# Drc Polishing pad review



## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

*DRC Pad review*

Drc have recently become a sponsor on the forum and I have been fortunate enough to acquire a set of their pads for appraisal. The range consists of 4 pads.

Yellow - Heavy cut

White - Medium cut

Green - Light cut

Black - Finishing.



















All the pads in the range are open celled. So have a very distinctive to in themselves, unlike closed cell pads. The only difference though out the range is the PPI (Pores Per Inch). Which changed the density and feel of the pads. But where these pads differ from anything else on the market is the distinctive hole and tapering centre piece.










Close up of the pads surface and cell make up.









































































These pads have been well thought out and a few nice featured built into them. The pad in itself is 150 mm across the diameter and approximately 40 mm thick. Much like the old workhorse megs pads. Before the new soft buff 2 pads came on the market. So straight off the older members will feel at home with these pads typically. But the main difference is the hole with its tapered edge.

This feature has added bonuses as due to the nature of rotary polishing. Went polish is applied and worked centrifugal force come into play. Correction on the rotary is all about working the abrasive and working them well. Most of the correction or refining is done on the outer edges of any pad, as this is where the greatest speed and forces are exerted. On a 6 inch pad the outer edge of the pad travels at approx > 38 FPS @1500rpm. (Feet Per Second) So a continual flow of polish and lubricates across the surface of the pad to the outer edge will be beneficial. The centre portion of any conventional pad does not have these forces to drive the polish across the surface. You will probably notice after repeated set on the rotary. You have a moist area and polish build up directly in the centre of your pad. Which relies on the user to clean off. This area is a build up of un broken down abrasive and can cause micro marring to the finish. The force at the centre are almost none existent and cannot drive the polish across the surface. So you now see the advantage of the hole. It also acts as a cooling zone to save hot spots within the pad. Which was also common with the thicker pads. This normally cause delimitation of the glue which held the velco to the pad, and is some instances cause the polish trapped within the inner core of the pad to boil. Damaging the internal foam structure of the pads and causing premature internal collapsing.

I applied some polish just off centre to hopefully demonstrate the way the polish moved across the surface of the pads.










Moving on to a few other advantages of the pad design. The backing plate is designed to fit internally within the pad, aiding self centring.



















The pads all come clearly marked on the Velcro with a handy cut scale.










But the shape of the pad also gives greater safety.










This tapered design aid polishing deeper internal contours and the pad moulds itself into these areas without fear of the backing plate coming in contact with the paint. Even on the compounding pad which are normally unforgiving in these areas. Also when polishing down to a protruding edge or protruding side skirts. The leading narrow leading edge of the pad aid vision and cuts down on the size of any hot spots that may build up if the user comes in contact with the edge. I would still recommend taping up these areas as part of the course though.

One other thing I have notice it that there is a slight difference between the yellow pad and the black pad. Now I do not know if this is down to design of just a side effect in manufacturing. But the yellow pads has a slight internal couture, where the Black pad is external. Possibly Simon can clarify this.



















As already mentioned the backing plate fits snugly within the pad it. It also means that you have to also purchase the backing plate design for these pads as conventional backing plate will not fit the same.



















Ok lets get down to action. For the purpose of this review. I damaged up a test panel in the unit.










I decided to prime the pad with #105. Due to the depth of the pads choose the Kevin Brown method on this instance.



















Carried out 1 polishing set on the test panel, showing the pad afterwards.










And correction achieved. The cross mark it my mark to monitor paint removal rates.










Moving the tape over a tad more to the left. I them tried out wolf WP-6S. Wolf review will follow in due course. But served as a different type of compound on these pads. Panel before.










Again applied just off centre.



















Panel after with no refining a this point. Yellow pad only.










Word of warning here and Yes I am human. So user error sometimes creeps in :lol: Watch the volume of polish you apply to these pads. It caught me out due to old habits and forgetting the amount of polish that the centre traps. The evidence.










Green pad this time with PO85 3.02 on a black BMW..



















Not quite enough cut this time.



















Moved on up to the White pad with same polish. Different set area. Before.



















After White pad.



















And last but not least the Black finish pad with Wolf WP-1N on the previously wolf polish set.




























Generally I was quite impressed with the DRC pads and where they have advantages.

As in

1. There mould nicely to internal contours.

2. Cut down on possible micro marring due to the lack of a centre.

3. Keep heat build up down on the panel as well as internally within the foam.

4. Volume of polish is considerably reduced.

5. Nice size and shape.

6. Good selection of cut without over complicating issues.

7. Easy to read cut scale on each pad.

8. Self centring built in.

Possible down sides and time will tell on this front.

1. Due to the backing plate being so far from the edge of the pad. There could in the fullness of time. Be an issue with the backing plate cutting through the foam if continually using on internal contours, or heavy compounding with pressure.

2. Not being able to use your existing backing plate. Due to size issues.

Since carrying out this review I am have now managed to get a hold of the new larger DRC 1000 pad with backing plate and also a DA polisher backing plate. I will update this post once the testing has been carried out.





































Hope this is beneficial to a few members and look forward to the follow up tests. I also wish to thank Simon from DRC 1000 (Wax attack on the forum)for giving me the benefit to test out his pads.

Regards Gordon.​


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Very nice review....

I was gonna order some of these during my trip to NYC. Forgot the guys name I was emailing for months prior to my trip


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## AcN (Nov 3, 2010)

Great review here ! 

I'm quite tempted to get them, would save a lot of polish by the same way  Need to wait for the payday though...


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## simonjj (Sep 25, 2010)

Great review Gordon, ALL feedback is welcome and the guys at DRC1000 in the US and myself really appreciate the time taken. 
I will check on the pad shape and come back to you.
Simon


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Yup, good review. Having had a short go of these myself while visiting, I also enjoyed the use of the pads and found them to be effective. The range of cuts seems well divided in the range, and the pads mould very nicely as you say. Good products.

I can see the backing plate raising a few eyebrows... with the fashion recently being to have heavily padded backing plates such as 3M (I remember when the GlossIt ones were being pushed hard by some folks on here for example), the thinner stiffer plate goes against the grain for many - but this is something I personally am a great fan of. I like the stiff and thinner backing plates and these should not put people off as the thickness of the pads more than compensate if you are looking for the cushioning that thicker plates offer... 

Nice review, Gordon


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## rgDetail (Jul 16, 2009)

Very interesting read - will have to try some of these soon, not having to spend time cleaning away un-worked polish from the centre of the pad sounds very nice indeed!


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Wax Attack said:


> Great review Gordon, ALL feedback is welcome and the guys at DRC1000 in the US and myself really appreciate the time taken.
> I will check on the pad shape and come back to you.
> Simon


Thanks you for the oppertunety to test these pads out Simon. Much appreciated and a welcome addition to any ones arsenal. Now looking forward to getting them on the DA and trying out the larger pads.
Gordon.


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## Faysal (Oct 23, 2010)

Wish they would do a 4 inch or smaller version


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## Kokopelli (Sep 18, 2009)

I know a long time thread resurrection but I really need to learn more about DRC1000 pads. I see these are open cell foam pads and should work stronger with the polishes, am I right? So, the colors may be confusing, at which level in cut and finish do you think these colors fit, lets say compared to LC CCS and Hexlogic pads from CG?

Are they soft in touch and use? I've always found CG Hexlogic pads had softer touches than expected from their cuts.


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