I've been waiting forever to get my hands on the Rotex hard pad. They finally showed up in the store today so I snapped one up and took it home. I was a little surprised to note that it's still softer than the Rotex polishing pad. I've been using the polishing pad as a stand-in but the polishing pad is under size and doesn't fit either 6 or 5" sanding disks properly, nor does it have air holes so is a bit messy. I'm not sure why the hard pad would be softer than the polishing pad though, is there a good reason why the hard pad would be softer?
Rotex pads
- Thread starter GaryB
- Start date
PaulMarcel
Member
Hmm, I've never used the polishing pad, but the blue hard pads I have for the 125 and 150 are pretty firm. In the middle section, I have a difficult time making a significant push with my thumb. On the outer edges, sure, it flexes since there is no plastic backing the outer edge of the pad. Now certain areas of the pad feel softer because there are air holes underneath. Look for a tunnel to the center hole and you'll notice pressing that tunnel feels much softer. On a rotating pad, though, it makes no difference.
AlexThePalex
Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2008
- Messages
- 7,808
GaryB said:
'Hard' for the hard pad doesn't mean as hard as wood or rock. It just means that it's harder than the other pads. Even with a hard pad you'll want some flexibility in it to get the best results.
The polishing pad can be a lot harder because it is solely meant as a backing pad for polishing spunges. The polishing pad is not meant to come anyway near the surface you're working on but only as an interface between the machine and the 2 cm thick polishing spunge. The pad doesn't need flexibility because the flexibility is in the polishing spunge.
