flex is the best..period!!

The Flex 3401 is the best combo.. but at twice the price of a GG/Meguiars/PC its hard to justify for light polishing and waxing. That being said, I use mine barely stops spinning.

I also have a Flex XC3401 and love it. Waxing is way faster than by hand. I've had cheaper buffers and found they just did not do the job.

Have dewalt variable speed buffer that I have beat the hell out of, use it alot with out any issues.

John jr

Makita! Makita! Makita! all day!

I think some of you are mixing up your machines. I do some automotive detailing on the side and moderate at The Detailer’s Café. I have four different machines that I use depending on the need. They are:

- A DeWalt Rotary
- A Flex 3401
- A Porter-Cable 7424XP
- A Black & Decker Orbital

Although each of these machines uses a round pad, that’s about where the similarities end. Here’s the scoop on each:

The DeWalt is a true Rotary Buffer. That means it has only one motion – a rotary spinning of the pad at up to 3,000 RPMs. This is a real workhorse and if you’re doing any serious correction work, you need one of these bad boys. It is not however designed to “apply wax.” It’s just too powerful. I actually like the Makita rotary better because it’s lighter. Flex also just came out with a new pure rotary that’s even lighter than the Makita.

The Flex 3401 is a step down from the DeWalt in that it’s got a combination of rotary and random orbital motion. It doesn’t have nearly the speed (RPMs) of the rotary, but it’s relatively light and decently powerful. This is my go to machine for automotive use. Like the DeWalt, it’s generally too powerful for applying wax, but you probably could.

The Porter-Cable is also a combination rotary and random orbital machine, but it’s not as fast or powerful as the Flex. One can also stall the rotary motion on this machine pretty easily. This is a great machine for first timers or applying waxes though. One literally cannot get in trouble with it because it’s just not powerful enough. But it does do a great job within its limits. And, it’s cheap.

The B&D Orbital was a garage sale find and it’s what many people used to use to apply and remove wax. It’s basically a pure random orbital machine with two big handles on it. You can stall the orbital motion relatively easily and it has no correction ability at all. I sometimes use it to remove LSP’s from large surfaces – like boats.

Hope that helps!

Tom

The Flex 3401 and PC are nothing like a rotary.. except the fact theyre both used to make things shiny. The PC has a "clutch" which will stop the pad from rotating if too much pressure is applied, the Flex is gear driven and will spin no matter how much pressure is put upon it. Flex 3401 + speed 3 = seriously fast waxing.

BTW: Just wanted to explain the difference, wasnt trying to be an ass. I own multiples of each so any questions, fire away!

Well, ran down to Home Depot and picked up one of those 6" Ryobi buffers this week.

If all you're doing is waxing, this thing is great!

Less bulky than the 10" "two handle" buffers.

Whipped through the boat in no time!

I use 2: a Milwaukee HD for serious cutting and a lighter Makita for polishing.

I had a 40' Sea Ray Express Cruiser that I polished in the water. I worked on a float and used the Makita almost exclusively on the sides and the Milwaukee on the deck. I would rather loose a $100 Makita in the water than a $300 Milwaukee.