Had to choose between a fresh quart of paint or a new buffer pad this morning

I picked the paint because the scratch was on a customer's 2017 silver Civic and that buffer pad has been through worse, but now I'm buffing with a cracked pad that keeps flinging lint everywhere - has anyone else had to make a stupid choice like that and regret it halfway through the job?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookebailey15d ago

lol "that buffer pad has been through worse" - I feel that on a spiritual level. But here's something nobody's bringing up: that cracked pad is probably chewing up your clear coat way worse than the scratch was. Those little lint pieces are basically micro-sandpaper getting trapped between the pad and paint. You're probably making more work for yourself than if you just waited an hour for the paint to cure and bought the pad on your lunch break. I've been there though, the grind makes you make dumb choices. Just don't be surprised if that civic comes back with buffer trails next month.

linda62614d ago

The other thing nobody is thinking about is how that cracked pad throws off your pad rotation schedule. I run a tight rotation where I track how many cars each pad does, and a cracked one throws the whole system off because now you're guessing at the wear rate. You end up overworking another pad to compensate or rushing through finish passes. Plus when that pad finally grenades on a panel, you're stopping mid-cut to clean up the mess. I'd rather eat the cost of a new pad than explain to a customer why there's buffer holograms because I was trying to stretch a pad an extra job.