Which buffer....
 

Professional paint guys, which buffer would you recommend for polishing and waxing? Any links to who carries the recommended buffer would be appreciated as well.

Waxing a brand new clearcoated paint job.

Re: Which buffer....
 

I have a Makita and a Dewalt.....I like the Makita better......been using it for years with no trouble.....

Makita Buffer

Re: Which buffer....
 

Thanks, it looks like a great tool. Just ordered it.

Looking to apply Waxing Frenzy. Are the foam applicators better to work with than the polishing pads?

What rpm speeds do you use to apply and what speeds do you use to remove?

Re: Which buffer....
 

Steve are you waxing already? or just getting ready and doing some practice? Icant remember the brand but there is a little duel action electric that works great. I will see what I can dig up.

Re: Which buffer....
 

Just getting ready Mark. I already put my order in for the Makita. Tired of breaking all the other junk I've bought over the years.

Re: Which buffer....
 

OK.....The Makita is a buffer......for buffing and glazing paint.....If all you are gonna do is apply wax......what I use on large flat surfaces is a waxmaster polisher.....there is a difference...waxmaster

Mine has an orbital action....and it uses seperate bonnets for applying and removing wax....

Now If you are sanding buffing and glazing...the makita is the choice...I like to use finesse it 2 compound and glaze by 3m...

I like the foam pads...cleaner and less chance of burn thru...the white ones are for buffing and the black are for glazing....I like to buff & glaze between 1500-2000 rpm

Re: Which buffer....
 

Thanks for the expert advise Brian.

I'll cancel the Makita and look into the Waxmaster.

Re: Which buffer....
 

the makita has given me years of trouble free buffing and is greta for polishing scratches in gel..awesome tool.

Re: Which buffer....
 

I have a makita which is good for polishing but I have a dual action porter cable for waxing .Kinda hard to find but worth the effort.

Re: Which buffer....
 

I bought the porter cable multi speed orbital buffer and takes about a hour and a half to do the whole boat.Make sure you get the orbital one.I used wax frenzy with it and it worked great but had to wax it more often.

Re: Which buffer....
 

wouldnt matter to you, you needed clear coat that would stay on:D

Re: Which buffer....
 

Thats for sure so if anyones needs a buffer i have one you can use.until next season atleast.By the way the clear is almost all the way off on the one side so no worry about it getting stuck in your eye.you might be worried that it will take your head off by the size of the pieces of clear thats flying off at a 100 mph. :evilb:

Re: Which buffer....
 

Rich, I'll trade you my Milwaukee for your orbital. The Milwaukee turns into a nice right angle grinder. It will really take some paint for ya.

Re: Which buffer....
 

get the neighborhood kids arouns buy them all sodas and have them start picking at the clear, 2 hours tops and it will be all off, put them all in a bucket and send it to Barney:D

Re: Which buffer....
 

Thats funny but shrink wrap tape works really well.stick it on and then it pulls the clear right of.Does anyone have any 8' wide tape i can buy.He gave me a ful refund on the paint job.I got beer and gas $$ now.

Re: Which buffer....
 

i have some film in 24" widths that I dont use, it's non clear coated film, that would work great, 2 ft wide by say 20ft long.

Re: Which buffer....
 

Not one of the Big Names but it works awesome. Riobi 6" Orbital Polisher. Home Depot $19.95 The Turtle Wax Bonnets are $2.50ea. I am the most sceptical person ever. This thing works great. I purchased 2 units. One to apply the wax one to remove. Best money I have spent in a while. No swirl, No haze, no uneven wax marks. You can even wax around and over snaps and cleats without having to worry about losing you arm like you would with a buffing machine. Good Luck

waxmaster
 

do thet still make the waxmaster,i can not locate on where to buy

I've got the new Dewalt buffer the 849X. Like most things I buy I dug into a lot of professional reviews, all liked it better than the Mikita, with the Flex beating the Dewalt. The old Dewalt 849 was not as nice but the new 849X was the favorite choice. What I like about it is if you set it at 1000 rpms thats where it stays now matter what compond or how hard you push on it, it self-regulates the speed..

Here is a copy of one review:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...flex-pe14.html

Its paint correct? Buy the Griots Garage dual action. Its sturdy, has more power than the Porter Cable, and had a lifetime warrenty. Detailing has come a long way and use of the rotary is now limited to things in not so great shape and gelcoat. As for pads I would recommend Lake Country foam.

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! 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.:evilb: