uh oh buying a rotary

Chang · 09-06-05, 05:30

Well was talking to my friend and he agreed to buy me a rotary if I did his car. I've done his hood before with a PC and got his swirls real good but I don't want to spend hours on one part like I did last time. So I'm going to be stepping it up to a rotary.

I was going to have him buy me the Harbor freight 50 buck one with the LCD display that will keep a constant RPM no matter the pressure unlike their 30 buck model. Anybody have any experience with these? Any problems or complaints?

I have some hitemp products to work with, their light, medium, and heavy cut levelers. I'm assuming they'll work well with a rotary as they worked well with a PC.

A big question I have is I have the propel pad set from excel detail with the velcro. Will these work with the chicago rotary? And will the backing plate I got from excel detail work with a rotary?

And any last tips for a rotary nub? Something like how long should I leave it one spot and still not comprimise the clearcoat.

Thanks I'm in need of a lot of help
Chang

cgc2 · 09-06-05, 05:33

Chang,
you should never leave a rotary on one spot, as THAT WILL compromise the clearcoat.
Keep it moving AT ALL times.

Chang · 09-06-05, 05:51

Well actually now I don't know if i should buy http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92623
30 bucks

or

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90820
50 bucks

the one thats 50 bucks gives me an LCD readout and constant speed under pressure. BUT its speeds are from 1000-3000RPM's. I'm afraid that I will need to go lower.

on the other hand the 30 buck one doesn't have LCD readout so its not as accurate and does not keep a constant speed under pressure which I guess could be used to my advantage to feather the rotary. But this one goes from 300-2000 I know I won't need anything above 2000 but having it go as low as 300 is nice.

I've heard that 1200RPM is the optimal speed for swirl remover. Is their any need to add pressure with a rotary or do I just let the weight of the machine do the work?

littlejohn · 09-06-05, 06:48

get the one that has the widest RPM range or starts lowest..
This is a life saver when it comes to reducing splatter. I find that you really only ever go up to 2000rpm.. but I mostly only go as far as 1500rom

EDIT: why doe you need a digital rpm display?? you should be looking at what you're doing.. not the LCD display

Asonyexec · 09-06-05, 07:31

Chang I bought the $30 model about 4 months ago (chicago elect. frm harbor freight) and it works ok (kinda noisy). I only work on my car and I don't do this professionaly so I didn't think spend the additional money was necessary.

I've used it twice and it works as well as can be expected, it did the work and did it faster than my PC DA. Like I said, I might use the rotary 4-5x per year max and the $30 chic elect is good for that. I have tried a friend's delwalt (849 i believe is the model) and it is a nicer machine, more quiet & smooth sounding, but again use vs. price I couldn't see doing it. Now if money is now object for you I would say go dewalt, makita or matabo (sp?).

as for the pads on the chic elect i use the same pads I use on my PC DA (sonus 5" pads I believe..whatever is used on the PC). I just bought the smaller backing plate for the rotary (5") so I can continue to use the sonus pads. The backing plate is from meguiar's ( I live close to an auto body/paint supply store and they carry meg's products).

Hope this helps.

qadsan · 09-06-05, 07:41

~$130 + shipping buys a Hitachi rotary that weighs 6.2 lbs, has electronic speed control, soft start, wide RPM range, variable speed trigger, 5 year nation wide warranty, etc. I went down to HF to use a 20% off coupon on misc things and seen the $30 rotary first hand and it looks like a nice unit for $30, but it's only rated at 4.5 amps as listed on the unit itself even though the documentations on the box says 9.8 amps. I had the guy plug it in and it sounded like it used walnuts or marbles for ball bearings, but it may run for many years this way (depending on how much its used) and would probably get the job done, especially for someone whose only going to use it a couple times per year. I'm just glad we have choices because what's a good choice for one person isn't necessary a good choice for another as people have different priorities placed on what they value most in regards to (price, amount of usage, application, logistics, warranty, features, brand names, discounts, etc). There are good reasons to buy the $30 HF unit for some people just as there's good reason for some to spend more money for a Metabo.

SpoiledMan · 09-06-05, 07:43

Check out www.utterguys.com and give them a call. They had an ebay listing for the Hitachi rotary polisher for $134 shipped. This unit seems to be much like the Makita and you can read about it on Autogeek or www.hitachi.com.