Pictures from October 5, 2013 Advanced Class

[Michael Stoops]

The Santa Ana Winds kicked up for this Advanced Class so it was really hot and really, really dry during the session. No matter, we still did what we came to do!

As always, following the classroom portion we head to the garage and start with the demos. These are the tools we'll be putting to use (except for the stainless steel water bottle - that belongs to one of our students).
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First up is DA damp sanding. We'll use both 1500 grit and 3000 grit finishing discs for this segment.
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DA work, whether polishing paint with foam pads or damp sanding with abrasive discs, is all about controlled, methodical movements over the paint.
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Damp sanding demands that you work clean, so spraying off the slurry from the face of the abrasive media on a regular basis is critical.
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We also discussed proper hand sanding techniques.
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Once the sanding was done it's time to start making the paint shine again. First up, M105 on a wool pad, but that has to be clean before we can start, so we put the spur to it.
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Picking up a bead of M105 to start the compounding process.
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Bead picked up, compounding under way.
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A little demonstration showing how quickly heat can escalate when rotary buffing. The wool pad will cut faster, but it won't generate heat as quickly as foam cutting pad.
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This heat escalation can happen very suddenly, and spike to a very high level. We hit this temp of 152.4F in a matter of a few seconds, and it only takes a couple seconds more to spike this even higher. Dangerously high if you're not paying attention.
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2178/2013_10_05_Advanced_191.jpg

Finishing polishing with M205 on a foam finishing pad. A light touch is all that's needed here, so don't fight the buffer!
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Yep, this is what black paint should look like.
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Time to let the students cut loose. And cut loose they did!
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Ganging up on the demo panels!
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Oops, a bit of burn through. Hey, better to do it in the training garage than on your car. Or on a customer's car!
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2178/2013_10_05_Advanced_285.jpg

Pigtails from DA sanding and not keeping the sanding disc as clean as it should be.
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Making paint shine!
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Working the edge with a wool pad. It's important to tip the pad a bit so that it rotates off the edge, rather than riding up on the edge.
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2178/2013_10_05_Advanced_301.jpg

This is after DA sanding with 1500 grit, refining the sanding marks with 3000 grit, and then rotary compounding with M105 and a wool pad. A bit of a hologram and some wool pad marks. The sanding marks are all gone, which is the goal with this step so it's time to move on to the finishing polish step.
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2178/2013_10_05_Advanced_302.jpg

And that's just what's happening here - M205 on a W8207 pad at 1000 rpm in order to remove the light marring from the previous step.
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2178/2013_10_05_Advanced_304.jpg

Here's the same spot following the finish polish. Easy as that.
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This is what happens when a student pays attention: 1500 grit DA damp sanding, 3000 grit DA damp sanding, M105/wool pad rotary compounding, M205 foam pad finishing. Not too shabby for someone who had never done any of these process before in his life!
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2178/2013_10_05_Advanced_309.jpg

[Selectchoice]

Looks like everyone learnt a lot from the class as usual!

[rancheroman]

Many thanks to Mike for taking time out from his thirteenth wedding anniversary to teach the class. It's really neat to learn from somebody who has such a passion for his job. There is no better way to learn than hands on experience and we got plenty. I encourage anyone who hasn't to take the classes it's a great experience. Thanks also to Christopher Brown for his help. Roger

[juliom2]

Top, Top notch hands on!!!! Practice makes crystal clear perfect.