Chop Top - Fast Cut Compound

THE HIGHEST CUT IN THE LINE, AND IT STILL FINISHES.

Chop Top removes up to 1500-grit sand scratches and severe defects on the hardest clear coats. That part isn't unusual for a heavy compound. What is unusual is where it leaves the panel: close to ready for protection, rather than hazed over and needing two more steps to recover.

That's the diminishing abrasive doing it. The particles break down as you work the section, so the compound starts aggressive and refines itself on the way through. You get the cut at the beginning of the pass and the finish at the end of it. Most compounds this aggressive make you pay for the cut afterwards. This one gives a lot of that time back.

Zero fillers. Nothing in here masks a defect you didn't actually remove, so what you see when you wipe is what you corrected. It's also VOC compliant and body-shop safe.

On a professional job your time is the expensive part. Chop Top is built to take hours off heavy correction, which is the whole reason to reach for something this aggressive rather than making three passes with something milder.

Where to use it

• Clear coat: yes, including hard clears.
• Gel coat: yes, and it's a common step in marine correction.
• Single-stage paint: Shine Supply's current guidance is to skip it. Use a milder compound and step up only if you have to.

Pads

• Rotary, the combination it was formulated around: a foamed knitted wool pad.
• Rotary or DA on clear coat: a microfiber cutting pad.
• DA on hard paint: heavy cutting fiber with blue foam HDO.
• DA on softer paint: blue HDO heavy polishing foam.

Speeds and technique

• Rotary with a cutting foam pad: 1200 to 1400 rpm.
• Rotary with a wool pad: 1400 to 1600 rpm.
• Dual action: slow passes with moderate pressure.

Whichever machine you're on, slow your arm speed down. That's the single thing that decides how much cut you actually get. Moving fast across a section doesn't let the abrasive work, and you end up going back over it anyway.

Wipe and inspect after every section. With no fillers in the formula, what you see is real, so there's no reason to guess.

What follows it

• On clear coat: refine with Classic Polish on an orange HDO polishing foam pad.
• On gel coat: Shine Supply's sequence is Heavy Cut, then Chop Top on a wool pad, then Wake Up.

Two pro moves

Extend the cycle time with a spritz of Shine Mist when the compound starts to go dry before you've finished the section.

Borrow some cut. Shine Supply add a little Chop Top to the same pad they're running Classic Cut on, when a job needs a bit more bite than Classic Cut alone is giving. Cheaper than switching products mid-job.

Which size? Four 8 oz. bottles would run $104 and the 32 oz. holds the same compound for $80. Four 32 oz. would run $320 and the gallon holds the same for $218. How far it goes depends entirely on the paint, the pad and how much correction the car needs, so buy to how often you do heavy work rather than to a number. The 8 oz. is the right size to try it on one car.

Full cut and finish ratings for the whole range are in the Shine Supply compound chart.

Pairs well with

• Purple Foamed Knitted Wool Pad: the rotary and wool combination Chop Top was formulated around.
• White Cutting Microfiber Pad: the microfiber cutting option on clear coat.
• Classic Polish: the refinement step after the heavy cut on clear coat.
• Throw Back - Paint Cleanser: strips the oils so you can see what your cut actually left behind before you protect it.
• Professional Pad Cleaning Tool: a loaded pad stops cutting. Clean it between sections.
• Shine Mist - Clay Lube: a spritz extends the cycle time when the compound goes dry early.

Detailers Products is Georgia's exclusive Shine Supply dealer. We stock the full Shine Supply line in Atlanta and ship to the lower 48.