# T-Cut. Is It Really That Bad??



## Dave KG

... No. Well, thats my conclusion from this testing anyway. 

On with the show...

Kicked off on one of my favourite test panels, this dark red metallic bonnet. Not sure what car its from but its a nice colour. Popped some swirls in with some wire wool...










Being a metallic paint colour, I decided to go for the T-Cut Metallic:










Now this is fairly runny stuff so care had to be taken with the bottle to ensure it doesn't go spilling all over the paint. I started out by using a soft Meguiars foam applicator...










The polish was worked as I would work any other more popular polish - medium to firm pressure and work for a good couple of minutes per section. Alas, the results were, at this stage, not too impressive with a lot of the marring still left in the paint:










So - not aggressive enough (contrary to popular belief of T-Cut!)... So, lets up the ante a little and get one of the old super coarse Sonus German pads:










This was then worked in as before, firm pressure and straight lines to maintain the pressure and worked for a good three or four minutes to try and get the best from the abrasives.










The results...










The defects removed, but the aggression of the pad and polish combo here as marred the paint itself and this is the complaint often levelled at T-Cut. But we certainly cannot deny its ability to remove the defects here!

So, back out with the soft Meguiars pads and worked as above to try and remove the marring by hand and we get the following resutls:










Better. But still not great, I'm sure you'll agree. It would seem that depsite working for a long time, I was having trouble breaking the abrasives down suitably to generate a decent finish.

So... out with the rotary polisher, and a LakeCountry white polishing pad. This time, I went for the T-Cut Wax, a two in one polish and wax product which if we were to line it up alongside products more familiar to the land of detailing, its lining up against the likes of Dodo Need For Speed, Meguiars #66. Two well recommended products, but you know, the humble T-Cut has something to offer.

Worked on the rotary polisher, at speeds of up to 1800rpm, it stayed nice and wet and had a pleasent working time and nice smooth motion of the rotary - not dry and nasty, but very nice to work with in the same way Meguiars #80 is! Worked using the Zenith point technique, the results were actually really rather good:



















The finish perhaps lacks the sheer clarity of the likes of Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish, but its still a very nice looking finish here and if I had removed the names from the bottle, I'm sure many would agree that the results here are worthy of note!!

Some more swirls for fun:










And forgetting working by hand, straight in with the rotary and T-Cut Metallic. Worked using the Zenith point technique, it was nice and wet and had a good working time and was pleasant to use - yes, T-Cut was nice to use. The results it achieved were also certainly nothing to be sniffed at:




























Perhaps lacking the sheer clarity of Menz Final Finish here, but lets not forget this is a taboo product generating these finishes and they are really rather good, especially given the harsh cut of the product - this removed a notable amount of paint here (circa 10um of paint) and highlights its capabilities as a product capable of serious correction yet also finishing down very well...

For comparison, the above finish was then finished using Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish on a Meguiars finishing pad, one of the best finsihing combos out there... the results:



















Definitely a small improvement made to the overall gloss and clarity here, but this is what you would expect for following any aggressive cutting polish.

So - in summary, is T-Cut really as bad as we say?? Well, when working by hand it can certainly be argues so as it is very difficult to break down the abrasives suitably and while it can certainly correct, arguably better than just about any other hand polish, it cannot finish down very well. However, it would make a great option by hand for severe defect removal so long as you were willing to follow with a lighter finishing polish such as ScratchX.

On machine though and we see that T-Cut is well up there in terms of performance, lining up favourably against cutting polishes for correction ability and its finishing ability. It can cut as well as #83, worked long enough it will approach #84 yet retain #83's ability to finish down to an LSP ready finish. It really isn't as bad as its reputation suggests when you really work the product on a machine polisher.

Food for thought


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## nsanity

Bloody eck, its not too bad is it....

Halfords trip tomorrow haha


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## S-X-I

Interesting results there, just goes to show when worked correctly it can get some good results.

Did you take any PTG readings? Any more paint removal then normal?


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## Dave KG

S-X-I said:


> Interesting results there, just goes to show when worked correctly it can get some good results.
> 
> Did you take any PTG readings? Any more paint removal then normal?


By rotary, a good 10um of paint - so quite a lot really, lining up above #83 and IP for removal rates on that paint.


