F150online Forums - Polishing out 5000 grit sanding marks and DA comparison

Today I was finally able to try out my Rupes Polisher. First impressions are that it's pretty darn good and I'm very happy with the purchase.

Today's goal was to try and do as direct comparison as possible against my current tried and true PC. I went for the Rupes to reduce time spent correcting paint and the reviews on it's quieter/smoother operation were also a selling point.

As a result of the clay vs 5000 grit comparison, I had some of my tailgate wet-sanded. I figured what the heck, this is the perfect opportunity to wet-sand the whole tail gate and then do a comparative polish with my two DA's.

In an attempt to keep as many variables the same as possible, I used the same pads and products with both DA's. I used 5 1/4" Optimum Micro Cut, "Leveling" pads with M105. They were both brand new pads to keep things as pure as possible. I tried to determine two things, one was quality of end result and the other was time to achieve the end result.

The DA's
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psa5a1ouw8.jpg

5" Backing Plates
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psjrklwofh.jpg

Here is what I was starting out with, before the wet-sanding
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psrxims7sq.jpg

After wet-sanding
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psmlo44flz.jpg

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psnprv9qo2.jpg

Products used for the comparison
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psovy3yihk.jpg

50/50 Rupes results after one hit (approx. 3 passes on speed 4)
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psdryc6jnr.jpg

One more hit at speed 5 and very little pressure
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psrumjj2zk.jpg

50/50 Rupes on the left and PC on the right (more time spent with the PC)
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps20ho8lof.jpg

33/33/33 Rupes/Sanded/PC
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...pscacgy1xc.jpg

First thing I noticed is that the Rupes is way easier to hold. Even though it's longer, it's the same weight, has a better handle and a better hand hold at the business end. It's also considerably smoother and quieter than the PC, which I am sure would make a fatigue difference and the end of a full detail. I was very impressed with the smoother operation.

The combo of MF Pad and M105 is a pretty aggressive combo, but finished down incredibly well, I would call it LSP ready for the average Joe. The Rupes did actually finished down slightly better than the PC and in less time/passes. I was really impressed how well it finished down, really. In the small comparison, I wold say there was an easy 30-40% less time spent with the Rupes to achieve a slightly better result in this case. One other thing of note is that there was a noticeable difference in the pad heat after a pass. the pad on the Rupes was considerable cooler. I let both machines cool right down and then timed each at 45 seconds. I wish I had my temp gun to provide actual temps.

The trigger delay took a bit to get used to, not my favorite feature. I did run the Rupes with the KB "washer mod", I may try it without but didn't have any issues with stalling the pad today. I could force the pad to stall, but I had to really dig an edge in. I can't see why anyone would do this under normal circumstances.

Once the comparison was complete, I hit up the rest of the tailgate with the Rupes and same pad/product combo. I was really surprised that there was no dusting, maybe due to the low pad temps. :dunno:

I then swapped to the 6" backing plate and a green 6" Superbuff pad. Using this with M205, I hit the whole tailgate. There was no noticeable difference in smoothness or noise running the 6" backing plate and pad. It did finish down even better, a little more "depth" to the paint.

6" backing plate and 6" pad
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psjzgewglb.jpg

End result
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psme9l4kgt.jpg

When it was all done, I did a IPA wipe down and hit the tailgate with Opti Coat 2.0.

I am really happy with this Rupes, it's a great, smooth machine.