# DA questions from a newbie



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Hi all

Right I fancy buying a DA but have no clue about them at all. I do intend to read up starting now but thought I would ask some probably stupid questions as I do so :lol:

Can these DA's be used frequently or are they for occasional use?

I see people talking about cutting pads, which I get is what you use when you want to take out imperfections but what pads do you use when you just want to give the car a polish or a wax?

I wash my car frequently (prob to much) and don't mind doing hand polish/waxes but over the last week my car has been bombarded by bird shit, even earlier washed car went in house for 5 mins, came out found it's been used for target practise. Cleaned it off straight away and hand polished the area but has left the marks on the clear coat which is really pissing me off. Guessing a DA will sort this out?

Can I damage my clear coat with a DA or are they generally fool proof?

At the moment I just watched a you tube video and the guy was recommending a das 6 pro from clean your car, are the machines all similar or am I better getting the megs one?

The machine will be used on a phantom black mk2 and a moro blue mk1 anyone got any polish/wax recommendations? the video I watched earlier the guy was recommending scholl s20 black 1 stage polish, he was saying this is used for taking out imperfections as well as polishing the car.

How long does it take generally to polish a car? the guy was saying takes a full day to machine polish. At the moment I can wash, couple coats of polish and 1 wax by hand within a few hours. Maybe I am not taking long enough :lol:

Link to the video, not that I want anyone to waste 24 mins of their life watching it  





Cheers all, away to start reading up!


----------



## arpuc (Jun 14, 2014)

This guy gives really good advice, he quite entertaining too

https://www.youtube.com/user/Junkman2000


----------



## s_robinson91 (Jun 9, 2012)

Junkman helped me a lot when I first started. I also purchased a used boot lid to have a practice on aswell.


----------



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Thanks for the link, just watched the 5 part introduction to machine polishing :lol: have a better understanding of it now. Found a link on detailing world where you get the das 6 pro for £100 which seems pretty reasonable.

Was it worth getting the spare boot lid to practise on? I had planned to practise on my mums mk1 or my brothers old work car.

Only concern I have is my garage space is quite limited so will have to be done outside, also seem really quite noisy in the video's so sure the neighbours will love me. They already think I'm insane out washing the car continually.


----------



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Sam your car looks class, did you correct the paint or did you go to the polishing stage? what colour pad are you using? I intended to order orange and the white but reading up people are saying audi paint is really hard.

Wonder if most people just use their da for polishing/waxing rather than correcting. My mk2 the paintwork really isn't to bad, I assume its had a professional detail in the past. The mk1 though does need correction.


----------



## s_robinson91 (Jun 9, 2012)

bhoy78 said:


> Sam your car looks class, did you correct the paint or did you go to the polishing stage? what colour pad are you using? I intended to order orange and the white but reading up people are saying audi paint is really hard.
> 
> Wonder if most people just use their da for polishing/waxing rather than correcting. My mk2 the paintwork really isn't to bad, I assume its had a professional detail in the past. The mk1 though does need correction.


Cheers mate.  I did paint correction first, using the Megs 105 and 205 suggested by junkman. I probably didnt go deep enough but i was still a bit nervous as i have a rotary polisher as apposed to a DA. In terms of pad i started off with orange on 105 and used white on the 205. You are right when you say audi paint work is very hard but i had a merc SLK before the TT and it seemed harder on that.

I found practicing on a boot lid very handy and i think this weekend now im done with it im going to go a bit too far with it to see how easy/ hard it is to burn the paint. that price of the DAS 6 sounds good, do you have a link?


----------



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

So that finish in your picture is with the megs 205? amazing finish, love the TT in silver but never seen one with that level of shine.

Here's the link, pretty sure it's still valid you need to put your detailing world username in when you order it. To save you reading through all the pages in that thread as far as I know the discount is only applied when ordering the das6 pro with the free bag. If you want to buy pads or anything else then order them separately.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/s ... p?t=207877

I need to find some decent clay, have used it in the past but I never lubricated as much as junkman did in his videos. Not sure yet if the brand he uses is available in the uk. I have a g3 clay mitt just now but don't think it would work as well.


----------



## s_robinson91 (Jun 9, 2012)

Yup. Just polish and wax.

I use Bilt Hamber clay bar and really recommend it, good product and cheap. And AG detailing spray to lubricate.


