have to use a foam pad. There are fine wool pads that many bodymen prefer to use over a foam pad. Foam pads run cooler than wool and many bodymen feel they provide the best shine on moder urethane clearcoat finishes. Regardless of which pad you use, make sure you are using the appropriate compound for the pad type.