Rotary user, learned as a child...
Sounds like you really have the Rupes process dialed in.. Great !
Loved the story of using the Floor buffer.. And yes, it is a giant rotary, and you mastered it.. And yes, you can learn how to use and balance a rotary on a vehicle, but you have much more around you, that you do not want to touch with the edge of the backing plate and/or pad..
Really great Boat Detailer friend of mine can balance his really heavy Dewalt 849X I believe, with one hand but there is lots and lots of gelcoat with nothing in the way for miles...
Any Rotary unless it is cheap, chinese junk, will be heavier and bigger..
Any Rotary will require lots of attention to technique, and keeping the pad as flat as much as possible.. 5 inch pads are the easiest to learn on and control, than smaller or bigger sizes, in my experience..
Careful speed, downward pressure, a balance of this, and enough moisture to keep everything going until it pretty much goes away, is the key to being happy with the results.. It has to be this way, because it is direct drive; no kind-of direct drive, no plastic parts, no jiggling, etc., it is ON and things can go quickly..
You mention Bauer, is that Chinese??? Will probably be a little lighter, and may not be as reliable...
Flex of Germany, made some Rotary models awhile back that were smaller and lighter, but I believe they did not include 600rpm soft start, and started at 1200rpm, or something like that, and this is not what I like to be at, from the start... And they make a lot of loud gear noise..
I have never in my experience wanted to start with a random orbital, and then finish with a rotary... It should be the
opposite...
Perhaps this is because of some miracle product that likes to be slowly massaged, jiggled, etc., and then come back and finish it down with direct drive??? To me, why bother??
To each his own...
Dan F
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