Which rotary for me?

[gators241987]

Ive used the pc for about 6 months now and I feel that Im limited with it. Having read many posts about the rotary, I think I will save and purchase on. Im slightly uneasy with using one, but I will study and practice before I use it on a vehicle (I have an old tailgate lying around that I can practice on). Now, there are so many different kinds out there, which one would be best for me? Im a full time college student and I detail on the side. I figure on average I do 2 vehicles a week and I would be hesitent to use them on the clients vehicles at first, I want to perfect it on my own vehicle first. I dont neccesarily know if the "beggining" rotary would be right for me since I do learn rather quickly, I would rather buy the "best" first to save some money. thanks guys

[charlesaferg]

Buy a flex RO!

Otherwise, I'm biased towards German engineering.

A Metabo PE12-175 is what I've got, it's my screaming Messerschmidt..

[gators241987]

anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[Eliot Ness]

If you're looking for a rotary there are several good choices, and what you buy depends on what you're looking for. A long standing favorite around here is the Makita 9227...... hard to go wrong with that, but there are other choices. The Hitachi SP18VA became popular when they were available for ~ $90 a few years back. Since then the price has gone up but the 5 year warranty and slightly lighter weight than the Makita still make it a popular polisher.

The Metabo PE12-175 (German built) is also popular due to the very light weight and how well it is built. I currently have one and love it, but some don't care for the on/off switch it has instead of a trigger, and it does cost a bit more than most.

A new comer around here that is getting popular is the Flex 3403 rotary. It is also light weight but has (I believe) a tad less power than the Metabo, but it seems to do a fine job for those who are currently using one.

Edit: I left out the Dewalt 849 which is/was a popular rotary. From what I hear they are built like a tank but they are heavier than most of the others I mentioned.

The above is just a small sample of what seems to be popular around here; do a search on any of the models I mentioned and you'll find a lot of info on each one in this forum.

[paradigm]

i have a Hitachi SP18VA and like it a lot. i didn't get it for $90...it was ~$125 on sale a year ago. its also the only rotary i've used, but it's weight is good and also runs quiet/cool.

[DSVWGLI]

Originally Posted by paradigm

i have a Hitachi SP18VA and like it a lot. i didn't get it for $90...it was ~$125 on sale or so a year ago. it's also the only rotary i've used, but it's weight is good and also runs quiet/cool.

Same here. I have had this polisher for about 1 1/2 years and really like it. After many hours of polishing it starts to feel heavy compared to the PC, I'm happy I have one of the lightest rotary's.

[Stanger'66]

1 vote for the Makita. It is very comfortable for me and its a real workhorse.

[zaxjax]

I'm with Stanger, very comfortable to use , lightweight and a workhorse.

[Rob Tomlin]

I just got a Makita, and I have to admit that I was surprised at how heavy it is compared to my PC.

[SuperBee364]

I like my new Flex 3403 alot.

[JonP]

I been using my DeWalt 849 for 8 + years now and still going strong. I also have a Flex and Metabo PE 12-175, I use either depending on the job.

[scary bill]

I own the Hitachi, I will also say price wise the Makita is a good choice, too.

They will both be heavier than the PC but not that bad IME. Moving to the rotary isn't quite as bad as most make it to be. As it has been said before; get some wool pads, especially for correction work. Anything more aggressive than LC white foam is much harder to control for me. IME LC Purple wool is great for correction, LC white, black and blue are my go to polishing pads.

I will also add 6.5" pads are easier, IMO, to control and to get into tight spaces.