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## Neil_S

When I was at Epoch's I thought the T Cut compared favourably to a heavy hitting Meguiars compound :thumb:


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## Vail3r

Very interesting


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## PJS

Dave KG said:


> By rotary, a good 10um of paint - so quite a lot really, lining up above #83 and IP for removal rates on that paint.


That's bang on, if not a bit above, Powergloss territory.
So fine for machine use if big lumps of paint/clear need losing quickly, but fair/mediocre by hand then?


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## parish

Dave, thanks very much for doing this. As I strongly suspected - and have said many times before - T-Cut isn't the spawn of the devil that a lot of the BS spouted about it on here would have people believe.

The only way you are going to do serious damage to your paint with it is if you use it as a regular polish every Sunday afternoon because that is not what it is, it's a correction product.

It would be interesting to see the same test conducted with T-Cut Original on old single-stage paint - a nice matt pink MkI Escort perhaps.

One thing, the marring after use by hand, are you certain that's what it is? In my experience T-Cut is very difficult to remove completely, it seems to leave a film behind - an IPA wipe-down would seem to be needed.


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## Dave KG

PJS said:


> That's bang on, if not a bit above, Powergloss territory.
> So fine for machine use if big lumps of paint/clear need losing quickly, but fair/mediocre by hand then?


I think that it should be best viewed by hand as an aggressive cutting polish, a bit like you would view Fast Cut by machine - put it on the right pad, it'll cut like mad but it wont finish down, so you'll need something lighter to finish it with by hand. By machine, it just so happens if can be finished down.


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## pampos

interesting..
have you ever tried this one??









it is a colorized T-CUT i guess for single stage paints with fillers...
Is that correct if you know??


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## Vail3r

I'm going to be polishing a 1996 Red corsa in about a weeks time. I don't want to spend too much money because it's just to help with the sale of it for a friend. 

Would some T-cut on a megs polishing pad be enough? Will save me some money  Might be an interesting test to do too.


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## Dave KG

parish said:


> Dave, thanks very much for doing this. As I strongly suspected - and have said many times before - T-Cut isn't the spawn of the devil that a lot of the BS spouted about it on here would have people believe.
> 
> The only way you are going to do serious damage to your paint with it is if you use it as a regular polish every Sunday afternoon because that is not what it is, it's a correction product.
> 
> It would be interesting to see the same test conducted with T-Cut Original on old single-stage paint - a nice matt pink MkI Escort perhaps.
> 
> One thing, the marring after use by hand, are you certain that's what it is? In my experience T-Cut is very difficult to remove completely, it seems to leave a film behind - an IPA wipe-down would seem to be needed.


Yeah, it was definitely surface scratches - Menz Top Inspection didn't shift them and it shifts every other residue I have come across...

Its interesting to see just how good a bad-named product can be though 



pampos said:


> interesting..
> have you ever tried this one??
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> it is a colorized T-CUT i guess for single stage paints with fillers...
> Is that correct if you know??


I've used that before - its packed with fillers it seems and tried to dye the paint the colour of the bottle to restore it... which is a bit strange considering most cars these days are topped with a clearcoat so you are essentially dying clear paint!


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## Deano

another good test dave with surprising results. t-cut is showing to be not too bad in the correct hands, however i think its the detailers knowledge getting the best out of it. your average joe halfords will just smear it all over the car not knowing anything about diminishing abrasives or working times, and will use an old t shirt. maybe thats why it has the stigma it has?


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## Deano

just hope mr.halford doesnt see this thread, it'll be 20 quid a bottle tomorrow!


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## pampos

Dave KG said:


> I've used that before - its packed with fillers it seems and tried to dye the paint the colour of the bottle to restore it... which is a bit strange considering most cars these days are topped with a clearcoat so you are essentially dying clear paint!


What about for some old cars with single stage paint...Do you think it will be OK??
I guess it has to topped with a sealant to seal the fillers??
I will buy a white one for my very old white Mitsubishi single stage painted(test car,but hard paint to see any good results) to test it and i need some opinion before doing that...


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## Dave KG

Vail3r said:


> I'm going to be polishing a 1996 Red corsa in about a weeks time. I don't want to spend too much money because it's just to help with the sale of it for a friend.
> 
> Would some T-cut on a megs polishing pad be enough? Will save me some money  Might be an interesting test to do too.


