Has anyone used one? Results?
How about noise?
Can you use velco pads?
Thank you! :smile:

 

are you looking at the one for sale at Griott's??? If not look at their advertisement before you buy. It says something about "their product not leaving swirls or damaging the paint like others..." Their products are expensive but high quality and worth the price, IMHO.

 

>>are you looking at the one for sale at Griott's??? If not look at their advertisement before you buy. It says something about "their product not leaving swirls or damaging the paint like others..." Their products are expensive but high quality and worth the price, IMHO.

I have seen a bunch of them advertised recently.

 

I assume that air tolls are not very popular for detailing?

 

If running a air powered buffer is like running a die grinder or DA sander you will need a BIG compressor. Most detailers use electric powered even though the tools are more expensive.

 

um, burn my paint stupid, but what would be the advantages of an AIR grinderImeanbuffer versus a good ole variable speed electric?

 

Pneumatic tools, as opposed to electric tools, be they buffers, grinders, drills, etc have a couple advantages over electrics. Foremost, they cannot be damaged by overloading and stalling in heavy use. An electric motor will burn out if powered up in a stall condition. An air motor will simply hiss a bit. Air tools also have a very good power-to-weight ratio. Very powerful air tools are considerably smaller than the equivalent electric. Air tools don't heat up when in constant use (in fact, they can get quite cold). Air tool motors dont give off sparks, which is very beneficial around volatile fumes. There is no shock hazard, so there is intrinsic safety in wet conditions. Also, a properly maintained air tool will often last longer than it's electric counterpart.

Disadvantages? Mostly the fact that any constant-run air tool (grinder, buffer, sander) uses a huge quantity of air and needs a big compressor, often 5 true horsepower or better. Nail guns, impact wrenches, etc, those used in short bursts can use a smaller compressor with a decent sized tank, 20 gallons or so. Also, the hoses are much larger and more awkward than electric cords, and the maintanence of a compressor has to be taken into consideration.

 

Anything other than a random orbital WILL burn your paint. Griot's got an electric one they sell along with their machine wax removal pad. I'm looking into their pad as I already have a pneumatic orbital buffer. http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....&SKU=11536

 

Is Dual Action the same as random orbital?

 

Yes.The motions are both orbital (think of swirling wax on by hand) and rotating, simultaneously. This has the best effect of using the most of the buffer pad at the same time not letting any part of the pad stay in one area for an extended period of time.

Dual action (DA) tends to be a term given to pneumatic sanders, where buffers and electric sanders seem to use the newer term random orbital.

 

Is this what you guys are talking about? I found this at griot's for 200 smackers.

 

>>are you looking at the one for sale at Griott's??? If not look at their advertisement before you buy. It says something about "their product not leaving swirls or damaging the paint like others..." Their products are expensive but high quality and worth the price, IMHO.

Any often available under another label elsewhere for much less money. I bought a set of plastic protected lug nut sockets from Harbor Freigh Tools for ~1/3 the price of Griot's and they appear to be identical to the ones in Griot's catalog. I bought an extension cord winder from Griot's, I recently saw it another catalog for less than I paid.
I think there are probably many brands of orbital buffers that would be of similar quality. I think the main risk of these is operator error.

 

I use the Meguiar's random/orbital buffer to clean the paint and hand wax after that to seal the finish. I switch between Meguiar's products and Zymol. If the clear coat is damaged then most products will not really help. The better body shops and detailers have more aggressive products to smoothout damaged paint. I agree about regular buffers will burn the paint unless you really, really know what you are doing.