I was trying to find a good source for an answer for this. From what I have been reading doing swirl removal by hand is pretty much useless and I can personally attest to this. My car has a few light swirls / scratches on the hood and spoiler that I really want to get out. I have tried to do this by hand and notice almost no difference.

What would be a good place to start with a buffer? What product should I use with it and does someone have a good write-up / how to on how to do this?

 

if you look at detailing sites that carry high quality products many have how to sections. Its not really that hard, just hand waxing and hand compounding you can get a car to look pretty f in good. Or at least after some practice you can.
grab 3m compounds and glazes. I like p21s for wax because its cheap and still looks as good as a $75 wax. It goes for $35 for 6 or 8oz's.
Read read and read than practice practice practice, its going to take you a while to learn and develop a good eye. You will slowly spot more things in the paint, learn little tricks and so on.
As you get better so will your work. After learning how to do things by hand get a buffer or polisher. I would get a cheap slow polisher to learn how to use it. You wont be able to screw anything with which is important.
Next would be to get a real bodyshop buffer like a dewalt 849 which goes for 250 +pads. If you get one be careful you will be able to do real damage to thep paint. Especially around the corners and edges, know that rpms and heat are going what makes a real buffer so dangerous and so capable of repairing blemishes.
It can make a old car look great in the right hands, i would go to a bodyshop and ask for a piece of scrap. A hood, door rocker panel, whatever get something to practice on. Than get a second piece thats more challenging, something with bodylines and curves.
lastly get something black scuff the snot out of it and see if you can fix it. Black is the absolute worst followed by white.
The sun is the ultimate light to look at cars finish with. next would be halogens. So whenever your done with a car pull it outside, many times you ll find new problems. good luck

 

Thanks! Looking to get started with this sometime in the spring so we shall see how it all turns out. I have an extra hood for my 69 camaro that I will probably test out my skills on since I can't seem to get rid of the thing! Thanks again.

 

Never use regular towels again, no matter how soft you think they are. Microfiber only.

 

No worries about the towels, I have a stack of microfiber ones. Scratches were there when I bought the car.

 

Buffing by hand will do just about absolutely nothing...buy a porter cable orbital buffer, some nice pads, and try it out on a fender or the hood. The orbital does not burn the paint, if you buy a high speed buffer it will if you use it incorrectly. My brother and I use menzerna products..they are expensive but great to use.

 

Thanks for the suggestions that keep coming! For a cheap buffer to start on would something like this work?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...5X-_-100044715
or this?
http://cvfsupplyco-store.stores.yaho...ranorwaxp.html

I am not looking to spend a big amount to just learn on.

Thanks everyone again!

 

Shelling the money out for the porter cable..around 130-140 bucks to start out with is really nice. It is easy to use, well balanced, but the two pictured probably will do a good job too. The only problem is that you have to use buffer bonnets on those, and with the porter cable you buy pads that vary in "roughness" so when you work your way up there are different pads for heavy polishing all the way up to the finish coat. Dont be disappointed when you buff your car with a cheaper polisher...