First Impressions (Dynabrade DA Rotary Tool)

MorBid · 05-13-06, 10:51

Well the installer finally showed up today to do my PPF (more on that in another thread).

He's a mobile detailer and while working on my Audi he mentioned he had the Dyanabrade DA Rotary tool in his trunk (mounted on my favorite machine DW 849) and I could try it out if I wanted. Said he's had it for a while now and has done 6 or 7 cars with it.

A try before you buy that I didn't even know was coming, so I went for it.

I had some of Optimum's 6.5 pads (polishing and light cut) already out from prepping the hood so I didn't go for my 9" pads in the house. I was using OCP as well.

He mentioned before I started that at lower rpm's it seems to wobble more. He uses it at 2600. Well not wanting to risk the paint on my Audi I went for 1800-1900. He's was right though at 1000 it seems to shake more.

This thing makes a PC look like a kids toy. You get the same amount of "kicK" I imagine but a little more intense. The machine was not hard to control though and I was able to manuver it no differenly than with a normal plate on my Rotary.

I had some buffer swirls/haze on a Sail Panel so I went at that first with the LC then the Polishing pad. I didn't lean into the machine head, just let it run under it's own weight.

The machine left no swirls and took out most if not all of the marring in a couple of attempts. I didn't want to run the thing too long since I had the smaller pad on there and was worried about the edge of the plate hitting something.

The guy said it's a little short on "cutting" and he uses it for finishing out panels after cutting with a normal plate on the rotary to avoid leaving holograms or swirls (he has contracts with several Dealerships in the area) Sorta like what people use a PC for that have a rotary. I may or may not concur, but I didn't put it through some serious cutting and didn't run it at the max rpm's (3200)

All in all I think the gadget shows some promise so I'm gonna order me one. Using a rotary for applying/removing LSP's is overkill, IMHO, DA Rotary Tool of not. But I can see where it would marry up the speed of a Rotary with the marr free finish of a Orbital for cutting and polishing.

Sorry for the long review fellas.

MorBid

Mark Waldron · 05-13-06, 12:19

Great review MorBid! I actually use it full speed with a yellow foam cutting pad and it definitely remove swirls, scratches, etc. I can't compare it to a rotary because it won't burn the paint like a rotary will, but it definitely heats the area alot more than a pc will. I've always used the comparison of using a rotary is alot like hanging a picture on the wall using a sledge hammer to hit the nail into the wall. Yes it can be done, but why? I can use a regular hammer. I believe it's the same with the rotary. Most surface imperfections can be removed with the Dynabrade. Why deal with the splatter, the swirls, etc that a rotary always introduces making me follow up with another product to remove these. I love the Dynabrade and yes it does make the pc seem like a kids toy.

MorBid · 05-13-06, 01:17

I'll see how much/less it can do than than a regular backing plate on a rotary after I get mine and run some more testing.

I don't have all those other issues you mentioned when using my rotary in it's normal fashion, once I learned how to use it and to watch what I was doing

. But for me it's all I've ever known for cutting and polishing and could never get the hang of a PC.

I hope more people get one and we can really compare notes.

Accumulator · 05-13-06, 01:59

MorBid- Thanks for that review. I'm watching these threads carefully and thinking about getting one...

opass · 05-13-06, 09:27

Thanks Morbid for the update.

MorBid · 05-13-06, 09:31

I really wish I'd known he was bringing it so I could've done a proper review, like with pics and all. But I'm sure someone should be posting some pics (b4 and after) pretty soon.