Soft Vauxhall paint, by hand T-Cut may well leave its own marring as it did in this test and require to be followed with something a little lighter like ScratchX to refine the finish... On a machine, it would finish down but by which time it will have certainly chewed a lot of paint away which may not be necessary - its an aggressive cutting polish, but does have its place. 



panama said:


> another good test dave with surprising results. t-cut is showing to be not too bad in the correct hands, however i think its the detailers knowledge getting the best out of it. your average joe halfords will just smear it all over the car not knowing anything about diminishing abrasives or working times, and will use an old t shirt. maybe thats why it has the stigma it has?


Yes, it does need to be correctly worked and as with most products that get a bad name, it is user error that is giving it said name... Its not the best finishing in the world when it is thoroughly worked, though its certainly not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but if just slapped on with an old shirt, then its going to be marring city!


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## parish

Dave KG said:


> Yeah, it was definitely surface scratches - Menz Top Inspection didn't shift them and it shifts every other residue I have come across...


Ah, OK, you didn't mention that in the article.



Dave KG said:


> Its interesting to see just how good a bad-named product can be though


Yep, and also dispelling the urban myth surrounding it.



Dave KG said:


> tried to dye the paint the colour of the bottle to restore it... which is a bit strange considering most cars these days are topped with a clearcoat so you are essentially dying clear paint!


Not really, if you've got a scratch that hasn't gone through the clear but is deep enough to appear white/grey then colouring it will hide it (to a certain extent).

When I sold my old dark metallic blue Rover 214 I "detailed" it (  ) using T-Cut Metallic, and Color Magic. The result was relatively swirl-free. It looked excellent - best it had ever looked whilst I owned it, and the buyer thought it looked the doggies too. Caveat, this was before I discovered DW (well, the Megs UK forum actually).


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## Dave KG

pampos said:


> What about for some old cars with single stage paint...Do you think it will be OK??
> I guess it has to topped with a sealant to seal the fillers??
> I will buy a white one for my very old white Mitsubishi single stage painted(test car,but hard paint to see any good results) to test it and i need some opinion before doing that...


For a car with single stage paint it makes a lot more sense... there are better products for dealing with fading though, a standard abrasive will sort it as all you need to do is remove the dead paint on the surface to get the colour back. But for a single stage paint, this makes more sense than for clearcoat but this effect will likely fade quickly so will need protection to try and maintain it.


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## Dave KG

parish said:


> Ah, OK, you didn't mention that in the article.
> 
> Not really, if you've got a scratch that hasn't gone through the clear but is deep enough to appear white/grey then colouring it will hide it (to a certain extent).
> 
> When I sold my old dark metallic blue Rover 214 I "detailed" it (  ) using T-Cut Metallic, and Color Magic. The result was relatively swirl-free. It looked excellent - best it had ever looked whilst I owned it, and the buyer thought it looked the doggies too. Caveat, this was before I discovered DW (well, the Megs UK forum actually).


Yes, I should mention these things, but before every photograph I either wipe with IPA or I use something like Menz Top Inspection to get a true representation of the finish.


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## Auto Finesse

good little review that, IIRR the "metalic" one i for clear coat finishes and the orig is for old school solids thats why its so hard to break down as it needs the bite to cut on high solids


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## Bigpikle

nice one Dave - good review...

time to try out AG Paint Renovator for us as well :thumb:


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## stargazer

Good write up there Dave. Humble T-Cut fights back!

I'll stand up and be counted and will admit to having a bottle in my Emergency cupboard  

Lets see how many of us secretly take a trip down to Halfords in the morning....:lol:


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## swiftshine

Another great test from Dave answering the questions people want answers to:thumb: Thanks.

But......



I've a sneaking suspicion that Dave is one of those people who could probably get ANYTHING to work:lol:

Next up, raspberry jam!


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## R31Heaven

Thes pics are of my car done with T-Cut and the Mothers Sealant & Mother Carnabu Wax. you can get a good shine out of it but requires a bit of work and as said before how you work it.


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## stargazer

swiftshine said:


> Another great test from Dave answering the questions people want answers to:thumb: Thanks.
> 
> But......
> 
> *I've a sneaking suspicion that Dave is one of those people who could probably get ANYTHING to work:lol:*
> 
> Next up, raspberry jam!


Yes I'll agree with that


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## stargazer

R31Heaven said:


> Thes pics are of my car done with T-Cut and the Mothers Sealant & Mother Carnabu Wax. you can get a good shine out of it but requires a bit of work and as said before how you work it.


