Porter-Cable – The Missing Link – High-Speed Rotary Polisher

[togwt]

Dispite what my GF says its not me...



~One man’s opinion / observations ~



The (Missing Link) Cyclo Orbital Polisher



I was detailing a Cessna with Klasse/PC when one of the other Pilots’s asked me “Why don’t you use a Cyclo?� I told him I usually used a PC or a Rotary, he then proceeded to hand me a Cyclo from out of the cockpit of his plane. We plugged it in and finished of the Cessna in about half the time it would normally take me.



It really does ‘bridge’ the cap between the two machines, I’ve been reading the (Anthony Orosco/Scottbir/Accumalator et al, thanks guys, I`m only amazed that I could remember (at my age) your "how to`s and tips :xyxthumbs )Cyclo posts but now I’m convinced (another 300 bucks on detailing tools, expensive hobby, I guess I’ll just have to do more detailing jobs to recuperate the $)



Scottwax don’t be tempted to try one, or you’ll get one



~Hope this helps~



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon

justadumbarchitect * so I question everything *

[Accumulator]

Heh heh heh [Accumulator nods his head and thinks "yep, there`s another one..."]

[Prometheus]

Accumulator, are you Sure you don`t work for Cyclo on the side? lol

[Anthony O.]

Well congrats on the new found love (and here I thought the missing link was my sister-in-law:nixweiss ).



I detailed a Range Rover today for a doctor who is trading it in on a new Rover. It had some light "Texas pinstripping" on the paint (these are really scratches from brush one goes through during hunting season) and he didn`t want to spend alot of money but he did want it to look nice. I told him a little under $200 to clean and shampoo the interior and then polish and wax the paint.



He paid me upfront and after the interior was done, which cleaned up real nice, I placed some green pads on my Cyclo and applied Hi-temps Med. Cut over the whole Rover. Then hand applied some VM and BAM! She was done. The Cyclo was able to lighten up the scratches and give the paint an overall even gloss. The VM then produced a nice wet look.



He comes out at about 1:30, takes a few cards and proceeds to drive out of the hospital parking lot.........where it begins to rain 5 minutes after he drives away:doh :angry :nixweiss I swear it was perfectly sunny moments before



Anthony

[boostdfd3s]

what perfect timing..my PC needs its bearings serviced. Guess i should just get a cyclo to hold me over while my beloved PC is in the shop

[Nick Chronis]

Originally posted by Anthony Orosco

Then hand applied some VM and BAM! She was done.

Anthony

Any reason for the hand application of VM vs the white pads? I was just curious if you thought it applied better by hand. I noticed that the pads initially when dry suck up a lot of product do to how watery VM is. You gotta kind of prime the pads in the beginning.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Prometheus

Accumulator, are you Sure you don`t work for Cyclo on the side? lol

Heh heh, LOL, aren`t I just awful



Anthony- You`re *really* getting me interested in the Medium Cut! Did it leave a smooth enough finish that the VM was enough afterwards, or would you have *preferred* to have done something more? Man, IMO that guy got a bargain, having you do it inside and out for $200!

[Anthony O.]

Originally posted by NickC

Any reason for the hand application of VM vs the white pads? I was just curious if you thought it applied better by hand. I noticed that the pads initially when dry suck up a lot of product do to how watery VM is. You gotta kind of prime the pads in the beginning.

Nick,



Yeah, the pads suck up the VM but I always prefer to apply my final step by hand. Just a personal preference.



Accumulator,



The exterior was a breeze really. The Med. Cut didn`t leave any marring behind. I mean it didn`t remove ALL the imperfections in the paint either but it did present a vast improvement and the VM really brought the metallic green out.



Sorry, didn`t mean to hi-jack the thread:p



Anthony

[imported_Intel486]

*sigh* something else to buy... lol

[jimmybuffit]

By the time I get enough pads, this is gonna cost me $400!



That sound is me, biting the the bullet...



I`ll have an opinion in a few weeks.



Dammit!



Jim

[LightngSVT]

I have an old cyclo that I used for interior when I had me shop8 years ago. I have never used it for paint though. So where can I get pads for this thing? Man, and I just bought a PC this week too.....

[imported_aqua]

Hi



I think cyclo is a great stuff, although I miss a speed regulation on the machine. The work is faster than by hand mainly on big panels.



The only problem I suffer is sometimes, it produces product splatters when starting the rotation. That drives me crazy!!. It´s well balanced, but maybe vibrates too much.



Following Anthony recommendation I am using it also for wax/polish one step package with great results. Thanks Anthony.

[JayC]

After reading all the raves here about the Cyclo, I got mine back out and tried it again.. I dunno.. it might have a little more oomph than the PC but at the end of the day, I still prefer the PC. I guess it`s a personal thing.



I need to order some more pads for my PC, I`ll probably get some for the Cyclo too and play with it some more.... maybe I`m missing something somewhere

[Nick Chronis]

Originally posted by JayC

After reading all the raves here about the Cyclo, I got mine back out and tried it again.. I dunno.. it might have a little more oomph than the PC but at the end of the day, I still prefer the PC. I guess it`s a personal thing.



I need to order some more pads for my PC, I`ll probably get some for the Cyclo too and play with it some more.... maybe I`m missing something somewhere

The key to the Cyclo is to work VERY slowly across the surface. The white pads are SO mild, that I`ll work the product in until it virtually disappears.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by JayC

I got mine back out and tried it again.. I dunno.....at the end of the day, I still prefer the PC. I guess it`s a personal thing.

Yep, it *IS* a matter of personal preference. As far as how it handles, I often think that my more extensive experience with the Cyclo has a *lot* to do with my preference. For *me*, the PC is very unnatural and not too pleasant- and look at how many people just love using their PCs!



aqua- With all your rotary experience, I feel like I oughta tease you about having splatter issues with the Cyclo Just kidding, though you might want to try using less product. My Cyclo splatter issues somehow just disappeared as I gained familiarity with it. Now if I could just say the same for my rotary work!



LightngSVT- Check out Winner`s Circle and TOL. Get the velcro pad holders and remember to make sure you`re buying *pairs* of everything.



Anthony- Very interesting about the Medium Cut- Heh heh, I`ve been saying that a lot recently, huh? I figured you`d done things to the "just a lot better" level, but I`m impressed that it didn`t leave a bunch of micromarring and I still think he got a bargain