Polishing Machine
Discussion
Before you go and spend upwards of £160 what experience do you have of D/A polishers and have you ever used a rotary before? If not don't buy one unless you have some old scrap bodyparts handy to practise on before you let rip on your own or somebody elses car.
Most people buy on line these days...so don't waste money buying in a shop, unless you can get a decent discount.
Most people buy on line these days...so don't waste money buying in a shop, unless you can get a decent discount.
If you've not tried the DA (dual action polisher) route yet I'd try that 1st before getting a Makita (rotary) polisher.
The rotaries are a much more powerful tool and you can get into trouble pretty quickly with them!
DA wise there are quite a lot to choose from.
Meguiars G220 and the Porter Cable are the most common 2.
Have a look on eBay for the most competative deals IMHO.
Best wishes
Tim
The rotaries are a much more powerful tool and you can get into trouble pretty quickly with them!
DA wise there are quite a lot to choose from.
Meguiars G220 and the Porter Cable are the most common 2.
Have a look on eBay for the most competative deals IMHO.
Best wishes
Tim
Whilst respecting both previous posters' comments, there's a bit too much fear used with rotaries.
As all rotaries have speed control, and polishes and pads come in differing grades of aggressiveness, you don't need to whack it up to max speed with the hardest pads, and most aggressive polish - you can take your time doing multiple passes with light and medium pads/polishes, and slower speeds.
As for the Makita - good brand, and use their professional pressure washer, but I'm not a fond fan of their rotary. Seems to be the staple diet of a number of pros, and rightly so since it was probably the best on the market at the time.
Things have moved on, and for lesser money, and lesser weight to hold against a vertical panel, I'd have to suggest you look at the Milwaukee AP12QE.
If you're not averse to investing in a machine to last you many, many years without issue, then I can heartily recommend one of the latest polishers to come onto the market - the Fein WPO 14-15 XE (a right mouthful compared to the Milwaukee, even), which I've done a bit of a review on Detailing World
Another contender is the Flex XC3401 VRG, which is a forced rotation polisher - 9/10ths the power of a rotary, but is a RO (random orbital - DA is the American acronym for the same thing, referring to their calling them dual action polishers/sanders).
I've always been a believer in buying quality once, and having it there whenever you need it, but others are happy to replace something cheap as and when it gives up the ghost - only you can decide where you stand on that, but I don't think you'd be too unhappy if you only bought the Milwaukee.
As all rotaries have speed control, and polishes and pads come in differing grades of aggressiveness, you don't need to whack it up to max speed with the hardest pads, and most aggressive polish - you can take your time doing multiple passes with light and medium pads/polishes, and slower speeds.
As for the Makita - good brand, and use their professional pressure washer, but I'm not a fond fan of their rotary. Seems to be the staple diet of a number of pros, and rightly so since it was probably the best on the market at the time.
Things have moved on, and for lesser money, and lesser weight to hold against a vertical panel, I'd have to suggest you look at the Milwaukee AP12QE.
If you're not averse to investing in a machine to last you many, many years without issue, then I can heartily recommend one of the latest polishers to come onto the market - the Fein WPO 14-15 XE (a right mouthful compared to the Milwaukee, even), which I've done a bit of a review on Detailing World
Another contender is the Flex XC3401 VRG, which is a forced rotation polisher - 9/10ths the power of a rotary, but is a RO (random orbital - DA is the American acronym for the same thing, referring to their calling them dual action polishers/sanders).
I've always been a believer in buying quality once, and having it there whenever you need it, but others are happy to replace something cheap as and when it gives up the ghost - only you can decide where you stand on that, but I don't think you'd be too unhappy if you only bought the Milwaukee.
Spent the last couple of weeks looking at polishers available from various outlets, both recognised and obscure, as well as ebay. Also found some good advice out there in webland and weighing up my novice level; machine cost, weight, recommendations etc I think I'm swayed by the Kestrel DAS 6. Anyone got argument to make me consider otherwise?
^
Yup; arrived the other day and I had a play last night on a spare bonnet. Panel washed down with some wax free shampoo, Farecla G10'd and then Dodo'd. Quite a theraputic operation and the machine not so noisy as to prevent me knocking out some choons in the background. I thought this thing was gonna be angle-grinder noisy and a tinitus generator: not so
Yup; arrived the other day and I had a play last night on a spare bonnet. Panel washed down with some wax free shampoo, Farecla G10'd and then Dodo'd. Quite a theraputic operation and the machine not so noisy as to prevent me knocking out some choons in the background. I thought this thing was gonna be angle-grinder noisy and a tinitus generator: not so
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