----------



## Will225 (Apr 15, 2016)

I have used flex polishers for years and would recommend paying a little more to start as they will last way longer and never let you down.


----------



## manikm (Feb 17, 2014)

I bought the pro plus recently and used it. What results! !!

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


----------



## rusTTy_racer (Sep 7, 2015)

So after a few enjoyable hours watching Junkman2000 I got myself a DAS pro 6 polisher and have been busy detailing...

So, stupid question number 1 - Do I have to wax with a product once I have polished with M105 and M205?
and number 2 - can I use my DAS to polish the glass with something? 

Great DIY results with this and very pleased


----------



## s_robinson91 (Jun 9, 2012)

rusTTy_racer said:


> So after a few enjoyable hours watching Junkman2000 I got myself a DAS pro 6 polisher and have been busy detailing...
> 
> So, stupid question number 1 - Do I have to wax with a product once I have polished with M105 and M205?
> and number 2 - can I use my DAS to polish the glass with something?
> ...


We need to see some results 8)

Yes wax now to protect and seal your renewed paint work.

As for glass, firstly I don't know why you would want to? Secondly I think the DA will get too close to window apatures and damage them and thirdly I may be wrong but I don't think there is a way of removing scratches from glass, at least not with machine polishing?


----------



## s_robinson91 (Jun 9, 2012)

bhoy78 said:


> Was it worth getting the spare boot lid to practise on? I had planned to practise on my mums mk1 or my brothers old work car.


I had a go at scratch repair on my practice boot lid yesterday, went at it big time with a wire brush...


Then flatted back with a bit of 1000 grit wet and dry...


Then machine polished with megs 105 and 205...


The large scratch at the top is down to metal and was there when I got it so no point trying to do anything with that.

This is why I have the boot lid so I can really arse about and not have any worries. I also wacked a load of 105 on with no lube, no movement of the polisher ( mines a rotary not da) and just left it in one place at top speed for about 20 seconds. Didn't seem to do any damage but it got extremely hot and I think I chickened out just before it started 'burning' the paint work.


----------



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

That's amazing results! next time can you jump all over the boot lid like junkman does :lol: kidding. I haven't ordered mine yet, my car is in getting some stone chips painted and won't be getting it back till next week.

I would guess that you would really be able to fix your own stone chips with a polisher. Just build the paint up, leave it a little proud then sand it down and polish like you did on the boot lid.

Do you polish your car outside? I was speaking to a guy in my street who used to do some valeting. He told me the one thing never to do is machine polish a car in direct sunlight. When I spoke to him it was about 6pm, sun wasn't very high and he even said not to do it outside in even limited sunlight. I guess the reason being the panels could be warm and then your heating the paint up with a machine. I don't know if I believe the sun could make that much difference and he did say he used a rotary over a DA.

That's the main reason I haven't ordered it yet as I figure best to do the polishing in my garage which is currently full of all sorts of rubbish. Need to get that cleaned out and then contend with the limited garage space, doing the boot/roof/bonnet will be ok but will be a struggle when doing the sides.


----------



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

rusTTy_racer said:


> So after a few enjoyable hours watching Junkman2000 I got myself a DAS pro 6 polisher and have been busy detailing...
> 
> So, stupid question number 1 - Do I have to wax with a product once I have polished with M105 and M205?
> and number 2 - can I use my DAS to polish the glass with something?
> ...


If you have some scratches on glass you can allegedly remove them with jewellers rouge, you can buy it on ebay. Tbh I had some scratches on the glass of a previous car. I bought the rouge and gave it a go by hand. The results weren't great, it did remove some light scratches but not to a level I was happy with. I think the previous lady owner had cleaned the windscreen with a cloth and forgot to remove her rings! anyway it may work better with a da and some sort of light cutting pad. I have read some posts on detailing world where people use their da's on glass but not sure if it was for scratch removal or just for upkeep. Also think they were using a 3" backing plate.


----------



## rusTTy_racer (Sep 7, 2015)

s_robinson91 said:


> rusTTy_racer said:
> 
> 
> > So after a few enjoyable hours watching Junkman2000 I got myself a DAS pro 6 polisher and have been busy detailing...
> ...


Thanks for reply, so what brand/product do you recommend after using the M205 and I guess you apply it with the polisher and not by hand?

Pics to follow


----------



## s_robinson91 (Jun 9, 2012)

I use bilt hammer double speed wax and I apply it by hand.


----------

