I did it!!

[dave0mary]

With virtually no exprience at buffing, and the whole world telling us to go orbital instead of direct drive ... I went to my buddies body shop and asked for a damaged hood to try out a rented PC 7424 from Home Depot. He said to use his right there and he would help me. I used his Dewalt something (yes - direct drive) with a 3M pad and some harsher Menzerna`s. It turned out great ... he was impressed; so he said to try his Nissan. After it looked good, then I used a lesser grit polish ... perfect! THEN and ONLY THEN did I try my dark blue/green Jetta. Perfect again! My point? Why are we using orbitals when direct works so much better? Again, this is my only experience - so I want to still try an orbital out.

[Beemerboy]

Dave

Are you talking about a rotary? or am I missing something?

[JaredPointer]

Well, lots of us use orbitals because that`s all we need. MY vehicles very rarely need anything other than light polishing. Most of the vehicles I do for friends and family are the same. There`s not a project I`ve worked on yet that couldn`t be tackled by the Cyclo. So, in a nutshell, there`s you an answer of why folks still use random orbit machines.

[cwcad]

For me it is a matter of work. It is simply easier for me to use a PC vs. a rotary. I use a rotary to do
major paint correction and use a PC for maintenance. Once the paint is in good condition and one uses proper washing techniques the less I need major paint correction.

Another item to consider....Time is a major consideration but damage should also be in the equation. I won`t say that you cannot burn paint with a PC but I will say that you can very quickly burn thru paint with a rotary. If you happen to burn through the paint how much time have you actually saved?

[dave0mary]

Sounds to me that for "major paint correction", it`s good to have a rotary around with some fairly abrasive polish. AND an orbital for the light/maintenace work. Since I plan on a little business on the side out of my garage - I`m gonna get both. I wasn`t extremely impressed with the Dewalt for direct; but the Flex sounds like the way to go for the orbital. Thoughts?

[CharlesW]

Sounds to me that for "major paint correction", it`s good to have a rotary around with some fairly abrasive polish.

Just one caution.
Major paint correction involves removing paint. A scratch or flaw is not "removed", the paint around it is leveled/removed to make the surface even again.
A rotary does a great job at this, but keep in mind that every time you use an aggressive polish, you do remove at least a small part of your paint.
Will it ever be a problem? I can`t say, but the possibility is there.
Don`t get too carried away with polishing with the rotary or you may find out.

Charles

[Poorboy]

Don`t get too carried away with polishing with the rotary or you may find out.

Charles

come on Charles, don`t take all the fun out of it

[Beemerboy]

come on Charles, don`t take all the fun out of it

you are a bad man Steve

[Beemerboy]

Sounds to me that for "major paint correction", it`s good to have a rotary around with some fairly abrasive polish. AND an orbital for the light/maintenace work. Since I plan on a little business on the side out of my garage - I`m gonna get both. I wasn`t extremely impressed with the Dewalt for direct; but the Flex sounds like the way to go for the orbital. Thoughts?

Yes having both is going to make some jobs come out much better and faster...however the rotary is not something that you would use on a regular bases, on any one car...by design it heats the paints surface and like Charles said it removes and levels the surface of the paint...most cars today only have 3 millimeters of clear on the base coat..the rotary has the ability to burn threw that with certain pad types and compounds or polishes, depending on the aggressiveness of the combo.

This all said I use the rotary on quite a few jobs, as the first step to correct the paint....swirl removal and second polish...then its the PC from that point leading up to the LSP`s by hand.

You where right in getting an old hood to practice on and if you can find someone else car that they would let you practice on that would be the way...just remember less aggressive pad and product to start...unlike the PC the rotary generates heat and that`s what gets the action on the paint that you are looking for

[dave0mary]

I wasn`t extremely impressed with the Dewalt for direct; but the Flex sounds like the way to go for the orbital. Thoughts?

I shoulda come right out and asked - who thinks what rotary is best and why?

[JaredPointer]

I shoulda come right out and asked - who thinks what rotary is best and why?

You`re not one for open-ended questions now, are you? I think that for every response you get, you might just get a different reason as to why. Asking those "what`s the best .... " questions never really proves any kind of point. Just FWIW, which is not much, I hear a lot of good things about Metabo, DeWalt, and Makita from the various places I read.

[Coastal Eddie]

I shoulda come right out and asked - who thinks what rotary is best and why?

There are different applications where both can be used effectively, and if I had to guess I`d say the majority of the membership of this site use an orbital most if not all the time.

I was lucky enough to learn this trade using a rotary, and I firmly believe that if you`re going to make a career out of this, you should have that skill. That said, I use an orbital more than I use my rotary, but still manage to get a rotary in my hands everyday.

There are a lot of reasons why people would say that one is better than the other. I like being able to use both.

Keep up the good work Dave

[bigron62]

Ive got both and the rotary produces a better finish .but now i dont have a car with a bright color so i use my pc ...ive gotten lazy ..too many people are scared of the rotary but low speed with a polishing pad and a fine polish/wax are very easy to apply. you have to tape up all edges and cover the windshield to keep damage from occuring ...no big deal