Centering Megs Pads

[SteveOst]

I just bought the Makita 9227C and a W8000 pad. This will be my first time with a rotary. Scary, huh? My question is I've noticed the Lake Country pads have a centering hole to use the centering sleeve with, but the Meg's pad has no hole for centering. How do you folks center the pad? Is the backing plate that came with the 9227 an ok plate or should I opt for a more flexible one?

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

Meguiar's backing plate W-64 or W-65 has a raised center knob that lines up with the marking hole on the back of a Meguiar's pad. All one has to do is line up the pad to the plate's knob, and the pad is centered.

Rotary Buffer Backing Plates




The Makita plate and centering tool is more for use with wool pads though some foam pads also have a large center hole. Most wool pads have a large center hole where the alignmnet tool goes through. But using the Makita plate with other brands of pads will require one to spend time trying to find the correct alignment. If the pad is not centered, things from buffer hop to even holograms can occur do to the excessive pressure required to keep the out of balance pad on the paint's surface.

Tim

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Centering Megs Pads

Originally posted by SteveOst
How do you folks center the pad?

Note: Meguiar's backing plate has a nubbin in the center of it. The purpose of this round nubbin is to help you align the foam pad correctly. The way you do this is to fold the foam pad in half, somewhat like a taco. then while holding the foam pad in one hand, draw it closer to the backing plate, guiding and aligning the hole in the Velcro backing on the foam pad to line up with the nubbin.

If you are using a non-Meguiar's backing plate, then you will have to eye up the backing plate to the white Velcro material on the back of our foam pads as best as you can. With practice, it's not to hard.

Best of luck...

[SteveOst]

Thanks guys. I didn't see the knob on the Meg's backing plate nor the lack of a hole in the pad. Looks like I'll be spending some more money.

[Buellwinkle]

Centering is one thing that's beyond my ability, like not being to play the violin. That's why I get pads that are permantly glued to the backing plate. Maybe it's not as cost effective but I always fear that not only can the pad not be centered but an older pad/backing plate with a weaker velcro grip may fly off. I know many people play the violin and center their pads, just not me.

[SteveOst]

Well, after getting one of Meg's backing plates and tryin to put the pad on it I can see why have that feeling. They're not exactly user-friendly or state of the art. I think I might well prefer the ones with the hole in them where you insert the sleeve, install the pad and remove the sleeve. I think I will like the flat pad surface though which is not available with the pads with the hole in them.

I'll have a better idea after I use the rotary a time or two.

[KLnyc]

these pads are Velcro no?