7.5 pads or 6.5?

[Dtail]

For those people who uses rotary, what size of pads do you prefer? I decided to go with a makita 9227 because its lighter than the dewalt. I`ve used the dewalt so many times and could not get comfortable with it. Its just too heavy for me. What are the advantages and disadvantages between the two?

[danwatt]

For a rotary, smaller. You don`t want a big bulk of a pad knocking into everything, especially with a rotary. Little curvy areas will be quite a pain.

[porta]

When I am compounding, I prefere smaller pads like 6" , when I do light polishing 7,5"-8" and finishing I use 8-9" SM Arnold 80ppi, very soft pads.



My next rotary will be the very light and strong Flex L 3403 VRG, only 4lbs and a couple of oz! For us in Europe it´s 1,9kg. That is very very light, I have never tested a Dewalt but they do look heavy and bulky. The flex have 1300watt so it´s not that powerful like the bigger ones, but not so weak either. A superb machine!



Is Flex represented in North America? Anyway take a look at this link



http://www.flex-tools.de/en/prod/detail.php?id=164



EDIT:



After some reading I now know that the Dewalt 849 is 8,25lbs! :soscared: No wonder why you think it´s heavy. It is!.

It´s almost twice as much as the machine I use today



AEG PE150



http://www.aeg-pt.se/internet/CmsTEST2003A.nsf/Files/PE150Z1.jpg/$FILE/PE150Z1.jpg

[MichaelM]

I like the 7.5" pads. The size is nice for doing large panels while the edge of the pad still allows you to get into tight spaces.

[Accumulator]

I hardly ever use pads larger than 6.5", and I mostly use 4" ones since I`m usually just doing spot repairs/RIDS.

[cgc2]

Just tried my new Metabo this evening on our older car.

Used a Propel 1 @ 7 inches, and then the new Propel 2 @ 6.5 inches.



Im using a 6 inch backing plate, and I must say I like the new Propel 2 A LOT.