Considering on purchasing a rotary buffer. I was wondering if anyone can give me some info on which rotary buffer to buy (dewalt, makita, etc..) and why that machine? Thanks

 

Ok, are you looking for a random orbital buffer, or are you looking for an actual rotary?

ETA - duh, I see you are a "weekend pro." I *think* OctaneGuy likes the Makita? But I could be wrong...

 

I have been seriously considering this one.

Still doing a bit of research though.

 

Not to be too critical here, but like I've said to others, you really need to understand the differences between a rotary buffer and a dual action orbital polisher.

Please don't confuse them because they are drastically different. That difference causes a great deal of confusion for people which keeps them away from using a dual action orbital thinking its the same scary tool as the rotary they once saw years ago rip the paint off an old car.

Peter W. is asking about a rotary buffer, which IMO, is the wrong place to ask because I can think of only 3 people in this forum that might be using a rotary.

To answer his question, the popular ones are Makita, DeWalt, and Hitachi. Harbor Freight also sells some at a fraction of the price but they aren't the same in terms of usability. One model they sell for $29 is 2 speeds only and is much too fast for your auto paint.

Peter really should be asking this over at a detailing forum like ShowCarGarage.com

Richard

 

Hi Richard,
I was hoping maybe you or Heather would let me know which one to use. I will post on showcargarage.com now. Thanks

 

I agree... 99% of the enthusiasts on this forum should not use a rotary polisher. Everyone reading: Please be careful to not confuse rotary polishers with DA random orbital polisher. Peter W. is a rare exception to the norm. Everyone else, ignore this post!

Sorry Peter... we're just trying to protect the others here.

In general, any of the pro brands of tools (Makita, Dewalt, etc) make good rotary polishers. Also, if you're spending less than $100, you're getting the wrong tool for the job. Typically, you'll have to pay closer to twice that. Just ballparks, but good guidelines. Look also for features like variable speed (many have electronic speed control and triggers).

That said, please understand that in order to use a rotary correctly it takes TONS of experience. It is just too easy to burn through paint and/or make quite a mess which is difficult to fix. Be sure to practice on old door panels and hoods before working on a customer's car (or even your own). Especially be careful with the rotary on soft paints, like BMW, Lotus, Ferrari, etc.

Although with a little bit of experience, the PC, Lake Country pads, and the right abrasives can cover 95% of anything you run into out there, the rotary can do it faster (and cover that other 5% too). So, it's a nice tool for the pro to have in his arsenal, just be careful and practice first!

Last, I'm going to PM you with a link to some good rotary info.

-Heather

 

Thanks Heather,
I totally understand the difference between the rotary and dual action polisher. Its just with the PCDAP, it takes too long of a time to get the car where we would like it to be. We spoke to a couple of people and they mentioned to get a rotary buffer to speed up our work. For those reading this post and do not understand the difference between a rotary buffer and the porter cable dual action polisher, do not purchase a ROTARY BUFFER!!!!!!!!! Thanks again Heather.

 

You know what we need? A sticky thread that shows in detail what a RO polisher is versus a rotary. It should be titled:

"Polishers - Random Orbital vs Rotary - READ THIS FIRST".

I can take a stab at writing it, and review it with Richard and Heather via PMs prior to posting if you all like. Seems like we answer this question over and over and even still there's confusion re: rotary polishers.

 

Sounds good to me ImagoX
Peter, in all honesty, you haven't been using the Meguiar's system for very long. People will tell you that the rotary is faster--which is true--but faster isn't always better.

The rotary gives me correction capabilities farther than what the PC offers but at much higher risk.

When I read your writeups and see that you used one pass of M80 and then one pass of M82, the first thing that comes to mind is---why didn't you try 2 passes of M83 first? And then I think, was M82 really necessary for that paint type? Maybe M80 or M66 would have been more appropriate.

While the rotary IS faster than the PC at removing defects, you still need to finish your work with a PC. No matter what anyone says about not needing a PC to finish their rotary work, if holograms from your buffer are unacceptable on a customers car as they are to me, then learning to master the PC and variety of chemical choices available would be the #1 priority, then venturing out to learn the rotary. I spent a good 2 years on the PC buffing out only MINI's before going to the rotary, but I was under the best guidance possible as well so I spent the time honing the craft and not wondering if my technique was a problem in achieving the best possible results.

I'm not trying to discourage you from using the rotary, but you should do it for the right reasons--not necessarily because somebody told you you can get your work done faster.

 

Very well stated Richard. Me and my brother like to get most of the scratches out of the cars finish for the customer. We are very picky like that. I just figured if we can get most of the scratches out quicker with the rotary, then maybe do one pass of M80 with the PC, that it would speed things up for us. For some cars that we do it requires different steps. I remember the Chevelle we did a couple of months ago, that took i think 3 passes of M83, 4 passes of M80 to acheive a swirl free finish. So if we need to do more passes we do it, but I was just wondering if the rotary could have given those results quicker. I understand your concern when it comes to people using a rotary buffer if they are not experienced. I have been reading a couple of forums now and it is a tricky machine to use, but I understand I will need to practice before using it on a customers car. I appreciate your information on this topic and steering us in the right direction. For now, we will continue to use the PC and Meguiars products because the results are fantastic, and just practice with the rotary buffer.