Griot's sells a ' professional 3" random orbital'. I was thinking it might be good for small areas as it only uses a 3" pad. Maybe mirrors, hard to reach spots, on bikes, headlights, tail lights when a 6" is too big. Anybody ever use it on of these for where the regular PC is on the big side. I guess Griots is the only one that sells this and the pads for it? It is kind of pricy.

 

I just stick a 3" backing plate on my PC and DP sells the smaller pads too.
You're right though, it comes in handy for those swoopy areas near the headlights, the A-pillars and the bumper/boot areas.

 

griots also mentions that it is their new "revised" version.

i donno... almost everything electronic i buy from griots (less the RO)
tends to either not work from the getgo or break.

ie: heatgun air compressor

it is a nice size and i'd like to have one though... kinda skeptical.

 

I too use a 3 inch backing plate. Much cheaper than a whole new polisher and it only takes a minute to change them out. I normally do everything with a 6" then switch to a 3" and finish up.

 

I'll check DP for the 3" backing plates and pads. Thanks!

 

I just looked at it, and the body of the machine is not that much smaller than a PC. now this may make more sense if you want a smaller machine.

I'd just go with the smaller backing plate, pads.

Mark

 

I got my 6" random orbital from Advanced and it does a fantastic job.. For what its worth...

 

The PC works really well too. FWIW.

 

but knowing the kinda guy i am... i'll probably have 2 separate
tools for doing large area with one and small areas with another.

thing about me is doing things on the fly. none of that remove bits,
put on new bits, run. it's not a drill/dremel

 

I had the original Griot's 3" RO and it was awful. It leaked some sort of oil all over the place, and then it stopped working. I used it for maybe 5 minutes before it croaked.

 

sounds like a typical Griot's electronic product.

i wonder how much improved their revision one is...

 

The Griots 3" polish is a China knockoff of the $110 Metabo SXE-400 3" polisher. I have one of these and they are very well made. They are great for polishing areas that are difficult to access--on trunk lids under "ricer" wings, etc.. on non MINI's. Great for polishing areas on body kits that curve, etc.. It's also great for polishing metal.

Like Chuck said, the smaller backing plate on the PC works great---I like having the power of the PC to polish these areas. I actually use a 3" backing plate on my rotary buffer, then follow with the same pads on the PC--the Metabo gets used in circumstances that I can't access due to the bulk of the PC.

Richard

 

ive seen some ric0r wings used on MINI's too.

 

Durn kids stealin' my bench to put on their cars!

 

Thank you all for saving me from buying a sub par power tool. I would have been bent out of shape. I'll shop for the 3" plate and pads.

 

um, we don't know if it is sub-par yet cause no one has tried the
'Revised' version that are now being sold by Griots.

Griots has a lifetime guarantee...which means you can return it
even if you dont like it a year or 2 or 3 from now. i think it's worth
trying if you dont mind risking the possible hassle of shipping it back.

i might still get one later on, but i would be very skeptical that it works
correctly.

 

Hey Ken

Regarding the quality of the Griots stuff, I've use their PC regularly and have had no issues with it. However, as I talked with Heather and looked at changing the backing plate to use hers and the DP pads, it is not compatible.

Regarding the 3 inch version of Griot's pc, I too am looking at that, just don't have the desire to spend $ right now. However, with that said, I have a good friend who uses it in the small areas mentioned and on the roof around the sunroof and he totally loves the job that it does. Try contacting Slot Kar directly for the reference.

Speed

 

Mark

 

yah, my griot's RO's been doing great. i have no issues with it... in fact,
i like the fact that it's super simple to use. i only have 2 different pad
types (orange and red), 3 polishes and a wax... with excellent results.

thanks for the info on the incompatibility with the DP backing plate...although
i really doubt i wouldve went that direction anyway as i like tools and
prefer to have a tool for each application... it's like having a 1/2" ratchet
and socket set and 3/8" ratchet with its socket set even though yah,
you can use adapters and make use of one set of sockets with the 2
ratchets. that is just not my style.

so i suppose ill think it over a little more and decide later on this summer
whether to get the 3" orbital or not. i wouldn't use it for waxing, but
for polishing it would be very handy.

 

Griots just redesigned the tool due to some quality issues with the older design and from what I understand the newer tool is doing quite well at holding its own. Griots does not mess around when it comes to standing behind their products, which is one of the reasons we sell their product. They have a LIFETIME warranty on all of their stuff. *** Imagine what that means for a minute**** and seriously consider picking up not only one of the 3" Professional Polishers, but one of their foolproof 6" Random Orbitals:

 

Thanks for the advertisement Aaron.
... and now back to our regular scheduled programming.