[togwt]

Originally Posted by Al-53

Beside the PPI there is also the make up of the foam it self....one type is a ureathane foam..I forgot what the other foam is but one is softer than the other and even though the PPI is the same they cut different to to one being soft and one being rigid...and the open cell structure on the softer ones tend to collapse into themselve and causing a lesser cut...

it is like on the CCS pads..one is a Euro foam and one a OEM foam....one is softer than the other and they work different also....

Al

As far as I'm aware CCS - OEM foam relates to thickness of the pad not density-

OEM-style 7/8-inch foam pads - due to the reduced foam thickness tilting a 7/8 inch pad will change the polishing pressure on the surface. These foam pads are flat cut on the top edge, as opposed to a standard 1.25-inch, which have a rounded outer edge for easy transitions over seams and edges and the backing material is cut back 3/8 of an inch around the perimeter of the pad to ensure a safety margin. On the 7/8-ich foam pads the backing material extends to the edge of the pad where it could scratch the paint when working in close corners or around mirrors and wings.

OEM-Style pads are designed for high volume pad users where cost is a significant factor

[togwt]

Originally Posted by Dust2Glory

man... is there anything you don't know???

The meaning of life- but I know for certain money can't buy love/happiness.

My happiness / meaning to life - find something you love to do and do it to the best of your ability, and help others along the way.

I do what I love doing (I've had fifty years practice, so I'm getting better, OH! And I hope I help sometimes by sharing my knowledge / experience

[Nica]

Originally Posted by togwt

The meaning of life- but I know for certain money can't buy love/happiness.

My happiness / meaning to life - find something you love to do and do it to the best of your ability, and help others along the way.

I do what I love doing (I've had fifty years practice, so I'm getting better, OH! And I hope I help sometimes by sharing my knowledge / experience

I agree with that statement

[Al-53]

Originally Posted by togwt

As far as I'm aware CCS - OEM foam relates to thickness of the pad not density-

OEM-style 7/8-inch foam pads - due to the reduced foam thickness tilting a 7/8 inch pad will change the polishing pressure on the surface. These foam pads are flat cut on the top edge, as opposed to a standard 1.25-inch, which have a rounded outer edge for easy transitions over seams and edges and the backing material is cut back 3/8 of an inch around the perimeter of the pad to ensure a safety margin. On the 7/8-ich foam pads the backing material extends to the edge of the pad where it could scratch the paint when working in close corners or around mirrors and wings.

OEM-Style pads are designed for high volume pad users where cost is a significant factor

well I have and also others have and posted on other forums that the OEM foam is softer than the one branded the German foam (green)...and you can feel a difference...also the others colors.....say you get a CCS pad from AG and one from Proper auto..well they are 2 different foams...its been posted many times on the textures and differences....there must be 4-6 threads on Autopia alone....I have pads labeled OEM and are 7/8th's and velcro to the edge..just like these ones....

5-1/4 inch, CCS, OEM Spot Repair Pads

OEM-Style, CCS Technology, 6.5 inch Foam Pads

pads are made from prepolymer foam

polyester foam

polyurethane foam..like these...german foam...... Tough reticulated German foam – Not all foam is made equal. This imported German polyurethane foam holds up better to the rigors of polishing and swirl removal than typical domestic foam compositions. The dense, open cell foam resists tearing and minimizes the transfer of heat from the polisher to the paint.


AL

	AG AutoGlym

[togwt]

"polyurethane foam..like these...german foam...... Tough reticulated German foam – Not all foam is made equal. This imported German polyurethane foam holds up better to the rigors of polishing and swirl removal than typical domestic foam compositions. The dense, open cell foam resists tearing and minimizes the transfer of heat from the polisher to the paint."

I take your point on differing criteria i.e. 'compression' of foam, and etc.

As far as the above statement, it marketing 'science' ( i.e. the most inexact 'science' of all)

"...minimizes the transfer of heat from the polisher to the paint."

How, heat is a byproduct of friction, without friction diminishing abrasives cannot breakdown. If the friction heat is not transfered to the paint surface where is it dissipated, through the open cells of the foam, only to be stopped by the backing plate?

[togwt]

"I thought there were a lot more factors", Sneek

To expand my original post

Types of foam, compression, tensile strength, density, are some of the factors that affect a foams abrasive (cutting) ability. These factors all affect the flexibility of the foam under pressure and torque;

1.Types of foam - reticulated foam is less dense than polymerized foam; due to this density the polish provides the abrasive ability as opposed to the foams composition.
2.Compression / Rebound - a foam pads should be compressed to no more than approx 50% of its thickness
3.Tensile strength – the strength of a material refers to the material's ability to resist an applied force
4.Density - provides a protective cushion allowing foam compression to maintain constant surface pressure and it also lessens machine vibration. It also affects the amount of polish the pad will hold; foams that hold a high volume of product allows the polish to do the cutting, as opposed to the abrasiveness of the foam.


If anybody has further information or corrections to the above, please advise / post , I’m always anxious to improve my knowledge

[Dave KG]

FWIW - this is from experience of various foams and different polishes in practice without considering the numbers/materials behind the foams...

Regarding levels of cut variation from using different foams, I do personally find that the increasing the "cut" of a foam pad only increases the over all cut by a notable amount with certain polishes on certain paints... Take the Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish. Use this on a Meguiars yellow foam polishing pad and on many paints you get a good level of cut... Up the foam pad to say a Meguiars burgandy cutting pad and I find no discenable difference in the level of cut on quite a few paints, while on softer paints there is simply an increase in pad induced marring. Stepping up the foam with certain ranges of polishes is not personally an option I would advocate - but this is just my personal feelings, and possible technique related to the way I work polishes...

Importantly, other polishes do show a difference - MarkV Mystique for example. Use this on a cutting foam, and you get more cut than using this on a polishing foam.

What I believe will be important is the way the pad controls the abrasives. This will not only be pad dependent (size of the pores for example) but also dependent on the size and types of the abrasives in the polish - there's a lot of factors at play, rather than simply the pad itself.

[Bunky]

Originally Posted by togwt

I'm sure there are but I'm just trying to arrive at a way to compare foam pads.If anyone has a better idea I'm wiling to listen (LC are not forthcoming, they only say we don't rate are foam that way, we use colours. But nearly all mfgs have a different colour grading system----

Eric Dunn, LC rep, said something about the profile once compressed against the paint (related to porosity and foam type) determines cut which is more what AL-53 was stating. If all other things are equal (foam type, cell type, compression, pressure, etc) porosity may be a good way.