# How to buff off an edge when using a rotary buffer



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*How to buff off an edge when using a rotary buffer *

*Correctly buffing off an edge...*







****Proactive Preface****

When I say,

*buff off an edge*

I *don't* mean _*remove the paint off the edge*_ but instead how to best hold the polisher when moving a spinning pad over an edge to reduce the risk of causing harm to the edge and to prevent the spinning pad from grabbing the edge and _*yanking*_ your grip on the rotary buffer potentially causing you, the paint or the car harm.

I know there's a lot of persnickety fellers out there that like to twist words on purpose for their own nefarious reasons so this first paragraph is to ensure anyone that can _*read and think*_ understands the context of the title. I never mind helping those that are easily and/or willfully confused.









*Now let's move on to the how-to part...*

*How to buff off and edge when using a rotary buffer*
This is kind of tricky to type about but here goes. First it's always a good best practice to not buff directly on top of an edge. This is because paint tends to be thinner on high points as it flows downward due to gravity plus there's always the possibility that some other detailer has buffed the car out before you and doesn't practice the best practice.

It's also a good best practice to hold the pad flat to the surface and not hold the pad at an angle so you're only using a portion of the pad on edge. That said, sooner or later all panels come to an end at the end of the panel is an edge. Your goal is to buff the paint up to the edge but not buff with firm pressure directly on top of the edge.

When your rotary buffer is turned on and you're looking down on the back of the buffing pad and backing plate, the pad spins in a clockwise rotation. You need to understand the relationship between the direction the buffing pad is rotating and the way you run the pad next to an edge.

You want the pad touching down in a way that the pad is rotating over and off the edge, not rotating into the edge. See the pictures below as I think they will do a better job of showing you what to do and what not to do.

*Right Technique*
In these pictures the body of the rotary buffer is held in a way so that when the pad is spinning it is buffing or rotating *OFF* the edge.



















*Wrong Technique*
In these pictures the body of the rotary buffer is held in a way so that when the pad is spinning it is buffing or rotating *INTO* the edge.



















*Make sense?*

A good way to really understand what it means to buff off an edge or to buff into an edge is to get a junker panel or a beater car that no one cares about and *PURPOSEFULLY* perform both the correct and incorrect technique.

The technique will make complete sense immediately when you try to buff into and edge.


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