Orbital Polisher Recomendations
 

I'm looking at getting some more professioanal Detail Equipt. - first on the list is a new Orbital Polisher... I am looking at the Porter Cable unit that gets good reviews...there are also Dewalt and Makita units.

What are peoples experiences...I am leaning toward the Porter Cable because it is pretty light and has a wide range of speed variations....

Thanks In Advance

Danny :sport009:

I have had all three and the Makita has been tirelessly indestructible, gets regular rough service (gel work takes a lot of friction/pressure). The DeWalt lasted the least amount of time and oddly enough felt the heavy duty-ist and the Makita felt the cheapest. My Portable Cable stuff is nice and falls right in between the two, its comparable to the Makita but seems better made. My future choice if i ever need to replace any of them would be Makita then PC then Dewalt.

When you say “orbital polisher,’ exactly what are you looking for? The reason I ask is that there are actually quite a few variations on the theme. For instance:

Orbital Polishers: Generally sold at Sears, Wal-Mart etc. These rather bulky machines are actually best suited only for removing wax and resemble kind of a fat steering wheel with the motor in the middle. They have a random orbital motion with fairly little power and generally have only one speed. They’re pretty useless for doing any kind of correction work.

Random Orbital Polishers: These machines are a step up in power and oddly enough, a couple of steps down in size. One very popular model is the Porter-Cable 7424XP. They feature a true random orbital motion and also a bit of a rotary motion – which can be stalled out with too much pressure. Although they run a smaller pad than the orbital above (usually 5.5”), they are capable of some correction work and actually work quite well. I have one of these and love it.

The most powerful of these machines is the Flex 3401 (which I also have) and this uses a 6.5” pad. The difference with this machine is that it has variable speed random orbital and rotary motion, but the rotary motion cannot be stalled. It’s a nice step up and this is my work horse for cars & trucks.

Rotary Buffers: These are the big mothers that can do the most work, but get you in the most trouble if you’re not careful. They feature a 100% rotary motion with variable speed. These are the machines Dave was talking about and I (unfortunately) have the DeWalt. The Makita is actually the much better machine here.

So, which one are you looking for?

Hey Dan,
I have the Porter Cable w/velcro pads.
Works great and makes the job go fast & safely on the finish.

Here's a kit online w/pads-

http://www.amazon.com/ULTIMATE-DETAI...1&sr=1-6-spell






Daughters Marathon charity if any OSOers would like to support -
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraise...n-2012?fge=ask
Thank you ahead of time !
Kenny Lessard

Flex

If you're doing work on gel, I'd go for a rotary like the Makita all the way.

I have the PC 7424xp and it's great for use on painted finishes with the microfiber pads from Optimum, but gel coat really needs a rotary. Also, I've heard the Groit's Garage random orbital is a more powerful version of the Porter Cable and gets great reviews so that's something to look into.

I have a Flex and it has worked very well. I don't use it as much as Glass Dave would, as he uses them everyday. The Flex has worked great for what I have used it for.

fixx
 

+1 Flex 3401 rocks..ck ebay..

Flex rules!

I use my 24 year old Makita to start with and my Flex for finish.