Questions about polishers

[Focusedonsound]

Im just curious and hopefully someone here can help me out. I don`t own a lot of power tools and try to do as much research before making purchases.

So here is my question.

Whats the difference between 1. A rotary and a dual action? I think I know the answer. which would be A rotary only spins while a dual action spins and jiggles. Thats to keep it easy.

2. There are many many dual action sander/polishers on the market. Ranging from 39.00 - upwards of 300.00 whats the difference? Is a guy like me who would use something like this once or twice a month going to notice a big difference?

Granted I know the old saying "you get what you pay for" but putting a few different models side by side forgeting about what the stats of the unit is. Would you be able to acheive the same or close to the same finished product?

Also what are some of the other off brand polishers? Is there anyone on the market that makes a simalar product to the PC,or Dewalt, or makita?

[OI812]

yea, you can go to Harbor Freight and buy one. Then when you get it home take it apart and lube up all the bearing. Put it back togther and pray it works more than 5 times. Otherwise most people on this site will tell you to get a PC 7424. I bought one from costal tools for about 119.00. I love it, and don`t think you could go wrong. I use tools daily for commerical construction, and have seen just how long some of the off brand tools last. You do get what you pay for. Good Luck

[bigron62]

i was skeptical of the pc i thought everyone here was making a big deal out of nothing .. i bought one several mos ago and i could never live without one again .. get one on sale and you will be glad you bought one .. your quality will improve greatly and your arm will thank you...i tried the dewalt d.a. and i like the pc better....

[perry]

I have a Craftsman 7" random orbital buffer that I got 4 or 5 years ago, well before I knew about the Porter Cable and similar tools. It was pretty cheap, under $50. I`m happy with it for the price, but I know that I could do better work and do it faster if I had a better machine. The motor on my buffer is pretty tiny compared to a Porter Cable and it only operates at one speed. Since the motor is smaller the machine bogs down pretty quickly when you touch it to the paint.

The backing plate system on the Porter Cable also seems to be much better than what I have on my Craftsman. I have a heck of a time finding foam bonnets for it, but there are many online retailers that sell several sizes and types of foam pads for the Porter Cable machines. When I can afford it, I plan on upgrading to a PC...