polishing pads. LC Hybrid vs CCS HI gloss

[keval]

Just a Quick Question. What are the differences between the CCS high gloss Lake Country and the Standard Hybrid? I see CD has The yellow, White,orange And black in CCS and Orange, White, and Black in the hybrids. Does the CCS Pads give you more work time and reducing the number of pad changes?

[lawrence]

The hybrids were engineered specifically for use with the Flex 3401 (forced rotation) and are a flat pad design. They can though be used on a non-forced rotation machine, with great success.

The constant pressure pads were designed for non-forced rotation machines (think Shield DA) and have a dimpled design. They also feature another layer between the foam and Velcro which is designed to counter off axis movements inherent in those starting off detailing - i.e. they don't always keep the pad flat in relation to the panel.

One of the main driving factors behind choosing a flat/dimpled type pad, IME, is the polish being used. If you don't know already you get 2 main types of polishes (there are more but to keep it simple for now, just work on the main 2) - the polish will either be:

DAT - Diminishing Abrasive Technology
SMAT - Super Micro Abrasive Technology

SMAT is mostly the Meguiars stuff like 105/205 (and others) and used a lot of very fine abrasives that DO NOT break down during the buffing cycle.... i.e. they cut as much on the first pass as the last.

Conversely DAT polishes (Menzerna for example) start off big and progressively get smaller the longer you work them.

Now..... look what can happen if you use a non-flat designed pad with a DAT polish.... let's say you are on your last pass and suddenly some fresh polish that was trapped inside one of the dimples releases and is now on the working face of the pad. This will mean you have introduced abrasives that are larger and have not been broken down and these may actually rob you of gloss unless you break them down again. Its why I always choose a flat pad with DAT products - to ensure the abrasives are broken down uniformly during the buffing cycle.

If however you were using a SMAT polish, releasing fresh product to the face of the pad won't effect the cut/finish of the polish in anyway, so if I were to use a dimpled at all, it would be with SMAT products....

Having said all of that, in the bigger picture of things, it is the abrasive technology itself that will have the biggest influence over the finish you get - the pad plays a much less significant role.

In terms of the colors of the various pads, there are no standards in the industry so trying to compare brand x's orange pad with brand y's is a pointless exercise.... rather take note of the various levels of aggressiveness you get within each range of pads, and select based on your needs - for the most part this will be something like:
- a soft finishing pad for the application of very fine polishes
- a polishing pad for the application of fine to medium polishes
- a foam cutting pad for the application of medium polished to compounds
- a wool/mf type pad for heavy cutting compounds

Hope this helps

[keval]

Always a pleasure reading your response Lawrence! Thanks for that insight.