I made the jump

Don M · 03-01-05, 06:57

Much to the wife's dismay, the detailing bug has taken another bite. This time in the form of a rotary polisher. After listening to everyone talk about the advantages of the rotary over the PC (on severe finishes) I ordered one last night from Harbor Frieght Tools along with a velcro pad from CMA. They should arrive by the end of the week.

I figure I won't be doing any wet-sanding repair or other similar heavy buffing, nor will I be using it all the time on every car. Plus I didn't want to spend $200 on a machine that should I become afraid of, or decide that it isn't for me be wasted cash that I would never hear the end of (even if I were able to resell at no loss, the wife HAS NO sense of humor when money is concerned).

SOOO, I did some searching and posted on another board about an inexpensive V/S rotary. They gave me THIS LINK.

$32.98 (on sale) for a Chicago/Electric and the $22.90 for the velcro backing plate for a total of $55.88 (both prices inc shipping) was a deal I couldn't pass up. I ordered a 6" backing plate so I could use the same foam pads for both the rotary and the PC to cut costs.

I know that I bought the "economy car" of the rotary polishers, but I figure that It's best to learn how to drive in a Chevette before buying a Corvette.

Any comments or advice are greatly appreciated.

cwcad · 03-01-05, 07:15

DonM,

you and i our in the same boat. i read detailing forums way to much. seeing the work done by others using a rotary put me over the edge. i should have done the research that you did but found it easier to just go to CMA and order a vector and all the trimmings. i got the 6" for the same reason as you.... to share duties with my pc.

i am hoping that there is not a large learning curve. will be using the new rotary on my next major detail in hopes of getting rid of all the swirls that i have created over the last year from improper techniques.

hope you have good luck with your new toy. i have great expectations for mine!!

Don M · 03-01-05, 07:41

I originally asked about the Vector and was directed to the Chicago/Electric. It looks to be the exact same machine, but with different markings. I ordered mine last night along with the velcro plate, so hopefully they will be here by the end of the week.

I already have a half dozen or so 'bookings' for spring, and they are from people who are not Autopian...they're not even "car people." So I know that the cars I will be doing will look like this when I start:

Here is the same Durango after just using the PC. It came out good, but not near what I wanted, and only after A LOT of work:

cwcad · 03-01-05, 08:03

it looks like the work you did worked.

i worry that after all the work and attention to detail that i will somehow not meet my expectations. can there truly be a perfect shine....?

the details....the attention to details... the preparation to details.... the application of the techniques to create the perfect shine is probably the road less traveled. but with fellas like you and the rest of this forum it does not feel like a lonely road.

keep posting.... it just fuels my passion

Ben Z. · 03-01-05, 08:04

Just a little comment on harbor freight, fwiw:

If you've never ordered from harbor freight before, be prepared for some "eccentricities" with their shipping practices. Sometimes half your items will come in like 2 days, then the other half will come 2 weeks later. Sometimes they just cancel an item for no apparent reason. You have to just learn to accept these things if you want to do business with them. I'd say about 70% of stuff comes in a week or so and only about 5% of stuff gets messed up. All-in-all it's a good place to get those tools that you only use rarely, and don't want to spend the big bucks on. If something minor gets messed up on your order, just let it go, because complaining will get you way more headaches than it's worth. I've been happy with nearly every order I've made.

iceberg · 03-01-05, 08:44

Don M: You're definitely going about it the smart way -- for $56 I don't see you could go wrong. Worst case, you have a quick way to dry the pads for your PC.

Please let us know how you like it when you get it.

The Meguiar's How to Remove Paint Defects Video at BetterCarCare might be a good starting point for your rotary techniques.

I also found these pages at RepairNation helpful. They talk about buffing and do a good job of explaining what it means to buff away from an edge.

cwcad: Let us know how that detail goes this weekend.

Web Docta · 03-01-05, 03:16

After reading this thread I just ordered the same Rotary from Harbor Freight. Heck, some folks spend more that that on a bottle of polish!
I've got a couple of vehicles that this rotary may save me a lot of time on, and it's good to have in my growing arsenal of detailing tools and products.
I also picked up the backing plate for use with my 6" pads, it was cheap enough.
Thanks for posting this Don.

Don M · 03-01-05, 03:21

Quote:

Originally posted by iceberg
Don M: You're definitely going about it the smart way -- for $56 I don't see you could go wrong. Worst case, you have a quick way to dry the pads for your PC. Please let us know how you like it when you get it.

The Meguiar's How to Remove Paint Defects Video at BetterCarCare might be a good starting point for your rotary techniques.

I also found these pages at RepairNation helpful. They talk about buffing and do a good job of explaining what it means to buff away from an edge.

cwcad: Let us know how that detail goes this weekend.

Trust me, I've watched the Meguiars vid about 6 times already and I'm getting ready to check out the other site.

Pats300zx · 03-01-05, 03:32

Don...

Did you purchase the backing plate through Harbor Freight or CMA???

iceberg · 03-01-05, 03:38

Don,

I was going to suggest that you check out Meguiar's Online's Forum, Mastering the Rotary Buffer, but it looks you know about that already.

Do be sure and share your favorite resources, too. It sure looks like we got a HUGE crop of rotary newbies starting out (myself included). Everyone's got rotary fever!

Don M · 03-01-05, 03:44

Quote:

Originally posted by Pats300zx
Don...

Did you purchase the backing plate through Harbor Freight or CMA???

Buffer = Harbor Frieght

Backing Plate = CMA

Web Docta · 03-01-05, 05:03

Quote:

Originally posted by iceberg
Don M:
The Meguiar's How to Remove Paint Defects Video at BetterCarCare might be a good starting point for your rotary techniques.
I also found these pages at RepairNation helpful. They talk about buffing and do a good job of explaining what it means to buff away from an edge.
cwcad: Let us know how that detail goes this weekend.

Thanks for those links iceberg, they were very educational. I can't wait to get my new rotary and try this all out.