Pat vs The Rotary

Pats300zx · 07-04-07, 01:58

Well today after approximately 1.5 years I have had sometime to mess with my Harbor Freight rotary. I am down at the shore all week and today not being the best beach day here in the East was a perfect day to try out the rotary. The weather is kind of overcas. I knew that I would have some time this week so I brought all of my stuff down to mess around.

My weapons of choice:

Harbor Freight rotary
Sonus DAS Green pad
Sonus SFX White pad
Optimum polish
Optimum compound

Test vehicle:

Black Jeep Grand Cherokee (not the best car to start on but it beats having to use your own if you screw up)

I basically kept the rotary at speeds around 1500 with OC and around 1000 with the OP.

My observations:

1. Clearcoat didn't immediately fly off of the finish like I thought it would

2. The rotary is a great tool and I see why you guys love it. I also see how if you aren't careful in what you are doing that it can turn to diaster quickly (especially with plastic panels). I don't know if I would ever use one on something like a plastic panel.

2. I was pretty product of myself. I had no buffer hop and only had some limited splatter when I was picking up a bead of polish that I put down on the panels. I kept the rotary moving at all times and did overlapping passes. I did notice that the polishes would dry up alot faster than on a PC or UDM. I was able to remove TONS of swirls after inspection with my Brinkman.

3. I am still a few light years away from trying this on a clients car but I feel with continued practice that I will be able to match the perfection of some of the Autopian masters (Young Jedi voice)

Any tips that you guys want to contribute please feel free

Brandon1 · 07-04-07, 02:06

I have never gotten to use that smiley. Yeah, a rotary is super easy to learn to use, but super hard to perfect. I am still not great with it, but am comfortable enough to use it on customers cars. I actually have not even touched my PC since getting my Makita.

Pats300zx · 07-04-07, 02:12

Another thing I was worried about was buffing near an edge (like hood or door edge). I would love some more info on how your handle this.

Way2SSlow · 07-04-07, 02:27

Congrats Pat. I love using the rotary. I think people make it out to be scarier than it is. I'm glad you had a good experience with it. To everyone who is on the fence about it...Ya gotta try it sometime or you'll never know. Now, let's see some pics

SuperBee364 · 07-04-07, 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

Another thing I was worried about was buffing near an edge (like hood or door edge). I would love some more info on how your handle this.

If it's on a car that needs serious compounding, I tape them off. If it's just a light polish that I'm working, I remove the tape and lightly polish the edges using less pressure and faster passes. A very small border area doesn't get corrected doing this, but everything does get polished.

Pats300zx · 07-04-07, 03:38

Question for the pros. Do you guys mist your foam pads on each panel to keep from dry buffing?

PRB · 07-04-07, 06:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

Question for the pros. Do you guys mist your foam pads on each panel to keep from dry buffing?

Never

Be sure the pad is lubricated with product before starting to polish just as you would with a PC. Start with a somewhat smaller area to work because you may notice that your pad is going dry on the first couple passes. This just means to put a bit more product on and go back to work.

In general, after half a panel or so, you'll have the pad lubricated with enough material to keep it from going dry. The other side of this: don't use too much so you sling or overload the pad.

for using the rotary...it's a great tool

wannafbody · 07-04-07, 07:02

you can either tape the edges or leave about an inch of buffer zone. I find the CCS pads are great for reducing hop and I always put the drop of polish directly on the pad.

Pats300zx · 07-05-07, 08:25

Another question for you guys. What is the best product application method? A bead on a panel or on the pad then smearing it? I have tried both and seem to get more splatter by laying down a bead.

SpoiledMan · 07-05-07, 08:49

Practice with that bead and you'll be "splatterless" on no time.

Pats300zx · 07-05-07, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoiledMan

Practice with that bead and you'll be "splatterless" on no time.

Dont fear the bead...

ThEGuN · 07-05-07, 05:50

Yes ..I am on the same boat as you Pat.