Nice work! :thumb:


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## MR_Tom

Brilliant Write up!! 

Before discovering megs products and falling into the life on the DW forum, i'd been using T-cut, just cause my dad use to use it as a boy and his dad did too etc etc.

its an old skool product for sure, but its always a good finish up on my car, like dave said tho, its a correctional compound not a polish as such!

Definately appear to work a lil better of different paints tho... works a treat on white cars!! my white escort cosworth always looked very crisp and clean after using that! :thumb:

Shame it has such a Bad rep, like suggested tho..its the Jog Blogg's swear it all over the whole car with a T-shirt attitutde thats caused it.

Detailing is an Art, you wanna do something rushed and half heartedily, with half hearted technique then expecting the same from the results the product gives you!

Oh and i reckon strawberry jam would work!! lol - all them very fine lil black pips cutting their way into the paint! lol. Marring would be out of this world tho!! lol. :thumb:


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## Paul-T

Interesting as ever Dave. I do however believe the original T-Cut is significantly more abrasive than the later 'metallic' versions.


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## *MAGIC*

Shine On said:


> Interesting as ever Dave. I do however believe the original T-Cut is significantly more abrasive than the later 'metallic' versions.


Hell yeah like liquid sandpaper :lol:


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## rubbishboy

But what were the cans of paint for Dave?

Now if I remember correctly, the metallic is not as harsh as the classic red bottle stuff. And also one of the reasons they made the metallic version was because the red bottle one contained ammonia and it was staining the clear coats of the time (I was told that by a Car-Plan rep!). Thats going back a few years mind (early to mid 90's perhaps) and they may well have changed the recipes since then.


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## Guest

Shine On said:


> Interesting as ever Dave. I do however believe the original T-Cut is significantly more abrasive than the later 'metallic' versions.


It most definately is. I found this out the hard way some years ago on my MkII 16V Golf. Using just T-Cut and a J-Cloth (I did say it was a long time ago ) I got down to primer very quickly indeed.


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## adamf

So are we wasting our money on IP,FF,#83,#80 etc

lol

Good write up as usual Dave!


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## R31Heaven

adamf said:


> So are we wasting our money on IP,FF,#83,#80 etc
> 
> lol
> 
> Good write up as usual Dave!


Nope! I have changed I now use Menz IP FF because its ease of use time putting on, workability and ease of taking off, and the results are just that bit better. I am always after perfection.


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## Dave KG

Bigpikle said:


> nice one Dave - good review...
> 
> time to try out AG Paint Renovator for us as well :thumb:


Saving that for the meet on the 19th July :thumb:



stargazer said:


> Good write up there Dave. Humble T-Cut fights back!
> 
> I'll stand up and be counted and will admit to having a bottle in my Emergency cupboard
> 
> *Lets see how many of us secretly take a trip down to Halfords in the morning....:lol:*


Halfords you can buy online if you dont want to be seen in public with T-Cut! :lol::lol:



rubbishboy said:


> But what were the cans of paint for Dave?
> 
> Now if I remember correctly, the metallic is not as harsh as the classic red bottle stuff. And also one of the reasons they made the metallic version was because the red bottle one contained ammonia and it was staining the clear coats of the time (I was told that by a Car-Plan rep!). Thats going back a few years mind (early to mid 90's perhaps) and they may well have changed the recipes since then.


The paint - ah, yes, that will be for part of the agean blue 307 door which I've sanded back to the metal cause I fancied a colour change and having a go at spray painting with rattle cans for a laugh - don't expect good resuts from that!! :lol::lol::lol:

Yes, the amonia in the old T-Cut original was staining the clearcoats at the time and this is why the metallic version was brought out.. I'd love to test the original version but have no solid colour test panels alas.



adamf said:


> So are we wasting our money on IP,FF,#83,#80 etc
> 
> lol
> 
> Good write up as usual Dave!


No, of course not 

We still cannot get past the fact that T-Cut is an old school abrasive, which takes some practice to get the working for the abrasive right and even at that it wont finish down as well as a dedicated finishing polish. It also has quite a wicked cut, so is a product I would only suggest sees use when it is really needed, and when the marring is bad otherwise the lighter cutting polishes such as Final Finish, #80, Intensive Polish, #83 etc are all better suited.

The point of the test was just to try and dispel the myth that T-Cut is a spawn of satan... it does infact, IMHO, have its place as a product so long as its considered as a heavy cutting compound along the lines of Power Gloss, but it is much easier to work than Power Gloss owing to it being far better lubed and wetter in its polishing action. It will need followed for the best results, but this is common with all aggressive compounds. T-Cut just happens to work very nicely, cut well, and finish amongst the best in its cutting class... T-Cut amongst the best in its class... Never thought I'd say that, but there we go...


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## rolled1

Vail3r said:


> I'm going to be polishing a 1996 Red corsa in about a weeks time. I don't want to spend too much money because it's just to help with the sale of it for a friend.
> 
> Would some T-cut on a megs polishing pad be enough? Will save me some money  Might be an interesting test to do too.


I just done my brothers red single stage 1996 106,used SSR 2.5 all round cos of bad scratches but the rear panels were pink,really badly oxidised...the SSR 2.5 done nothin? but used AG SRP by hand and brought it up like new!!


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## Dave KG

rolled1 said:


> I just done my brothers red single stage 1996 106,used SSR 2.5 all round cos of bad scratches but the rear panels were pink,really badly oxidised...the SSR 2.5 done nothin? but used AG SRP by hand and brought it up like new!!


This is likely because SSR2.5 is an abrasive polish ideally meant for machine use, and it is a polish only in that it is abrasive... needs to be very thoroughly worked and by hand you'd struggle to break the abrasives down effectively to get a result. By hand, you'd esaily be looking at 1' square section at a time, and working for a good five mins per section with firm pressure.

SRP on the other hand has more user friendly abrasives and cleaner in it that can get more results by hand with more ease... additionally it is also very filler heavy which means that you get more swirl correction with less effort as it is filling the marks in rather than physically removing them.


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## Brazo

Jesus is this a DW U turn? Well call me Gordon Brown


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## Dave KG

Brazo said:


> Jesus is this a DW U turn? Well call me Gordon Brown


:lol: Well, I dont see many people rushing out to buy it...

But its nice to see that even one of the "bad products" really isn't that bad at all... in fact, its a mighty fine cutting compound with good working time and decent finishing... I bought it for a joke, and now look!! :lol::lol:

Perhaps with detailing, its more a case of "Its not what you use, its how you use it...." ??


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## parish

Brazo said:


> Jesus is this a DW U turn? Well call me Gordon Brown


Hi Gordon :wave:


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## Chris_4536

Just noticed this thread!

Cheers for posting Dave :thumb:


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## adamf

SSR3 reminds me alot of t-cut.


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## vibra

Hi, Excellent Thread.

Does this mean t-cut has diminishing abrasives in it ?


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## Needs a clean

I have always had a bottle of T-Cut in my collection, and actually used it on my back bumper last month. I have never regarded it as a "bad product" but more of a trick up my sleeve. There was too much hype about it being crap, thats why everyone jumped on the "i hate T-Cut" bandwagon. Its always been a decent product in the right hands.


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## rtjc

Yup, if used correctly its a good ol' product. No reason to hate it really, its just that most people seem to use it and do nothing afterwards, polish, wax etc


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## FrazzleTC

I used some T-cut (not mine) today on a friend's rather faded red car, then followed with a couple of layers of SRP and a coat of EGP, I thought that it came up very well indeed. Mind you, using T-cut is quite hard work.


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## vibra

t-cut Metallic, could it be worked using orbital buffer ?


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## Dave KG

vibra said:


> t-cut Metallic, could it be worked using orbital buffer ?


Yes, beware of micromarring from it (as you would have to be from any cutting compound), follow it with a finishing polish...

But it can be used by hand, orbital or rotary


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## vibra

Dave KG

Thxs.


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## Guest

Thank you Dave, for taking the time to test, do photos etc. Very informative.


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## vibra

*Worth Watching*

I think this video is worth watching

Mythbusting T-cutting on the Metabo


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## Charley Farley

Interesting. I have found a use that I won't replace it for with any product. removing light moisture surface pitting from high grade chrome plating. Using it by hand and applying by cloth it brings chrome back to original glory so long as the suface plate has not been peirced. Tried Salvol (hate the stuff, although good for alloy metals with no plating) Peaks, CR etc. Silvo is good as it happens as well, Mrs tried it on some chrome and I was amazed. I'll stick with TC though.


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